Aug 11 ... Lake Argyle

Before we left Kununurra this morning we went for a tour of the Ord Irrigation Scheme with the Jacksons. We stopped at a number of places including Ivanhoe Crossing (from the film "Australia" fame) and some stone shops that featured Zebra Rock.

Mango Trees

The loop is about 42kms and we mostly saw mango plantations and cotton growing, but there was also a lot of paw paw, citrus, and this "unknown" crop with a purple flower. We stopped at the Ivanhoe Cafe for morning tea where we had the best homemade hazelnut cake with our coffee.

One of the Ord Irrigation Channels

Morning Tea with Trish and Andrew

Just after midday we said our goodbyes and drove the 70kms to Lake Argyle. Again the scenery was beautiful and we got a nice shady site even though the park was crowded. There is nothing else there, just the Tourist Village, so we looked forward to some restful days.It was also pretty hot so we walked up to the "infinity" pool that belonged to the park for a swim. There would not be many places in the world where the view was better! This pool is constructed on the cliff edge overlooking the dam so it appears you are swimming out into the lake.

Lake Argyle Pool

Infinity Pool

Garry in the pool

We had a lovely afternoon swimming and sitting in the sun reading our books. There is an area just above the pool from where the sunset over the lake can be best seen and we wandered back up around 4.30pm. It certainly was beautiful but it was also very quiet and calm as the lake was so still.

Sunset

Sunset from the pool

As soon as it was dark, most people retreated to their camps, about half of which also had at least one dog! I did not expect a quiet night but in fact it was soundless and, after watching a couple of movies on the computer, we slept VERY well... until 4am when the people beside us left! Garry and I are totally amazed at the time many of these people leave the parks. Apparently, it is a "race" to get to the next one as early as possible. In the free parks you have to be there by midday to get a spot at this time of the year, and they are packed. There is no way we would travel like that. And it is bloody annoying getting woken up regularly by the silly bastards who are trying to save money but see nothing!

Next morning I decided to get stuck into my French but Garry found they were showing a film in the lounge at 10am on the Kimberly, so we went off to watch that for an hour. I had just settled back down when I heard someone new coming into the site beside us and when I looked up, it was the Jacksons! No more study for me!!!
We had a lovely day, chatting, swimming, drinking at Happy Hour, and sharing dinner. They are staying on for a few days but we are off in the morning so only time for the one movie tonight!