Lake Argyle campground is providing some comfort and few flies after the experience at Keep River. It is early in the season and there is plenty of room. Some bugs still chase the lights at night. There isn’t much at the Lake, just the campground and a lake cruise boat operator (hires canoes and dinghies too). A helicopter operates out of the camp too for jaunts around the Lake and the Bungle Bungles.

Our campsite is out on the edge overlooking a valley that runs down to the Lake. Windy at night. No Lake views. Some vans are also parked down there under the trees.

There is a big dam here as well that holds back the waters of the second largest man made lake in Australia (the largest is the Lake Pedder/Lake Gordon complex in Tasmania), some thing like 21 (?) Sydney Harbours when full. It is basically full now after a very big wet season in 2024 and a modest one in 2025.

There are some great view points over the dam and lake; blue skies and deep blue water split by the red earth. Below the dam the Ord flows 55km down to Kununurra where the Diversion Dam holds back Lake Kununurra.

Getting out on the water here is a must do thing to get an appreciation of the sheer size of the waterways. So we enjoyed an afternoon/sunset cruise from the boat ramp near the dam wall. Only 12 of us onboard so there was plenty of room to move around and the nibbles went a long way. Not to mention the soft drinks.

Spotted a few crocs on the bank, just the ‘harmless’ ones, and also tossed some dry biscuits to fish of all sizes that rose to the surface for their reward. Some of these are harvested and appear on the van park’s cafe dinner menu. We later tried some for dinner, rather good.

We later stopped at buoy for half an hour or so to enjoy a swim and partake of the nibbles.

Apparently, there are 35,000 freshwater crocs in the Lake. Not sure who counted them. These are the harmless ones, but they can give you a nip if you aggravate them. The captain was pretty sure there were no salties in the Lake, but of course couldn’t be certain. It would be a big climb up the dam wall for them. In any case the company hadn’t lost anyone to a croc as far as he knew.

Comforting, so Allthego ‘dived’ in. The water was a warm 27 degrees. Homealone, was reluctant and focussed on getting a good pic of the husband just in case.

The temperature of the Lake water contrasted with the famous infinity pool. Not many guests were indulging in a plunge, just laying around in the sun looking beautiful.

Not so Allthego, in he went. It was super cold indeed to start off with and didn’t seem to change much as it usually does when one gets ‘used to it’. Enervating!

In finishing it would be proper to note that in an earlier post covering the trip up to Whyndam I mentioned that live cattle exports are being phased out. In fact it is live sheep exports that are finishing up. Another glitch too, the export frozen meat business finished in the mid 1980s not pre WW11.

We now move on to El Questro at the start of the notorious Gibb River Rd. This is the pointy end of the trip through the Kimberlys. Will the road be as grim as proclaimed?