Lake Argyle April 18 2011

 Moonlight on Lake Argyle

 Many years ago we visited Lake Argyle briefly and moved on to Kununurra and while we were there we went on a Cruise of Lake Kununurra so this time we made sure we stayed at Lake Argyle for a couple of nights and went on a cruise there so now we can say we have done both the lakes.

 When we arrived and after setting up we went for a bit of a wander around the grounds and had lovely views over the Lake especially late in the afternoon when there was a wedding being held on the banks/clifftop next to the pool with the most magnificent backdrop of the Lake .







 What a magnificent backdrop for a wedding



another view from the clifftop

 Spillway creek

 The time difference meant we were up early with the heat already turned up, although it had been fairly cool during the night. After breakfast we decided that a visit to the Lookouts where we hoped to get a view of the dam wall etc was in order and that a trip back down the road to Spillway creek for morning tea would be the go.
 Our trip to the Lookouts  rewarded us with great views of the Lake and the dam wall and the Ord River . However we were unable to drive down to the wall due to the high level of the Lake . Next stop was Spillway Creek for a cuppa and a good look at the water that is surging  past the bridge there at over a million litres a second. It really was a sight . while looking around here we found a family fishing from the banks of a backwater there but they weren't catching anything.

 Fishing the backwater at Spillway Creek for Barra

 On our way to the bridge both Mike and I had noted some tracks leading off to interesting spots on the left hand side of the road so on our way back we checked them out.
The first one led to a rock shelter with Aboriginal cave paintings  which appeared to be in quite good condition.

 Mike ,Lynn and Kerry at the cave entrance

  The next track went into a rock cliff where there was a tiny pool of water that had lots of native frogs around it and there was also a tiny stream running back towards the car parking area which had lots of frogs and water insects in it.

The afternoon after our excursion around the area  we went on the Lake Argyle Cruise with Triple J Tours. The cruise commenced with  viewing a video about the building of the Dam and the associated structures. This involved a large workforce which worked in very hot conditions through 3 "dry seasons" to build the dam  etc.

The tour commenced with a bus ride down to the boat ramp. However we were left sitting in the bus for a while as the bookings were sorted as it appeared that they had over booked and needed some people to pull out . Once sorted we were under way to the boat and were soon out on the Lake .

 We were  given a close up view of the dam wall and the intake structure which allowed for the funnelling of the water to the powerhouse and then flowed down the Ord .



 Intake structure-- 7 stories below water level

 We then went around the corner to Homestead Falls which were  at the end of a small cove . on the way to the falls we passed a number of caves which served as shelter for some Euros and we did see some in a cave high on the hilltop.



Homestead Falls

  after viewing the falls we continued out across the lake looking for some of the 30,000 freshwater crocodiles that live in the lake but couldn't find any so we went past the Kites nest that has a couple of chicks in it and was well guarded by the parents.


 Some of the amazing rock formations in the area


 From there it was a 20 min run at about 2oknts across the Lake and the bay of Islands to Hagen Island where we were lucky enough to see a crocodile basking on a rock at the waters edge  and then we found a colony of Fairy Martin's nests under a rock ledge. As it was rather windy in the bay we went back around the point and stopped so that those who wanted to could have a swim.

 Small Freshwater crocodile

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 Fairy Martin nests

 Most people went in for a swim including a number of the young children, the young ones took great delight in being able to jump from the roof of the boat into the water.

 Sunset

 Just after everyone was back aboard we ran out of daylight but were then treated to a spectacular show of the moon rising over the back of the hills.  Prior to that the sky had turned some amazing shades of pink.
 the moonrise was awesome and when it was fully up it lighted our way back to the boat ramp.

 We were a bit skeptical about the cruise due to the disorganisation at the beginning but it turned out very well and provided us with lots of lovely memories.