Day 21 Kununura to Lake Argyle

 We knew that we would be having a short drive and fairly relaxing day, so the morning was about an easy packup.  Lisa went about the inside jobs, and I took the opportunity to replenish the water tanks with treated water, and took a sponge to the outside of the van.  Slowly but surely, we are getting rid of all of the Pilbara and Kimberley dust.

We got underway around 0930, and made the short journey to Lake Argyle Tourist Village.  After being escorted to our site, and setting up we did some brief exploring of the park prior to our cruise on the lake in the afternoon.  Ashley is hell bent on going swimming again, but we have been warned that the pool is frigid.  Neither Lisa or myself are in the mood for swimming, so I think the poor lad is out of luck. 

We took a quick drive to the dam wall and down to the picnic area on the banks of the Ord River.  Whilst we were there,  we saw a frog that looked suspiciously like a Cane Toad, and a passing woman was adamant that we should kill the thing, but on reflection we think it was just a native frog and we were glad we spared its froggy life.  There was however a cheeky Bower Bird hopping around the area that had either spied the frog, or was greedily devouring Emma's Vegemite sandwich with its eyes.  We drove back across the dam wall to the lookout and soaked up the panorama before returning to our mobile home.

There was a video on the Ord River Irrigation Project (the dam) on in the reception hall, at 1315 hours leading up to the tour, so we settled in to watch.  The video was fascinating, watching these guys doing mining, blasting,  construction and earthmoving with no shirts on, cigarettes in their mouths (They were required to light the fuses for the blasting) and no hard hats.  In fact it appears that OHS was non existent in 1969, and we still managed to get things done.

From the video, we boarded the bus for a very quick trip down to the pier.  I had no expectations for the cruise other than it was a boat that I would be on for the next 3 hours.  I guess I have been to the lake before, and seen it from the lookouts, but was unable to comprehend what the next 3 hours would be like.

 My first impression is that this is an awesome piece of engineering.  Over 45m deep at the dam wall, and at current capacity, (approx 101%) it is holding some 35 Sydney harbours, with a surface area of approx 1000km2.  During the wet season, there has been recorded flow in to the Ord River prior to the lake at a rate of 35000m3 per second.  Last year the level of the lake rose 1.5m in 2 days almost doubling the volume.  At capacity, the Lake would have a surface area of over 2000km2 and contain enough water to fill Sydney Harbour 84 times.   It is also recorded that the waves on the lake can be in excess of 2.5m giving the lake a classification of an inland sea.

As we travelled around the lake which measures roughly 50km North to South and 50km East to West, the average depth of the water is over 20m.  At one point we were looking at the horizon and could not see where the water ended.  It was later that our guide showed us that we were only looking at approx 1/3 of the lake.

  

There was wildlife a plenty around the place, and we were lucky enough to see Freshwater (Johnson's) Crocodiles, Euro's (Wallaby), Egrets, Darters, and many other native species.  The last count of crocodiles in Lake Argyle put the number of Johnson's crocodiles at 35000.  I wasn't tempted to go swimming, but some braver souls jumped into the cold water. 

 Sunset was magnificent, and the whole experience was utterly breathtaking.  I am really glad that I was able to see the lake from the water, and get a better appreciation for the size and scope of this feature, now the largest freshwater lake in Australia.  We finished today with a lovely roast lamb dinner at the pub, and spoilt ourselves with apple strudel and homemade custard for desert.  Needless to say we are all stuffed full, and I am the only one not snoring yet, but I don't think I'm far off it.

Today is our last day in WA for a couple of months.  We lose an hour and a half tomorrow, but it will be nice to have the sun setting at a reasonable hour.