Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle is located about 50km over the NT/WA border.  It is about 35km in from the main highway and you drive down a narrow winding road, through creek crossings and the most beautiful ranges and then just when you think the scenery couldn’t get any better you come over a hill and see this beautiful lake that seems to go on forever.  The caravan park sites are grassed and quite large and depending where you are in the park the scenery is amazing.  There is a bar and restaurant in the resort as well as the most amazing infinity pool that you can sit in and admire the lake and the distant islands.  Our first stop was to check out this famous infinity pool and it was not a disappointment that’s for sure.  We have spent quite a bit of time just sitting and admiring the stunning views.

Lake Argyle is a man made lake that was completed in 1972. It was built to provide a major storage reservoir that could be used to irrigate the fertile plains of the East Kimberley’s.  It is the largest man built dam in Australia, there is also a hydroelectric power station at the base of the dam wall.  It is truly amazing to look at the wall holding back all the water and wonder on its integrity for such a large volume of water.  

We did a Sunset cruise one evening, it was a great way to see the lake and admire its beauty.  The cruise leaves at 2pm and a bus transfers you down to the tour boat where we had the most informative crew.  You are offered afternoon tea as well as cold drinks and tea or coffee if desired.  They take you out to different parts of the lake where you get to see fresh water crocodiles, plenty of fish and also some wallaroos that are on some of the islands.  Then just on sunset they take you to a swimming spot where they give you an alcoholic beverage to float in the water and enjoy while watching the beautiful sunset.  The colours are just amazing once the sun sets.  This is a must do cruise when visiting Lake Argyle.

We also did a flight from Kununurra which is approximately 80 km down the road.  The flight was done through Kimberley Air Tours and took us over the fertile plains of Kununurra, over Lake Argyle, down to the Bungle Bungles and then back over the Argyle Diamond mine.  Well worth the money as it gives you a real perspective of the huge size of the lake and just how much of the area is irrigated.

Our stay has been a very relaxing one and because it is still quite warm (around 35 degrees each day) it is very hard to think of doing any really big bush walks, although we have done a few. 

More to come ………..