We left Sadler's Creek at 10am., having had a good breakfast of bacon, mushrooms & tomatoes. Bob had to keep the lid on the frying pan, as dust storms were blowing up around us.
En-route, the boab trees became bigger & bigger, with trunks that were massive. We wondered how old some of them were.
At the Western Australia quarantine checkpoint, the officials were very thorough - our car & caravan were searched &, although we handed in our remaining fruit & veg., we forgot about the honey. However, it was discovered & confiscated!
We left the main road to visit Lake Argyle & the Ord River & found ourselves in beautiful countryside - colourful hills, some wooded & some rocky; blonde grasses & small trees; & not a cloud in the sky, which was endlessly blue.
The area became wilder & much more rugged (reminiscent of the cowboy films). Suddenly, through a gap in the rock, there it was ... Lake Argyle, in all its turquoise glory! It glistened in the sunshine & stretched into infinity. It is a huge volume of water, rather like an inland sea. Although it is man-made & necessitated the flooding of a large area of land, the project has rejuvenated the area & bird life, in particular, has benefited enormously.
The Durack family, originally from County Clare in Ireland, had built a homestead where Lake Argyle was created. Their house has been reconstructed, brick by brick, in the area above the lake. It is now a museum, giving an insight into early pioneer life & we found it of great interest, particularly as Mary Durack, an author & granddaughter of the original settlers, is buried there & her first book, telling the family's history, is on sale (I had to buy a copy, of course - "Kings in Grass Castles").
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| Durack Homestead |
We finally made contact with Judy & Charlie as we entered Kununurra. We caught up with one another's travel news - we'd done some similar things - then Bob cooked Chow Mein for us all & Judy provided some Sticky Toffee Puddings.
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