(Kate)
Day 49 – Lake
Argyle Resort – Sunset cruise
We did
schoolwork in the morning, and generally lounged around and swam. At 2pm we met at the beer garden to go on our
sunset cruise. A bus drove us down to
the boat ramp, showing us the Ord River Dam on the way. The dam was constructed to store the wet
season water to use for farming in the dry season. Lake Argyle is 19x the volume of Sydney
Harbor. It is classified as an inland
sea, and all boats require the same safety gear as sea vessels. The boat was called the Kimberley Durack
(google Patsy Durack and family – quite a story). Our captain was Tracey, and she told us lots
of history and info on the wildlife,
and she was funny too. The
hydro-electric plant on the downstream side of the Ord River Dam powers
Kununurra, Wyndham, and it used to power 60% of the Argyle diamond mine when it
was operating.
Sandalwood, used
as a base note for perfumes, is the main crop irrigated by the Ord River
scheme. Also mangoes, bananas. Tracey and her crewmate, Jacques, drove us to
lots of spots in the lake. We saw catfish,
fresh water crocodiles, pelicans, wallaroos.(or wallabies?) Towards the end of the trip, we stopped at a
swim spot in the middle, where we swam/floated with noodles, and drank
beers/wine/soft drinks in the sea if desired.
People were also allowed to jump off the roof of the boat into the sea
for thrills, which Keith did a few times.
It was a great
day. In honour of Keith’s birthday on
Monday, we decided to eat at the beer garden instead of cooking dinner. Ben and I had fish and chips, the fish being
“silver cobbler”, a fancy name for one of the 3 types of catfish found in the
lake.
Spot the stick insect
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| The Dam wall, downstream side |
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| The hydroelectric plant |
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