NOTHING ORD-INARY HERE

Only the peaks of the ranges show above the waters of the lak.

Amazing Rock formations on the visible peaks.

Where is the edge of the lake?

Stark and watery beauty of the lake.

The Ord River below the dam wall.

Well, hi again – this is just a short issue to take you on a wonderful day trip we did while in Kununurra. In the early morning, we boarded a comfortable air-conditioned coach which picked us up from our Caravan Park and took us on the road back to Lake Argyle. Our bus driver was a bloke called Jeff, one of the original Js of Triple J Tours. Jeff proved to be a loquacious host – imparting bundles of interesting information about the region, its history and the local flora – he was passionate about his subject matter.
Once again we drove thru’ that amazing range that leads into Lake Argyle, the hills sadly were still smouldering after the recent fires. We were informed that particular fire had been lit in order to make catching some goannas a little easier. It seems it was set on one of the communities, but burned out hectare upon hectare of bushland.
On arrival at the Lake we boarded Triple Js newest boat and set off with skipper Scotty for a two and a half hour tour of the lake. Now, we were bombarded with information about the construction and size of the lake, in typical female style (sorry girls) I heard but did not absorb much of the data, I can tell you however that the lake is vaaaaaast, incomprehensibly huge – at capacity it contains more water than 35 Sydney Harbours!! The evaporation alone each year would be sufficient water for Perth and Adelaide. Of course, the question arose, as it has many times in the past, as to why the water is not piped south, there seemed to be some very plausible reasons based mainly on cost factors, but at the end of the day, I think most of us think there must be a way! The water captured is certainly not utilised to anywhere near its capacity use. The water does supply the Argyle Diamond Mine and certainly enables all the amazing orchards and food productions around Kununurra. Incredibly the township of Kununurra does not use the water for drinking purposes. It seems that the water contains a high level of organic matter and the chlorination process would be prohibitive. Instead the town takes ground water from close to the Ord, so in a sense is utilising the facility, but in a more convoluted manner.
In very simplified terms, prior to the creation of the dam wall, the Ord would flood the Kununurra area profusely every wet season. The flow of water down the Ord was astronomical, and most of it flowed on to the sea and was not captured in any useful manner. Since the creation of the Lake the overflow from the dam now provides a steady flow year around. There is a Hydro-power scheme feeding off the dam and of course, some extensive hydro-culture canals enabling food production in the region.
This is of course all very important stuff, and the sensible me is totally impressed by the magnitude of this engineering feat. The part of me that appreciates beauty tho’ was mind-blown by the staggering wild beauty of the lake. We didn’t see more than 1 third in our 2 ½ hours on the lake, and in parts we could not see the horizon. The peaks of the ranges still showing above the water levels sustain wild-life and most of the feral creatures from these islands have now been exterminated. We saw a group of Pelicans in some shallows – they seemed to be staying very close to some ‘Little Cormorants’ - our guide explained that the Pelicans found it hard to fish in the lake due to the extreme depth, they have however, very cleverly solved this problem by following the Cormorants. When the Cormorant very obligingly catches a fish and breaks the surface of the water, the wily Pelican promptly grab the Cormorants in their capacious beaks and shake them until the fish is dislodged into the pelican’s beak – the old Pelican then spits out the somewhat disgruntled Cormorant and consumes the fish. I wonder how long it will take the Cormorants to wake up to this tactic and shake off their hungry mates.
Despite all the beauty, I could not help but spare a thought for all those creatures who had been displaced by the rising waters of Lake Argyle and of the native people who had lost home and memory as those waters inexorably rose and covered all that they had known. I believe that the good done by the Lake is overwhelmingly worth it, but that doesn’t mean that there was not a great deal of sadness attached to the creation of this vast span of water.
After an idyllic time on the lake we were delivered back to the shore and bundled into a rather sad old bus and taken to the Old Durack Homestead. Even tho’ we had visited the homestead previously, we still enjoyed re-visiting the old building again. From there we were bussed down to the Caravan Park and dined on a fish basket while awaiting the bus to take us on the next leg of our journey. At this point we nearly lost Doug as he was lally-gagging around and was almost left behind. We now had Jeff back and I think he was none too pleased to have to go searching for my delinquent other half. Back on our sad old bus, now with many more folk who had joined us for the return trip home, we were driven down to the part of the Ord river where the overflow from the dam issues. Here we boarded another Triple J boat for the cruise down the river back to Kununurra. We had all looked forward to this leg of the journey as the river meanders through some magnificent ranges, gorges and flood plains. As promised it was exceptional – the only way to see these reaches would be by boat. This part of the river is reasonably safe for swimming as the crocs are supposed to be freshwater. It would not be impossible to find a saltwater crocodile there, but highly unlikely.
As we worked our way back down-river the sun dropped lower and lower in the sky, casting shadows and light effects across both the water and the surrounding ranges. A wide range of bird-life was displayed along the river-banks and we saw number of freshwater crocodiles basking on the shore. As we traversed those waters, we could easily see where the flood waters of the Ord of old had swept all before them. It must have been a wild scene indeed.
As the day slowly died, we swept silently past a not so silent bat colony – readying themselves for their evening foraging expeditions. We also swept past what is now ‘millionaire’s row’ along the riverbanks. 20 hectare properties line the river and these we are told would give no change out of $1m.
Gently we floated to a halt at the jetty and were then bussed back to our caravan parks – although some folk were bussed off to vote – just on 6pm when we arrived back in town – not a lot of foresight methinks.
The day was a memorable one and worth the $280per head we paid for the privilege.