Three times the size of the UK and with a population less than 40,000, the Kimberley in Western Australia is one of the oldest regions on earth.

We’re staying at the edge of Lake Argyle, an enormous man-made reservoir, in the northeast of the Kimberley.

The Lake Argyle Resort sits just above the lake giving views across the water to many of the lake’s islands, bluffs and sandstone hills, which light up at sunset and sunrise. Just how many campsites can provide a view like this in such an unspoilt and remote location?

There are plenty of things to do here for the adventurous and those who prefer to relax by the infinity pool soaking up the sun. Walking trails, 4WD-adventures, helicopter flights, boating, fishing…

Bush Walks

What better way to start exploring our new location than a bush walk to a viewpoint high above Lake Argyle.

Our walk starts directly opposite the campsite and follows a steep, winding path up the escarpment. Tall, dry grasses line the rocky path with sparse trees and shrubs baking in the heat from the sun. It all feels as if one small spark could set the entire escarpment off in a raging blaze.

The effort of the climb is rewarded, though, with magnificent views of the lake and its islands as well as the view back along the Ord River as it flows towards the town of Kununurra. Clumps of bright green grasses dot the hillsides providing contrast to the ancient orange sandstone. And at the head of the river is the Lake Argyle Dam wall. Not huge in the grand scheme of things but impressive in the volume of water the wall is holding back.

To gain a better view of the dam I dropped down from our viewpoint and followed the road down to a lookout just above the dam’s wall and hydro station. From here you get a better view of just how steep the dam walls are and it’s method of construction comprised almost entirely of loose rock and boulders with a compressed core of clay. It’s loose construction was designed to be flexible enough to cope with earthquakes, common in this region of Australia, something that a concrete dam is more prone too. It is especially important in this case as it sits right on top of a fault line and an earthquake in 2016 proved its worth with no damage recorded.

Since construction was completed in 1971 the 98-metre high wall has dropped just 4.5-centimetres due entirely to natural settlement.

Just two-years following completion, heavy rains in the wet season filled the dam to flood level with water pouring from the emergency spillways. They continued to flow through to 1984. In 1996, following concerns of sediment reducing the dam capacity, the spillways were raised by 6-metres doubling the capacity of the lake and plans are in place to increase the level yet further.

Sunset Cruise

Our main trip today, though, was a sunset cruise on the lake, something we had both been looking forward to. Starting from the campsite car park, a coach takes you down and across the dam with a guide explaining the history of the construction project and the attempts at farming in the area. Surprisingly the hydro station was not added until the early 1990’s, 20-years after the dam was completed though provision had been made for it during the original construction.

Our cruise aboard the Kimberley Durack took us from Bamboo Creek southwards to an area popular with swimmers. Immediately behind their moored boats was some of Australia’s oldest know rock approximately 1.5-billion years old. That is long before any known life form existed on the planet. The cruise then continued around the headland towards crocodile bay, named after, not surprisingly, one of its many inhabitants.

Crocodiles

The lake is home to somewhere in excess of 35,000 freshwater crocodiles. It seems an excessive number, calculated at night using torches to pick out the reflection of their eyes, but this is a lake of excessive proportions. Measuring 703-square kilometres (271-square miles) and a catchment area forty-six times larger, the lake holds 10,763-billion litres of fresh water. That is the equivalent of 2.5 cubic miles with an outflow capable of supplying the entire country’s annual water needs every 3.5-hours.

And not surprisingly, sat sunning themselves in the bay, were several freshwater crocodiles. They are timid creatures with a narrow snout designed to catch fish and pose little threat to people. Our cruise guide, Grant, pointed out that they don’t believe any estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles exist in the lake based mainly on the distance of the inflowing rivers from the sea to the north. But with that volume of water who knows?

The cruise then took us past a distant view of the opencast Argyle diamond mine and towards the lake’s largest island where several unique and well camouflaged wallaroos gathered on the shoreline to feed. One female was carrying a young Joey in her pouch but was quite happy with our presence as we all gathered to take photographs.

Further into the lake and the scale really started to show. Right in the very distance were rocks at the eastern edge of the lake – over 20KM away, and that was just one small section of the most northerly region of the lake.

With the sun getting lower in the sky, the cruise moved on to a clear area of the lake where everyone was free to jump in and swim or just float around with a pair of noodles and a glass of wine or stubby of beer in their hands. Below them was 23-metres of clear, mostly crocodile free, water.

Catherine enjoyed a dip where the water was a little warmer than expected but still ‘cool’. As for me, I kept a lookout and helped supply those less wary with drinks and nibbles.

Setting Sun

Finally we started to head back as the sun faded behind the hills and put on a light show worthy of any we’ve seen to date. All we needed were a few more clouds to add colour to the sky, but those, as we’ve found over the last two months, are quite a rarity during the dry season.

It was another great trip and highly recommended. Just remember to bring along your swimmers, thongs, suncream and a can of crocodile repellent spray.

More details at: www.lakeargyle.com-cruises-tours-activities