The next morning I drove the 100 km from Wyndham to Kununarra dodging the large Nickel road trains that transport the ore from the mine in the Kimberley to the Wyndham harbor. The total unit has four wagons filled with more than 40 tons of ore each; a truly daunting sight when it comes thundering towards you. I slowed down every time and pulled off the road. Close to Kununarra  a long bridge fords the Ord river.

I stopped at Kununarra. This is a really pleasant town with lush green vegetation, good roads and services and its own lake, Lake Kununarra. There is much fishing being done as well as boating and water skiing.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Lake+Kununurra,+Kununurra+WA+6743/@-15.808885,128.7047026,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x2c998cab21689ee9:0x52f3228531800e34

Lake Argyle is a further 50 km from Kununarra. I did that in quick time as the road is all bitumen and reached the caravan park in the early afternoon. Lake Argyle has resulted from the damming of the Ord River and was built in the late 1960s. It is more than seven times the size of Sydney harbor up to the Parramatta River. The lake measures something like 45 km by 25 km. This is the largest man-made lake in Australia.

For some interesting links on Lake Argyle, see below.

http://www.lakeargyle.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Argyle

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=lake+argyle&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQsARqFQoTCNuoqOzt9sgCFYfGpgod8dkBeA&dpr=1#imgrc=cJHCTK8jFCAI3M%3Ak

It is a really great park with tall trees offering shady sites. The park has a horizon pool that is situated on a hill overlooking a section of the lake. I enjoyed walking through the park and admiring the wide variety of caravans parked there; all shapes and sizes from camper trailers to massive off road caravans.

You can see forever

My humble tent in the shade

I decided to do the Lake Argyle cruise, an all day cruise, to get to know the history and engineering feat that created this biggest manmade lake in Australia. I purchased a ticket and lined up for the cruise the next morning at the office. We were taken by bus to the boat launch which is some 4 km away.

Our guide introduced himself and helped us board a large catamaran, the ‘Kimberley Durack’. Once the Ord River had been dammed and the project had been completed the lake was allowed to fill up. This process of rising water levels has created more than a 100 islands. Some of them have Euros living on them. They are marsupials like Kangaroos, only smaller. They occur only in the northern regions of Australia.

Miles of water and islands

A Euro trapped on an island

Many islands are occupied by fresh water crocodiles. The islands look magnificent as the sun sets across the water. Some islands have great looking geology. In one instance the island is bespeckled with small lava pipes that look like a bunch of caves in the hillside. Many trees had Hawks, Falcons and other birds of prey sitting in them.

Crocks (Freshies) are everywhere

Lava pipes

In the evening our guide stopped the boat in 30 foot of water so that we might enjoy the sunset and the braver ones were invited to take a swim in the lake (amongst the Freshies).  The water was pleasantly warm. A beer and snacks were also served. We returned to our camp after sunset having enjoyed a day that most of us would never forget.

The hills light up in ocher in the evening sun

We left Woodgate early-ish in the morning to go up north some 150km to a remote little place by the name of Baffle creek. There is a lovely caravan park amongst tropical trees and palms along the banks of the Baffle creek. The camp sites are green with grass and some of the power sites have cement slabs. The park is about 6 km from the river mouth.

Along the way from Woodgate were many areas that farmed sugar cane and Macadamia nuts. In places there was sugar cane as far as the eye can see.

Baffle creek is about fishing. There are a number of launching sites and they do catch fish from the boats. Fish are caught from the shores of the river or the jetties less frequently.

When you get to the beaches you can see the signs of the recent cyclone. The beaches are eroded and dead trees are littered above the high water mark. You can see where the waters had eaten away at the dunes. Driving on the beach is a bit difficult and suggestion is that tyre pressure is reduced to around 1.3 Bar.

The caravan park is one of the few parks that allow fires in designated areas. Wood is available for $12 a load or heaps more if you are prepared to cut it yourself; ask park management about details.

As I do not have a boat the fishing is going to be tough. So, instead we decided to do a bit of exploring.

Agnes Water and the town of Seventeen Seventy (1770)

The next day we went to explore the coastline just north of Baffle Creek

We drove north to a town called Agnes Waters that had a pleasant beach, newish shops and some recently developed residential estates. As one could not see the sea/beach from most of the town it lost the wow factor for me and we continued on to the town of 1770. Seventeen Seventy, also written as 1770, is a village in Queensland, Australia, built on the site of the second landing by Captain James Cook and the crew of HM Bark Endeavour in May 1770.

The place is stunning, interesting and of historical significance. It has a lot of old world charm and spectacular sites and sights. Links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_Seventy,_Queensland

As we got there the CFA were burning off which caused some interesting smoky outlooks. Burn-offs happen all around Australia to reduce the fuel load for the dry season and so reduce the likelihood of bush fires.

As you get to the town there are launching facilities and stunning views up and down the inlet / natural harbor. It is easy to see why Captain Cook chose this place to stop.

The topography is hilly so there are great lookouts and vantage points like Bustard point  . People have built homes on the hills that offer spectacular views of the surrounding sea.

Queenslanders love Letter Boxes

We all have letter boxes. Yep, we go to Bunnings and buy one of these metal monster in mission brown, black or caramel colors. Letter boxes are an iconic feature in our communities. The posty deposits the mail regularly and everybody is happy!  Right??…Wrong.

Queenslanders love letter boxes and here in rural Queensland they get very inventive and arty about their mail receptables. I sense that there is a sense of humor attached to the selection of the letter box. Have a look of some of these that I have come across so far.  I will keep posting these as I find more unique ones. Please post to me in return any that you have come across.