Day 23: Wyndham to Lake Argyle

The day starts with the promise of coffee, a walk on a jetty, then a Barramundi burger brunch. The first two happened...So a shack called The Rusty Shed does OK coffee, and the 5 Rivers Café doesn’t open for brunch on Sundays.

Wyndham Jetty

But Wyndham was more than this. The Historical Society has opened a museum which deserves more fanfare than it gets. It’s an awesome portrayal of Wyndham, both good and bad. Everyone should visit. Then there is the fuel price. As Wyndham is a deep water point, the fuel is landed here for the region and consequently is $1.50 a litre! Plus the servo is a little gem. Looks like bugger all from the outside, but… I got a replacement antenna for the UHF for $40. Might not be the best quality, but better than what was there (i.e. a broken off stump)

An old Sunbeam that I think might be a bit past repair... 

Ideas on when this was taken? Unfortunately it's the 20th Century.

A reminder of Wyndham's link to Pastoralists

A mostly uneventful drive to Kununurra where we were both sooo grateful for a Coles and the choices therein.

So a mostly good day, made better by the change of scenery as you pass Kununurra heading east which just gets more impressive as you turn off towards Lake Argyle. Then you get to the resort… Some people here love it and have been here for days or weeks. I’m not one of them. As you drive in you immediately notice how closely packed the motorhomes and double axle caravans are. And how many of them there are. I think we’ve found the Grey Nomad Long Term Storage facility from where they are trickled back onto Aussie roads at the end of each dry season. Then when you check in you’re given a wristband to identify you as a resident, not a day guest. You’re not shown your camp site on a map, you have to wait to be shown where it is, etc. While I understand why they do this with such a busy camp and some people love this degree of organisation, for me it adds to the stifling feel of the place. Add into this a singer that sings everything in an upbeat tempo and key, including the likes of Bob Dylan and James Blunt, (think along the lines of acoustic lift music) and you have something close to my vision of hell.

Having said that, I wanted to come here. The place is stunning and I'm still looking forward to tomorrow’s sunset cruise on the Lake. But I'm also really glad we’re heading back offroad to bush camps the day after… where these buggers can’t follow! I've seen enough examples of people that can’t tow, let alone the behemoths that they are currently towing, or failing to reverse (there really should be a competency test for this) that I'm really looking forward to the peace of the desert again.