Saturday, 20 June 2015

Day 24: Lake Argyle

After our intro yesterday to the campsite, we both decided to get up and get out to try and find a bit of peace for the morning...

Departure was delayed because we couldn’t do our washing when we got up as the laundrette is locked until 7am. God knows why. Got back there at 0705 and every machine was filled, and a queue forming… Aargh! Nothing for it but to wait… Once we were done, and managed to escape, there aren't many places to go. There are no 4wd tracks to explore around the lake, and the road only goes a couple of kilometres to provide access to the pumping station below the dam. There are a couple of lookout points along the way, but the star is a shaded park at the end of the road. So with time to kill, I took the unsubtle hint to leave Jen (in peace) there and went fishing around the outlet current where there were some Redfin lurking. That managed to kill an hour or so without apparently disturbing the fish, even though I presented a variety of lures above, below the in between them. Not a sniff. All that time and effort, and they couldn’t be bothered. Ungrateful buggers.

The main dam for Lake Argyle. It's so small that apparently the lake would take 5 years to drain if the dam failed..?

The hydro power station. Uses 72,000 litres per second, and the water then goes to irrigation.

Ord river. Many fish. Couldn't tempt any of them.

Before long it was time to head back to camp and be herded onto a bus for the sunset cruise on Lake Argyle. We had a young Aussie driving the boat, and a young Kiwi zoologist as guide. They were fantastic. OK, so we weren’t as fussed as some about seeing the Freshies, and we didn’t join the rush to see Wallabies and Wallaroos up close. But when it came to talking about the Lake, uses for the water, environment, and delivering us to a superb spot so we could jump of the back with a float that enabled us to wallow with a beer while enjoying sunset, they were superb. While it doesn’t change my view on the campsite, this tour is a must do if you are in the area. It costs $90, for 4 hours on the lake. As a final hint, it’s not until you get out there and realise that you are cruising at a decent pace and still not even covering the top corner, that you realise how vast it is. Final, final note is that the first use for the water is to power hydroelectric turbines. This uses 72,000 litres per second, and over a month it only reduces the water level by 2cm… The lake is up to 96m deep. It holds a LOT of water. No wonder various WA Premiers have thought about piping it back to solve Perth’s water supply issues…

This lake really is huge...

A fabulous warm, still day...

...became a gorgeous sunset...

...and dusk wasn't too shabby either


We thought the day ended with a pleasant dinner at the pub, then an early retreat to the tent, although we knew that sleep wasn't going to happen while the open air movie was being shown (outdoor screen about 300m from the tent). Our new neighbour had a similar thought so she stopped for a chat. After 10 minutes her husband brought her seat round and joined her. Oh boy. I thought Jen could talk, but even she struggled to get a word in! Great people. Which seems to be a common theme for everywhere we've stopped along the way.

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