The starting point

The starting point

Saturday 13 August 2016

13/8/16 Up the river

 Well what a night - 23 degrees was as cool as it got !!! For  some reason we are waking at 6am at the moment - not necessary and definitely not required !!
 After doing a few chores around the van , we went for a swim before we were due to be picked up at 11:45am . There was another couple from Brisbane waiting , they flew in from Brisbane and Darwin yesterday to do this tour and then go to the Bungles for a couple of days . We talked for a while , the boat was a little late , but we weren't worried . Our cruise up the Ord River was going to be good .
 The boat we are going on has 3 x 350 horse power motors , so power wasn't a problem - it cruises along at 50 klms per hour , and we had 55 klms to go to get to Lake Argyle Dam wall .
 The boat arrived and we jumped on - there was 15 of us on the boat - it can carry 50 !! so we could move round freely for photo's etc , which we did . We scooted up the lake at a good pace , the wind helped keep the temperature down , we stopped at a few locations on the way up , there are plenty of fresh water crocodiles here , and lots of birdlife !! This is a male Snake Neck Dart .



The scenery is awesome , you are powering along this river , red rock mountains beside you , green spinifex grass contrasting the red , cliff faces , rocks sloping to the water and rocks on the other side of the river are vertical - there must have been some tremendous forces to create this fault line that the river is flowing through .
 The water is crystal clear , a beautiful shade of green and up to 28m deep in parts , others it's only 1m deep , you can see fish swimming around .
70,000 litres per second are pouring out of the hydro plant at Lake Argyle and flows through the river and is utilised in the irrigation area , the rest flows straight out to sea .
I shall let the photo's do the talking .







We reach the dam wall !!


On the way back to Kununurra the boat was full - all 50 seats . Geoff ( the owner ) took us back down the river again , but this time spent more time showing different things and talking more about the river system , the birdlife , aquatic life and geology .



This rock formation resembles a horse having a drink , as you drift down the river the gap in the rock then resembles a map of New Zealand .


  There are many Kapok Trees out flowering , many more than we saw last year - they are everywhere out here .


This Osprey was sitting quietly untill we got a little too close .


Just one of the Freshwater Crocodiles


This is called the Kimberley Rose


This is one of the smaller creeks that flows into the Ord .



 We stopped for afternoon tea at one of their sites on the side of the river . If you use your imagination here , you can see a soldier with his helmet on . eyes , nose & mouth . This rock is perched high above us near their site .


In the boab tree is a sea eagles nest - it is the size of a double bed !!


We spotted a rock wallaby - it's colours are incredible and blend in with it's surroundings really well!!



  I know , you haven't had a sunset for so long - here's another one hahaha !!!






 We arrived back at the park and were delivered back where we got on - what a day - that's one of the best days we've had !!!
  That's your lot for today . Here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OcI5V7wP_gdK5Ufq32eiNQekXoU&usp=sharing


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