Gosh, the time just disappears and after sorting through the mass of photos we all take, I just run out of time. We are now at Kununurra in WA, having almost descended into sensory overload with the amazing sights we continue to see and experience. We are all struggling with the 1 ½ hour time change and I continue to wake at 5am, but then am ready for bed early in the evening.
So we left Darwin last Friday and caught up with Pete and Doreen in Katherine, with lots of sharing of stories of our days apart. Next day Geoff and Margaret from Burnie arrived and then we also met up with David and Gisla from Burnie and so happy hour extended into happy hours!! We all enjoyed relaxing in the nearby hot springs, then cooling off in the park pool. Discovered that our fridge was not working properly and all my freezer stuff was beginning to thaw, but after some considerable trouble-shooting Eric managed to get it working again. Our vehicle air-con also struggled with the humidity and kept freezing up, but we survived and hopefully it won’t be a problem again.
On Sunday Eric & I and Pete & Doreen left Katherine to head west. We soon encountered the huge Victoria River and the Gregory National Park. This area totally took us by surprise. We expected more of the flatish, semi-desert countryside until well into WA, but instead we found the massive escarpments of the Gregory Range and then never-ending mountains and heaps of new trees and wildflowers appearing. We stopped several times to absorb the scenery get great photos of this area. That night we stopped at Timber Creek where we had to endure the noise and smell of a huge colony of fruit bats in the nearby trees. Also saw our first freshwater crocodiles.
On Monday we continued through this amazing landscape and saw quite a few Brolgas, getting some great photos. The one photo which eluded me was of a Jabiru standing on some water, but by the time I had finished screaming and got Eric to stop and turn around, it had flown off. After crossing the border into WA, we came to the turnoff to Lake Argyle and decided to go in for a look. Once again, a huge surprise. A beautiful caravan park at the lake convinced us to stay the night and we then went on a sunset cruise of the lake. Lake Argyle is a huge man-made lake, extending about 90km by 60km with heaps of inlets amongst the mountains and dozens of islands created when mountains were submerged. Built in the early 1970s, an incredibly small dam wall contains this unbelievably large mass of water. The sunset cruise was just unbelievable, as we cruised in and around the islands and inlets, seeing many freshwater crocodiles, birdlife, wallabies and euros on the islands. Eric even went for a swim in the lake (the rest of us chickened out) …and no, freshwater crocodiles don’t attack humans! We enjoyed nibbles while watching the sun set over the water and behind the massive mountains, returning to grab some food and have an early night. Another amazing, unexpected experience in this continually surprising country we are travelling through.
Every day we marvel at our fortune in being able to enjoy this great country of Australia and to realise that never in our wildest dreams when we were young could any of us envisage doing this trip and experiencing these amazing sights. We feel truly blessed every day.
