Heading into WA, our afternoon stop was at Lake Argle, approx 60km from the main township of Kununurra.

Arriving at the reception area, we decided to book into the sunset cruise on the Lake. Leaving at 2:30pm, we journeyed down to the small dock by mini bus and then set out across the lake. What a stunning experience!!! Lake Argle is a man-made lake which was created when the Ord River was damed in the 1960’s. Due to a couple of very wet wet seasons, the dam quickly filled to a capacity 9 times that of Sydney Harbour! It was amazing to cruise around past some of the towering mountain ranges that bordered the lake as well as past the massive dam wall.  The engineers used nearby rock for the dam wall and when they blew out part of the mountain to crush the rock- the resulting land movement was even measured on seismographs in Sydney! We even spotted some rock wallabies, eagles nests and fresh water crocs. It was quite interesting that we stopped off at our first swimming hole just after spotting the freshies!! It didn’t stop most of us from jumping in for a refreshing dip! We also had another opportunity for swimming as the sun set and enjoyed some drinks and nibblies aboard the boat. I really recommend this cruise on Lake Argle.

Wanting to move quickly along, we chose not to stay at the Lake Argle Van park, but drove in the early evening into Kununurra. We checked into Hidden Valley Caravan Park and were amazed by the number of mango tree planted through the park. The kids quickly filled up our supply of fresh mango!! Mmmmm.

The following morning, we headed our early for a long and hot day out. Driving north, we ventured up to the port of Wyndham. On the way, we stopped in at The Grotto and admired the gorgeous rock chasm, counting up to 6 seconds that it took for the rocks we threw to hit the water below. Arriving in Wyndham, we took some photos at the famous big croc, then ventured out to the port. Although most of the port and wharf section is closed to the public (they are building a new public wharf), we were still able to see the far off Timor Sea. Joe and Steve had a go fishing while the kids chased crabs in the mud flats. Wyndam experiences the 3rd highest tides in Australia and it was amazing to see the length of sticky mud left as the tides were receeding. Let’s just say the kids shoes were covered!!!

We then headed up to the Five Rivers Lookout- which was absolutely stunning and probably one of the best lookouts that we have seen. It was amazing to see 5 mighty rivers weaving through the land, especially viewing the Ord River where is continues out to sea. Despite now reaching a temperature of 45 degress celcius, Joe and Steve decided to have a quick game of basketball on the local courts! Crazy boys!

We soon refilled our drinks supply and left Wyndham to venture onto the famous 4wd track- The Gibb River Road. This track goes some 600km from Kununurra to Derby. Being that our van is not set up for off road, we were doing 100km worth! Our first stop along the track was the gorgeous Emma Gorge. The 45min medium grade hike into the gorge was tackled by the 4 boys, while Mel and Kaytlin enjoyed the resorts pool and cafe! The boys reported back that whilst the hike was quite adventurous, the dip in the falls and pool at the bottom of the gorge was quite refreshing!

We then headed back onto the Gibb River Road, drove past El Questro and headed for the Pentecost River crossing. Being quite a wide river crossing and perfectly safe this time in the season, we drove back and forth across it a couple of times- much to the amusement of a couple of guys camping by the river! After drenching our thirst for a river crossing, we headed back home along the Gibb River Road.

The following morning, Joe had chartered a flight for the 6 of us. It was a surreal experience taking off in our little plane with all the kids excited about their headphone gear! We viewed the town of Kununurra and the expanse of agriculture in the surrounding suburbs. We then headed for Lake Argle, flew over the 75km length of the lake and headed for the Bungle Bungles. By this time, both Kaytlin and Joe had been sick, with the rest of us not looking particularly good either! Nethertheless, flying over the Bungle Bungles was amazing- the formation of the rock and the patterns created were stunning. We enjoyed a flight over the Argle Diamond mine (closed to the public) on the way back and we all felt a little better by the time we were flying over the Kununurra fields again.