Kununurra and Lake Argyle

Heading east from Broome, we had plans of where to stay, but they don't always pan out correctly. So you have to be flexible.

We planned on our first night at Ellendale Lagoon, which on previous stays has been an amazing place. Green, lush and overlooking a really nice lagoon.

Driving to Ellendale the country looked ok and green, but as we got closer we noticed a definite drying out of the greenery.

However we weren't prepared for what we were confronted with at Ellendale Lagoon. This normally very busy free camp was deserted, and a dust bowl and just a small muddy puddle in the middle of the lagoon. All the camp spots had a thick layer of very fine dust!

Our experience here was shattered when we managed to get the van and car stuck in a very small area where we needed to turn around to get out. Took us over an hour to navigate this, and even had to take the van off the car, so we could turn it around.

Once we were free of this tight area, we were very relieved and made the decision to head to Ellendale Rest Area just some 10kms away.

When we got there it was smaller than we recalled and every flat spot was already occupied.

Next opportunity for a stop was a gravel pit some 30kms further east. We like gravel pits - no dust and generally not too busy. So that's where we ended up and we had the place to ourselves, very nice!

Our drive took us through Fitzroy Crossing which was flooded out early in 2023 and these floods wiped out their main access bridge. They now have a shiny new bridge which is supposed to survive all floods! Well, we'll see about that in years to come.

While we were in Broome Alan finished the last of his Vitamin B1 (thiamine) tablets which he was taking to keep the midges away. Ceratopogonidae is a family of blood sucking flies commonly known as 'no-see-ums', sand flies or biting midges.

Due to what Justin and others keep saying "there is no solid scientific evidence" and its all "anecdotal" that B1 works to keep midges away, Alan decided not to continue taking them.

5 days after he stopped taking them, we were at a Rest Area stargazing at night and despite having mozzie spray on, Alan got some bites. In the morning it turned out he had about 20 midge bites on one leg and about 10 on the other.

So much for there being no solid scientific evidence! So as soon as we hit Kununurra it was off to the shops to get more B1 and since then no midge bites to speak of!

This is a very popular free Rest Area, and you always feel safe as you're surrounded by many like minded campers.

It's named after Rochford Leycester Devenish-Meares who died here on 4th July 1999 at the age of 13. He lived in Halls Creek and was involved in a single car accident which took his life.

We were having several issues with the main water pump in our van and despite all our efforts couldn't get it functioning correctly.

With water dripping out of the Upper Assembly it was obvious that this 10 year old pump had seen better days and it was time for its replacement. But where do you get this done around these parts?

Luckily we found a guy in Kununurra who said he can replace it, and better still was able to do it that afternoon before we set up camp at the caravan park.

Sounds fantastic. So we got there in time for him to do it and he determined he needed more parts. So he said come back in a couple of hours and he'll get the parts and then fit it.

It was getting late in the day and after he fitted it, it was still sucking air and not functioning correctly. He realised his error, repaired that and sent us on our way.

The air issue continued for about 10 days and we just couldn't work out where the air was getting into our system.

So we contacted Bushtracker and they gave us a method of testing their spagetti of water pipes in our van and we located one last leak, right where this guy had fitted the new pump. Pulling out a torn washer and removing one which was turned around 90° to what it should have been, we got rid of 98% of the air being sucked in. At least our water was usable then. However not being happy with a 98% job, Alan did one last pressure test and with the aid of plumbers tape sealed the last leak. System has no leaks now, we hope!

One of the first things we had to do in Kununurra was to collect a very important airfreight consignment, containing things we had left in Alexis's car before we left Broome! Great that we have access to this facility. The water bottles were easy to replace, but not the hat. Avi Air fly Broome to Kununurra, so Alexis came to the rescue with her Woolies bag to get our belongings to us.

While in Kununurra we went to the Pump House Restaurant, one of our favourite places in these parts.

This is definitely a "must do" campground. Perched on the top of the cliffs overlooking Lake Argyle its a great caravan park, but expensive.

Not having a boat with us and being on the organised sunset tours a few times before, we decided to rent a BBQ Pontoon for the afternoon. Able to take 10 people, but just the two of us.

Merv and Jen had planned to join us at Lake Argyle for a couple of nights on their way back to Perth from Darwin, but they both ended up with Covid and had to extend their stay until they recovered.

So we enjoyed an afternoon on Lake Argyle at our own pace.

There are lots of Fresh Water Crocodiles 🐊 in the lake.

We did an early morning hike up the Ord River Trail for an overview of the dam wall, Ord River, and Lake Argyle.

This valley is such a spectacular place. The views go on forever. The drive alongside the Victoria River is one of the most spectacular we know of, really great when the right sunlight is shining on the cliffs.

We've seen so many ugly caravans this trip. They're a huge box on wheels, and generally family vans with double or triple bunks.

They're definitely a cheap way of travelling, but so ugly.

We're pretty sure they come flat packed from China, and they're all the same flat grey paint job.

This flat box on the axles gives the ability of having a centre bathroom/toilet and bunks at the rear. But it has the disadvantage of making the centre of gravity higher.