Lake Argyle, Kununurra and Wyndham

31/7/2015

Went to bed early yesterday as it got dark at 17:00. Read a bit in Napoleon Hills 'Think and grow rich' and listened to some ReWild Yourself podcast episodes. A lot of interesting stuff is presented in this podcast, many things I want to aim to implement when I'm finished with this trip to bring my life to yet another level.

Woke up early as it was getting light outside and the birds started to sing. After the usual morning meditation session, I enjoyed a yogurt with the lot of super-foods outdoors, watching the sun rising. There is no phone reception here at Lake Argyle, hence the normal (bad!) morning routine of checking emails, messages and the stock exchange was happily interrupted by sitting quietly, with a free open mind and focusing on nature. Very enjoyable.

In Kununurra, the regional center, I had a second breakfast at Wild Mango – the coffee shop I liked two years ago too, when we did the rugged Kimberley adventuretour. The coffee is still very good, and a nearby place has some free, yet slow WiFi. Blogging feels so much harder, when I struggle with internet connection and battery power.

Wild Mango

Even in remote Western Australia you can find some Austrian products

Had a chat with an Australian working in the hospital at Kununurra in a sort of fly in fly out arrangement. Gave me some quite good tips about the area and which helicopter trips to try and get on to.

The drive to Wyndham was quite scenic. Drove the road out to the port, but not much of interest there. However, the Five River Lookout on the top of the hill is another story: an amazing view over the surrounding landscape. Apparently the tides are quite extreme up here, more than 6m today!

There is some mining happening down there

A really big crocodile, downtown Wyndham

The campsite in Wyndham was a very positive surprise, great facilities and free WiFi, hence the chance to update the blog once more today and download some more podcasts for the drive, before heading out in the wilderness.

A huge Boab tree at the campsite

Wild-caught Mackerel steak in butter and lemon and a huge bowl of leafy salad with Kernoel

Moon, 31/7/2015

Met two Swiss girls in the camp kitchen and we had a lengthy chat. They are on a three week holiday in Australia and have chosen to do Darwin to Broome in a camper van. Unusual but awesome choice if I may say so.

The moon is almost full tonight, official full moon is tomorrow.

Distance traveled: 205km

NT to WA

29/7/2015

Another beautiful, warm morning in the North. Bought a long black at the road house where I was camping and upgraded it with some butter and MCT oil. Saw a long road train parked up next the the fuel station in lovely morning light and the driver just getting some breakfast at the roadhouse. Had a quick chat with him how such a 53.5m long truck drives: 'Quite nicely when you get the hang of it, just needs a bit of space when you turn her around'.

First stop in the morning were the stunning clear, warm waters at Bitter Springs. Unbelievable colour and clarity of the warm water. Perfect bathing temperature and free too! Amazing!

Continued on towards Kathrine and then further to Edith Falls. As beautiful as they were in my memory from two years ago. While I didn't go for another swim, I did the roughly 2.5km hike to the upper pool and lookout. Simply beautiful.

I have to admit that I misinterpreted the map to get to Edith Falls, and got very close to run out of fuel on the way back to Katherine. It was 140km, instead of the expected 60km!

After fueling up the van and buying some groceries, I continued the 20km to Nitmiluk National Park – where the Katherine river and gorge are. Quite beautiful setup of the campground, and two huge school groups camping there as well. I hiked the Baruwei Walk which includes a stunning lookout over the Kathrine river with a steep stairs and rocks to get to the top. Lovely 3.7km hike, a lot of bush land and almost no other people.

I cooked up a huge load of creamy and spicy Kangaroo curry in the evening, which will last me for the next 3 days and uses up most of my vegetables.

Gave some fresh vegetables and fruits to the family camping next to me, as I won't be able to eat all of them before crossing the border tomorrow.

Distance traveled: 433km

30/7/2015

Left camp early in the morning as I had another big day of driving ahead. First stop was at Katherine Hot Springs – only one other family of 5 and me were there to enjoy this natural bath which is on the outskirts of town.

There wasn't much to see on the drive, except some small grass fires, and huge, red rock formations. Unusual for me, I stopped for lunch, preparing and eating a big bowl of salad with all the remaining vegetables and avocados that I had left at a rest stop in the hot lunchtime sun.

After an entertaining drive, listening to many interesting episodes of Jordan Harbingers - The Art of Charm, I arrived at the NT/WA border. Going this direction, there is a quarantine inspection stop – you are not allowed to bring any fruit, vegetables and honey across. Think it is because WA doesn't have the fruit fly and other pests yet. There was a bit of a queue and I had to wait probably about 15 minutes to get my van and in particular my fridge inspected.

The funny thing is the 1.5h time difference when you drive over the border, so instead of it being 15:30, it was suddenly 14:00. Happy days!

Just a few kilometers inside Western Australia, another stone that was kicked up by a bus hit my windscreen and put another, this time bigger, chip in it. Quickly cleaned the spot straight away and put another sticker on it. Fingers crossed it stays as it is, at least until I get to Perth.

The destined spot for the night is Lake Argyle Tourist Park – the campsite with the most amazing pool that I have seen so far on the whole world. This infinity pool, with its smooth shape and crystal clear waters, overlooks Lake Argyle, with the deep blue waters and red coloured rocks in the background. Absolutely out of this world!

Lake Argyle - The Infinity Pool

 

Quick photo-shoot there, then the walk to the water tower lookout to get a different perspective on Lake Argyle. Back at the campsite, I jumped into the pool and enjoyed the view and to a lesser degree the cold water.

Due to the time difference here, the sun sets already at 16:30, and rises before 6am. Weird!

Wonderful sunset, a glass of wine (the first since Mount Isa!) and the yummy curry for dinner made for more great memories at this spot.

Distance traveled: 541km