8th - 12th June 2017
Barkly Station to Lake Argyle
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| Barkly Highway |
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| Peacock at Renner Springs |
After getting our LPG bottle refilled (it
was very close to empty), we bought an excellent bacon & egg roll from the bar and hit the
road. It was an almost dead straight
road to 3 Ways Roadhouse where the Barkly Hwy joins the north-south Stuart Hwy,
with only about 3 corners in the 190 kms !
We got fuel at 3 Ways, but not very nice and quite expensive, so we kept
on going past Banka Banka to Renner Springs, where we were set up by 1.30 pm,
had lunch, and a lazy afternoon. Jos
& Janet tried to go for a walk but encountered a snake early on, so gave up
and came home for a drink !!
 |
| Daly Waters Pub |
After a lazy pack up, it was straight north
to Daly Waters, only about 200 kms up the road, but you HAVE to get there early
– No bookings possible, and sometimes the camp site is full before 3 pm, so our
last couple of “short” travel days were to ensure we got there by noon or
so. We arrived at 1 pm, went straight
into the crazy pub to check in, and got set up before relaxing. We also booked early for supper at 6.30
because that too can get overbooked, and the barramundi supper at Daly Waters
is NOT to be missed. Nor is the night
time entertainment, which is always good, with roving minstrels, musicians, and
bush poets always on hand.
 |
| Andrew, Christine and family |
Before going over to the pub, we were
chatting to a family who pulled in behind us in the camp site – 5 young
children ranging from 2 year old Thomas on up, along with dad Andrew and mum Christine. They were from NSW and were spending 3 months
camping their way around Australia, and were the most delightful family. We had a pleasant time talking to the kids
about their adventures and they really were having a wonderful trip – It might
be hard for them to settle into “normal” life again when they get home to Wagga
!!
 |
| Daly Waters Hanger |
We then went over to the pub and were at a
good table by 5 pm, enjoying a few cold beers and soaking up the atmosphere of
this amazing Outback Pub. Since 1930,
Daly Waters was a refueling stop for the Brisbane – Singapore – London QANTAS
flights, with passengers being fed in the pub while the plane was re-fuelled. Later it was used as a WWII airbase, and it
continued in service until 1971, but with the hangar being the oldest in the N
Territory, it remains a part of the unique outback aviation heritage of the
Territory and Outback Australia.
Nowadays, the pub remains a veritable oasis in the outback, with crowds
packing in every single night during the cool months of June – September. Outside the pub, the fuel station and souvenir
shop have their own atmosphere, while the quirky signs around the pub ensure
everyone is in a good mood before they even enter the pub for their first beer.
 |
| Inside the Daly Waters Pub |
Inside the pub, one is met by an assortment
of “memorabilia”, mostly hanging from the ceiling – knickers, bras, T shirts,
money notes from every country, police and forces badges, and a lot more
besides. Newcomers are guaranteed to
spend their first half hour wandering around the pub, beer in hand, gazing up
in wonder at the weird assortment of stuff, and laughing as they wander through
!
 |
| Lou Bradley & Phil |
As mentioned, we were set up at a table by
5 pm, and had time to enjoy a coldie or two before the first entertainers
appeared – Lou Bradley and her husband Phil, who unashamedly hail from Nimbin,
a known “alternative” hang out in Queensland. They were excellent, and Lou is
apparently quite well known on the Australian country circuit, and they had a continuous
line of jokes and patter in between songs – Excellent entertainment until our
meal arrived at 6.30 pm.
 |
| Crazy signs everywhere |
And the barramundi meal was superb – Not
only the fish, but also the salads and vegetables to go with it. This is barramundi country up here, with a
lot of people coming up solely for the fishing, and it takes a lot to beat
fresh barra’ for a meal. The entertainment continued with another musician who
eventually got lots of people up and dancing as the evening wore on. We eventually headed back to our vans and
turned in for the night.
 |
| A stop for tea and scones ! |
 |
| Engine warning light |
We left Day Waters on the 10th
June, and visited the nearby “airport” and
“Stuart Tree” before heading on north.
Near Mataranka Springs, my engine warning light came on, code PO400,
which is normally indication of a dirty fuel filter, so we carried on to
Katherine. Being June, and a Saturday
before a long weekend, the place was packed, with long queues in the
supermarkets and liquor stores, and while Janet and J & T did the shopping,
I went off to Repco and bought a couple of fuel filters, and changed mine and
reset the engine warning light and deleted the fault code using my Scan Guage
II – A very useful analysis tool for anyone travelling. After refueling, when Tony had a nasty moment
when he turned a bit too sharply and the rear of his car caught the LPG bottle
on the front of the caravan, bending the mount and putting a nasty dent in the
gas bottle – Good job he didn’t puncture the full bottle or he would have been
off up the road like a jet propelled rocket !
 |
| Drinks with Lizzie, Dan & Jess |
Turned west out of Katherine and headed
towards Kununurra. We stopped for the
night at Mathison Rest Area, arriving just in time to get a decent spot before
the late arrivals came in and had to park on the road way. It is so busy on the roads up here at this
time of year with all the Grey Nomads in their vans that you really need to be
stopped by 3 pm in order to get a spot !
There was a lady on a bicycle with a little tent just beside us, and
when Janet went over for a chat she turned out to not only be from Mt Eliza
(where Janet is from), but also to be 78 years old !! And about 5 ft tall ! Lizzie turned out to be the most amazing
lady, who told us some of her many tales when she joined us for drinks,
 |
| N Territory sunset |
and
stayed on to share our dinner later. We
were also joined by Scotsman Don and his English girlfriend Jess (??? Ooh –
Sorry, if I have got the name wrong !!), who were a delightful young couple
heading around much of the country. Don
has been working on the oil rigs, so we were able to have a good chat about
life on the rigs ! He also gave us some
great tips about places to see on the Gibb River Road. A really pleasant evening – The type that you
can only get when on the road, meeting total strangers, and sharing a few beers
and some stories as you spend the evening together, perhaps never to meet
again. It really is a top
experience.
The next day, the drive west on the
Victoria Hwy was through amazing and constantly changing countryside of rocks
and cliffs and hills, with cattle everywhere, many rivers and waterholes still
wet from the rainy season, wedge tailed eagles, ant hills in clothes (!), and increasing numbers of the
weird looking boab trees – “Upside down” trees, really ! We had the Stokes
range of hills on our left, and the Pinkerton Range on our right, make for a
pleasant change from the usual never ending flat countryside. We stopped for a coffee at Timber Creek, and
to
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| "Dressed" termite mound |
turn off the engine light which had come back on again, and fortunately
stayed off for the rest of the day. We
then had to cross into W Australia where there is a quarantine check, and they
proceeded to take all our fruit and most of our veggies !! Once that was sorted, we headed on a little
further before turning left and driving the 35 kms down to Lake Argyle where we
were booked in for a couple of days. The
camp site is on the shores of the Lake, but is high up on a cliff edge, which
we were not expecting. Nevertheless it
is a delightful spot, and after setting up camp we went for a quick drive round
the area in Tony’s car, over the Ord River Dam, before settling in with our
drinks at 4.30 pm
 |
| Lake Argyle |
for sunset music overlooking the lake. Afterwards we had a supper of roasted pork
belly with Jos & Tony and chatted, before turning in for the night.
Woke up early the next morning (12th
June) to check out the dawn over the lake, but it was all a bit disappointing because
the light was all the wrong way. Still a
spectacular view over Lake Argyle, and after a shower and getting some laundry
on, Tony cooked some excellent bacon and eggs for breakfast, and we had a lazy
morning, with parrots playing in the boab trees around us. We
 |
| Tony cooking bacon & eggs |
had booked on a sunset cruise on the Lake,
and with sunset early round here at about 5 pm, and a video about the building
of the dam to form the Lake beforehand,
we had to be moving by 2.30 pm !
Built in the 1960’s to dam the Ord River,
Lake Argyle now holds as much water as 21 Sydney Harbours ! It has a hydro electric plant, and also
supplies water to all the massive farming and agricultural projects in the
region – Much of W Australia’s fruit and vegetables come from up here, although
I understand
sandalwood is becoming an increasingly popular product due to the
high value of the wood and the oil on the international market.
 |
| Fresh water crocodile |
 |
| Lake Argyle is enormous |
After watching a video that told us all
about the construction of the dam, we all climbed aboard a small bus to take us
down to the shore of the lake, and by 2.30 pm we were ready to set off. We wandered slowly round the shores of the
lake, seeing enormous spider’s webs in the trees of the Golden Orb spider, and
then we started to see a few fresh water crocodiles (known locally as
“freshies”) basking in the sunshine on the banks beside the water. Lake Argyle has one of the largest
populations of freshies, and these are obvious from their long narrow snouts,
as against the wider snouts of the Salt Water (or Estuarine) crocs, known
locally as “Salties”. It is important to
know that freshies are more insect or small fish eating, and generally not too
interesting in humans, whereas salties are the ones you need to be careful of
!
 |
| Wallabies on island |
Lake Argyle really is enormous – We didn’t
even go half way down it. We pulled over
to one island where there are a colony of wallabies living, and they feed them
small amounts of food (not enough for them to become dependent upon it) as 5 or
6 of them came down to the waters edge.
Also on the very top of this island was a tall ant hill from the
spinifex termites, standing out like a lighthouse overlooking the lake.
By then it was 4.30 pm, and we turned to
head back. A tourist float plane came in
and did a touch-and-go beside us, and then we were served some beverages and
cheese and biscuits to help us relax as the sun went down. A few hardy souls went for a swim, although
it was a bit chilly for us – And what about all those freshies ?? What if they were wrong about them only
eating fish ???
After a lazy pack up, it was straight north
to Daly Waters, only about 200 kms up the road, but you HAVE to get there early
– No bookings possible, and sometimes the camp site is full before 3 pm, so our
last couple of “short” travel days were to ensure we got there by noon or
so. We arrived at 1 pm, went straight
into the crazy pub to check in, and got set up before relaxing. We also booked early for supper at 6.30
because that too can get overbooked, and the barramundi supper at Daly Waters
is NOT to be missed. Nor is the night
time entertainment, which is always good, with roving minstrels, musicians, and
bush poets always on hand.
We then went over to the pub and were at a
good table by 5 pm, enjoying a few cold beers and soaking up the atmosphere of
this amazing Outback Pub. Since 1930,
Daly Waters was a refueling stop for the Brisbane – Singapore – London QANTAS
flights, with passengers being fed in the pub while the plane was re-fuelled. Later it was used as a WWII airbase, and it
continued in service until 1971, but with the hangar being the oldest in the N
Territory, it remains a part of the unique outback aviation heritage of the
Territory and Outback Australia.
Nowadays, the pub remains a veritable oasis in the outback, with crowds
packing in every single night during the cool months of June – September. Outside the pub, the fuel station and souvenir
shop have their own atmosphere, while the quirky signs around the pub ensure
everyone is in a good mood before they even enter the pub for their first beer.
Built in the 1960’s to dam the Ord River,
Lake Argyle now holds as much water as 21 Sydney Harbours ! It has a hydro electric plant, and also
supplies water to all the massive farming and agricultural projects in the
region – Much of W Australia’s fruit and vegetables come from up here, although
I understand 
Sunsets come early up here, and last for a while with every changing hues
across the sky. By 5 pm it was like a
son-et-lumiere show, with the most incredible colours around us as we motored
slowly back to the jetty. A true
Kimberley sunset on our last night at Lake Argyle. Jos and Tony had kindly shouted us the
cruise as my 70th birthday present, so when we got back to camp, no
one was too keen to start cooking, so we went down to the camp restaurant and I
shouted for the barramundi and chips (or I had superb fish tacos) and a bottle
of wine, and we sat and watched the movie “Red Dog” in the warm open air as we
ate our supper. And then it was off to
bed, ready for our next adventure tomorrow.
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