Sky and water meet on beautiful Lake Argyle, Australia's largest freshwater reservoir
Should you ever choose to tour large swaths of Australia (by campervan or other means), you might be surprised how often you discover the best place ever — only to reluctantly leave and find another best place, and another one.
I guess it all depends on how you define “best”. To me, it has a lot to do with natural beauty, a place where I see more wildlife than people, and something about a feel or spirit that can’t be put into words.
On this 360-degree drive around Australia, I’ve found the country’s vast coastline usually delivers in spades. Like so many people, I’m drawn to the beach, where the terrestrial and aquatic realities of our planet intersect. Which is probably why a gem of a spot is still stuck in my mind several weeks after I meant to share some thoughts and images about it.
The funny thing is, Lake Argyle is not on the coast, and it’s not exactly natural either. It’s Australia's largest freshwater reservoir, an artificial dam of monumental proportions — holding enough water to fill 18 Sydney harbours — located in the middle of the Kimberley. Although almost every Australian has heard of it, an insignificant proportion of us has bothered to see it. Which is a pity, because it’s a fantastic place to visit.
Crocodile dreaming ... A Lake Argyle landmark
For starters, there’s its fascinating history. The lake was opened in 1972 after damming the Ord River. Since that time, it has captured some of the massive volumes of water released in the Top End each wet season, water that used to flow straight into the ocean and now goes to the year-round irrigation of adjacent agriculture. Farming requires only 300 gigalitres per year of the 11,000 gigalitres typically held in the lake, however. The remaining water is released to replenish wetlands that have come into being since the dam's construction, or discharged to the Ord and out to sea.
As you might expect, Lake Argyle itself has become a vital habitat for wildlife, including fish, of course, and also marsupials, migratory birds, and about 25,000 freshwater crocodiles. We spotted many freshies lazing about when we took a catamaran trip on the lake last month. What a great day that was! The tour operator picked us up from our van park in Kununurra mid-morning and drove us about an hour to the boat. Along the way, we stopped at Argyle Downs Homestead, home of the famous Duracks, one of the first European families to settle the vast Kimberley in the late 19th century. (The family’s history is retold in a series of popular novels, including Kings in Grass Castles, by descendant Mary Durack, who died in 1994.) The homestead was actually relocated to this spot prior to the dam flooding. Today it’s more of a museum, with the headstones of several family members located in the garden.
Tombstone of Australian author Mary Durack, located at Argyle Station
The Kimberley Cat was first class, a super roomy 50-footer that its entrepreneurial owner had sailed from its South African birthplace to Derby, then transported by road to the lake. Melonie and I enjoyed a typical Outback winter day on the foredeck, which meant 35 degrees Celsius and lots of sunscreen, swimming, and cold BYO beers.
“They’d never get it built today,” the boat skipper told me during an easy-going side conversation about the lake. “Too much red tape, no political vision, and the greenies would never let it happen.”
The deckhand prepared a delicious salad lunch while we cruised amongst spectacular views of red Outback ridges, their mirror images reflected perfectly in the still lake, which seemed to stretch forever. Eventually, the sun set behind those ridges. Although we'd sailed for hours, we'd barely covered one section of Lake Argyle. It was an otherworldly kind of day.
Incidentally, anyone who knows me knows I’m one of those greenies the skipper was talking about. But Lake Argyle is one of my favourite pitstops on this trip, perhaps because it brought back childhood memories of Perseverance Dam and Cooby Creek Reservoir, which our family would explore outside Toowoomba, Queensland on many a happy Sunday.
And on a practical note, all that extra, unused freshwater just hanging about while towns and cities on the eastern seaboard endure year after year of drought. Seems like we need some of that 70s guts and vision to return to Australian politics.
Tips
- You can free-camp at Lake Argyle or stay in the lake’s only van park if you’re ready for some rudimentary services, such as a hot shower and washing machine
- Some lovely picnic grounds are available down by the dam wall. They offer lots of shade, a rare commodity in the Kimberley.
The Kimberley Cat offers a low-impact way to appreciate Lake Argyle
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