A very sound sleep was had by all overnight after several days of hectic hiking. This morning involved a short visit to the local sandalwood shop near Kununurra, sandalwood being a parasitic and precious tree that is grown in this area, given the ready access to large volumes of irrigation water.

Just before lunch, our tour bus picked us up for the trip to Lake Argyle where we joined our cruise boat for a 55km return to Kununurra via the Ord River. This river cruise ended just after sunset and was most scenic, exhilarating and quite a sensual experience.   Our young guide Dylan was most informative and competent in our spacious and comfortable boat, powered by two large Yamaha V8 outboard motors.

The pictures below hopefully capture some of the grandeur of today. Yes, there are many pics but so many sights. The river was also glass smooth, and so quiet and serene in places, when we stopped to contemplate. Bird life was very apparent, and there were a few freshwater crocodiles out and about. Afternoon tea was served mid-tour at a designated stop, and a good time was had by all.

Lake Argyle. They say you can only ever see less than 1% of this lake given its size.

The mighty dam wall constructed around 1971. Lake filled by 1974. You can see the hydro-electric power plant to the right, which powers all services in Lake Argyle, Kununurra, Wyndham and other parts of the Kimberley. A very efficient system. You can also see our cruise boat waiting patiently for us on the left middle, as we look downstream on the Ord River.

Lake Argyle from the dam wall. This wall is a simple clay and rocks construction from adjacent material. Never expected to be breached but has three spillways, only one of which routinely spills for environmental flows down the Stonewall Creek. Water also flows over it in the wet season, as designed, and may be upgraded soon, to increase Lake Argyle’s capacity further. The other two systems have never been deployed even in the recent record floods of 2010.

Now under way and powering along. A very smooth ride on such calm waters.

Spying our first fresh water crocodile. See middle of picture.

Notice the calm waters and the many reflections. So many wonderful things to see and admire. The reflections just seemed to accentuate the beauty.

Lots of weed and lilies to support the abundant bird life, some of whom live their lives on these river reefs.

A short diversion up Stonewall Creek and observing this peilican that strangely nests in a tree, which is not usual for this bird across Australia. This Creek is part of the spillway upstream so retains constant river flow.

Lilies down one of the river’s diversions closer to Kununurra. There is agreement that the Ord System is a successful project, agriculturally and environmentally. The former is most under-utilised with about 6 years supply without further rain (unlikely) while there is now a very stable ecosystem in place, in Lake Argyle, and all the way to Kununurra, rather than the historical torrents, then billabongs, from wet to dry, respectively. Flora and fauna have adapated to a stable system over several decades now.

From this angle it is called Elephant’s Head, or from the perspective of downstream (see next pic), it can be known as the resting Buddha.

A fellow traveller. It was quite cool in the last 10 minutes after sunset as three of these boats powered down this river in parallel, us in the middle. Plenty of space on this wide river, all together and each with clear water. A nice advertisement for this wonderful cruising company, on the Ord River.

The end, at the deversion dam in Kununurra, built first in the 1960’s before the main dam was constructed. It has its own radial gates that allow flood waters to push through regardless, or can hold water back in the dry season, to maintain some volume upstream, as required.

What a great day, and you can see, the sunset was just fine and dandy too.