Big Nanny's Aussie Adventure: Kununurra to Katherine

Friday 12th July - Kununurra to Lake Argyle - 76km

Wow!! That was my reaction to Lake Argyle - 1000 sq km of beautiful blue water. Lake Argyle is about 35km off the main highway, and as if the scenery driving in isn’t enough, you come over the rise and see the lake in the valley below and it just takes your breath away. I stayed at the Lake Argyle Resort and Caravan Park for the night on an unpowered site for $15 which was quite cheap. I was parked on the cliff top overlooking the water below and had use of all the facilities including the infinity pool which was set into the side of the cliff.

I was fortunate enough to be there at the right time for the weekly Saturday morning pancake breakfast. For $7 you can wander over to the restaurant with your own plate and cutlery and help yourself to all you can eat pancakes and cups of tea. Being my usual gutsy self I couldn’t help myself and ate enough for both breakfast and lunch – probably dinner as well!

I didn’t go on any organized tours or boat rides – just too expensive for my budget, but I did have a good look around driving up to the lookout and then driving across the Ord River dam wall and down into the valley below where I sat and had lunch.

I would have like to stay a bit longer, but with a large swelling gradually spreading up my leg from an unknown insect bite, and only enough antihistamine tablets to last three nights, I decided to continue on towards Katherine. Last year I had a severe reaction to midge bites in North Queensland and had to seek urgent medical attention, so I definitely didn't want a repeat.

Saturday 13^th July - Lake Argyle to Saddle Rest Stop - 109km

Nice spot at the base of a mountain. Pulled up, set up my chair, table and floor mat, and sat in the shade for the afternoon. Thankfully the swelling on my leg hasn’t got any worse. Met a young French chap who was cycling around the world. He had only just started his journey around Australia having started in Darwin about 2 months ago. I love chatting to the various people I meet when stopped at the various camp sites. People are always so friendly and have so many interesting stories to tell.

I should be exercising more each time I stop, but it is just too hard in the heat. I am surprised at how hot it is. Being the middle of winter I thought the temperatures would average around 25 – 28 degrees during the day, but most days it gets well into the 30's – not that I’m complaining. Relaxing in the shade with a good book and a cold drink is much more fun than shivering in the cold back home in Melbourne.

Sunday 14th July - Saddle Rest Stop to Sullivan National Park Bush Camp - 224km

Much the same as yesterday. Sat in the shade and chatted to other travellers.

Today (Monday 15th July) - Sullivan Bush Camp to Katherine - 181km

I arrived in Katherine about lunch time and had intended to shop for groceries as well as head for the post office and pick up a parcel I was expecting. Big surprise. Busy, Busy, Busy. With the town preparing for their annual show this coming weekend there were people everywhere. The post office has a special window box that opens on to the footpath where people line up to pick up packages, etc. There was a long queue so I went back to get Oscar because it was too hot to leave him in the van, and I had to wait for 35minutes in the queue.

Feeling extremely hot and bothered I decided to give grocery shopping a miss and headed for a caravan park down the road. I booked a powered site for two nights, backed in, plugged in the power, turned on the air conditioning, stripped to my undies and collapsed on to the lounge. Ahhhh......bliss! When the sun goes down I will head outside and have a look around in the cool of the early evening.

View of Lake Argyle from top of dam wall.

View of the valley on the other side of the dam wall.

View of dam wall from road below.

Picnic area in valley below the dam wall.

Infinity pool at Resort overlooking Lake Argyle.

Another view of pool.

View from my van where I was parked on cliff top.

I was parked next to a shrub with yellow and orange flowers that had the most beautiful scent. The honeyeaters were constantly fighting over the flowers.