Sunday morning and Darl went off to the local motorcross meet, last one of the season. Very impressed with the track and the talent, really enjoyed. After lunch we were collected for our 3.5 hour tour of the Bungle Bungles in a float plane. It was a little disappointing that it was quite a hazy afternoon, apparently as a result of the continuing fires in NT, the smoke drifts across. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the outing, the scenery and the commentary by the young pilot. This is where we were the other day Ord River Dam, bird's eye view.
The Bungle Bungles are quite amazing spectacle. There are several gorges and associated walks that you could do, if you had a 4WD to drive into the Bungles. However we have been told the best way to see is from the air. It was interesting that this area was only discovered (or made public) in the 80's per chance a camera crew here doing doco on mustering, drinking at a Kununurra pub with a local pilot who asked if they had seen the Bungles and hence the Bungles were introduced to the Australia and the world.
The Bungles are million of years old, they say formed over time from the continuing desert winds from the east. From here we continue back to Kununurra via the Argyle Diamond Mine. Could you imagine working there, the workers fly in fly out, 2 weeks on at a time. The staff are accommodated at "Club Argyle" - sounds better than most 5 star resorts, each has their own self contained unit, they are cooked for, cleaned for and have all gym, pools, bars, restaurant facilities. They do not have to cook, iron or clean.
However the down side, if you are a diamond sorter, each staff member has their own one on one security guard (all of which are retired SAS), they are basically your shadow from the time you clock on to clock off, even toilet visits, now that's a bit much. The founding company where in such a hurry to establish before their 99 yr lease was contended they built a runway to allow access only trouble is they have built over a several million dollar seam of diamonds.....clever.
Quite eerie isn't it, we stop off on Lake Argyle at Lagoon Island for afternoon tea on the beach. There is a fresh water croc sunning itself on a rock, only it is not moving, it has been dead for a few days. The ratio of female to male crocs is 4 to 1, for male crocs to be born the temperature during incubation must remain between 30 and 33 deg C and as this rarely happens, chicks rule here! At this point there is 37 kms of water in front and 27 kms of water behind us. As you can see the water is like ice and we are not able to see the horizon.
A number of islands throughout the lake, which they actually refer to an inland sea it is that huge. As a consequence of the Dam being built, the original Durack homestead and property (Argyle station) was resumed. The original site now lies approx 18-22kms below water level at depending on the season. The waters flooded the property unpredictably quick, hence a lot of things were left as is on the day, however the sandstone bricks from the homestead were saved to enable the recreation which is now the Argyle Museum.
There is a couple of weeks each dry season when they open the original Argyle Station site to divers. All in all it was a great afternoon out, very informative and scenic. We've been carting around a coconut since Loyalty Beach and decide to crack it and celebrate the end of the day with a Pina Colada, camp style, check the cocktail shaker...
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