Kimberley Day 83 - Darwin to Kununnurra

The day started with a hangover although we had only drunk two gin and tonics. We realised that we must increase our water intake and avoid any alcohol in such extreme temperatures. After showers and breakfast we improved and finally left the campground headed for Kununurra. The NT/WA border was just before the turn-off to Lake Argyle, which meant we turned our watches back 1 ½ hrs. Mark and Sharon didn't seem too keen but David and I wanted to visit Lake Argyle before going into town. The drive was superb with spectacular scenery. On arrival we all agreed to stay a couple of nights because we could swim in the cool waters of the dam and fish for sooty grunter and "silver cobbler" a new name for catfish that makes them edible!

Lake Argyle - Ord River Dam

Unfortunately, the time change meant that sunrise was 4.58am and sunset 5.30pm so the day was hot early and we didn't get enough sleep. We all slept outside again but the mossies were a problem. We unpacked our unused mossie net and found it was only a single size and of no use to us. We managed to survive by surrounding the 4 sides of our ground sheet with mossie coils - they actually work!

It was here that we met Sarah and Wal a young couple travelling in a bus towing a trailer containing a 4WD. They had spent 3 years building the bus in Perth and had been on the road for 15 months but hadn't got out of WA. They had their two dogs, part German Shepherds, Mot and Oz and seemed very comfortable in total luxury including air-conditioning.

Our second day here was meant to be spent fishing but the heat made us all lethargic. The men put up our large tarp and we all sat under its cover for most of the day. The Lake Arygle tourist centre had an outdoor pool and every hour we would wander down for a dip - but even the pool water wasn't cool. Later in the afternoon, we starting putting our tackle together for a fishing session. The locals had gone to great lenghts to explain the best fishing techniques for the area but we didn't have the right lure. David thought we might be able to fashion something appropriate using some old hooks, a piece of shiny silver metal washer, his drill, some wire and Mark's 12v soldering iron. The end result was a silver spinner.

Yesterday, Mark had a perfect silver spinner too but at the boat jetty he lost it when it became caught on a submerged rope. We went back today with the diving gear to see if we could recover the lure. David geared up and after a 10 minute, 8m dive surfaced with the lure and 3 pairs of sunglasses!

Now that we had two silver spinner lures, we drove back along the dam wall to the better fishing spot and caught lots of tiny fish too small to bother with. Sharon has her heart on a fish BBQ though so we selected the 4 largest and kept those. The fish were sooty grunter (black bream) and although small, were plump and fed us well.