EDGE
Kimberley
WORDS: LINDA LEE RATHBUN
IMAGES: STEVEN DAVID MILLER/NATURAL WANDERS
OF THE
THE EASTERN GATEWAY TO THE KIMBERLEY, KUNUNURRA SHOULD
BE ON EVERY RVER’S TRAVEL LIST. IT’S JUST THAT BREATHTAKING
LAKE ARGYLE
Many Australian towns were
established to provision a
particular industry. In the
case of Kununurra, it was to
support the 1963 construction
of a diversion dam which,
in turn, was the first step in
developing the ambitious Ord
River Irrigation Scheme. The
goal of this scheme was to
capture the daily wet season
flow of 2500 gigilitres of water
into a reservoir that could then
be used to irrigate the fertile
Ivanhoe and Packsaddle plains.
Aerial view of Lake Argyle.
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gorv.com.au
If you are going to Kununurra,
it is worth a stop at Lake Argyle.
You can spend a night or two
at the caravan park there or
take one of the guided tours
on offer from Kununurra. Your
visit should include a cruise
on the lake (the sunset tour is
lovely) and a stop at the Argyle
Homestead Museum; the
homestead was dismantled and
reassembled at its current site
before the dam was completed
and the area flooded.
If the budget allows, a scenic
flight with HeliSpirit is most
interesting, giving you an aerial
view of the same terrain you
experienced on your cruise.
KUNUNURRA
ATTRACTIONS
Kununurra is very busy during
‘the season’ (June, July,
August). There are a number of
caravan parks, including a few
that sit beside Lake Kununurra.
If Lake Argyle and the dam
intrigued you, or you missed
Lake Argyle altogether, a