Dam, dam, dam!

We had a lazy start to the day with pancakes cooked on the Webber and went to the dam as that's why this place is here. It is really quite an engineering feat and we drove across it and went down to the picnic area opposite the hydro power station. As we were looking at the power station one of the bypass vents opened and a huge amount of water shot out of one of the bypass discharge pipes. Woo hoo was heard from the car as Jenny thought that was cool (Jenny was sitting in the car because the wind was too cold for her to get out!)

Larry decided that the dirty Jeep should become a clean Jeep so out came the bucket and sponge and it got a cleaning back to sort of shining. The inside will get done tomorrow after Benjamin gets dropped off as we can clean out his area.

After that we went to the spillway which doesn't flow much these days but still worth a look. Called into the Durack Homestead and that was very interesting. What those pioneers did was quite amazing and because of them and the other people that did the cattle drives the Kimberley has a cattle industry. One pair of brothers drove a smaller herd than the Durack's from NSW and covered over 5600kms which is the longest cattle drive ever recorded apparently.  Just some information to whoever may be interested.

Chilled out at the van for a couple of hours a before joining our evening cruise. Was pretty good but the wind made it actually cold but fortunately we thought ahead and had our jumpers but way too cold for Jenny, Larry or Ben to swim. A few people did swim but that the majority did not. Had a couple of obnoxious passengers who insisted on standing against the side of the boat and block peoples view but that just reminds us not to do a bus type tour in the future.

Lake Argyle truly is huge.  We did a three hour cruise but barely covered more than 5% of the area of the Lake.  Lots and lots of fresh water crocodiles on the edges of the dam.  Apparently their numbers have swelled to a thousands now.  As the temperature has dropped over the last few days and it has been windy, the water is a little cold for them (about 25 degrees) so they were all sunning themselves on the banks.  A few nests could be seen and hence there is also a big bird population as they feast on the eggs/young crocs.

The good news is that no injuries were sustained today in our party, the same could not be said for the Dockers.  We watched a bit of the game back at the beer garden whilst downing the Friday night special of fish and chips and a beer/wine/soft drink for $20 each.  Back to the van but a late night getting to sleep as we had obnoxious people next door who shouted and guffawed until well after  10pm which is very discourteous in a caravan park - especially as Ben was trying to sleep outside approximately 5.0 metres away.