After two sunny days at sea, the weather for our arrival in Wyndham was overcast with light rain, accompanied by a chilly wind. It had our guests, the crew and staff reaching for their jumpers and spray jackets in preparation of the day ahead.
After a hearty breakfast, the first group left Wyndham for Kunanurra to cruise the mighty Ord River. The Ord River was first dammed in the early 1960s and a second dam, which created Lake Argyle, was completed in 1974. When full Lake Argyle holds water it is equivalent to 21 times the volume of Sydney Harbor and covers approximately 1000km2. Despite being dammed, water in the Ord River is now controlled and flows year-round, creating a meandering ribbon of lush streamside vegetation flowing through gorges of red and brown Kimberley sandstone.
The river supports an amazing number of animals and we were treated to sightings of nesting ospreys and white-bellied sea eagles, roosting flying foxes, Australian snake-necked darters drying their wings in the sun and the dainty comb-crested jacanas foraging for insects on rafts of water weed. Looking down from their lofty caves in the sandstone cliffs, short-eared rock wallabies watched as we motored by and our progress up the river was also noted by resident freshwater crocodiles, which were out lying on fallen trees and rocks, warming themselves in the sun.
After lunch at a beautiful camp on the edge of the river, we preceded up the river until we reached the dam wall holding back Lake Argyle. There we met the bus and took a tour of the dam wall and learnt about how the dam wall was built from our local guide. We then visited the historic Durack homestead, originally built by one of the early settlers to this rugged land, and some of us were entertained by the antics of the resident bowerbird who danced around our video chronicler who was trying to take footage of the birds’ impressive bower. After a quick tour of the homestead the group boarded the bus and headed back to Wyndham to board the National Geographic Orion.
The second group had the opportunity to take a flight over the Purnululu National Park to see the Bungle Bungle rock formations. Thankfully the weather had cleared for these flights and the guests were treated to a fantastic view of these unusual rock formations, nearby canyons and the huge open pit Argyle diamond mine.
Regardless of which excursion we chose, it was a fantastic first day in the Kimberley and whetted our appetite for more in the days to come.
