DAY 57 - CROSSING OVER THE BORDER INTO WESTERN AUSTRALIA…

An early start this morning,  we had a few things we wanted to do today before we reached our planned destination for tonight which was Lake Argyle.  We were very much looking forward to our stay here as everywhere we have been, people have told us that it is a not to be missed destination.  We only had a little over 200kms to travel today.  

The first place we wanted to visit this morning was the Gregory Boab Tree not far out of Timber Creek.  It is about 3.8kms off the main highway down a dirt track which was quite corrugated, but we are so glad we made the journey in. 

Wild flowers growing along the path in

Some interesting boab trees that we saw on our walk in.

Gregory's Tree has historical and social significance. It is a living monument to the exploration of the North of Australia, in particular the North Australia Expedition led by AC Gregory in 1855-56. The tree (a boab - Adansonia gregorii) marks the area of Gregory's "entrenchment camp" from October 1855 to July 1856 and still bears inscriptions noting the date of arrival and departure from the camp. 

Gregory Boab

By the time we drove in and out, and walked the 500mtrs to the Boab Tree and had a good look at it, we were probably there for an hour…..

Taken in front of the Gregory Boab

One of the highlights at the Gregory Tree was seeing these red winged parrots.  

 I find the plant life and animal life quite fascinating.  Most of it is different to anything we have in Queensland. 

Fruit from the Kapok Tree

 

It was back on the road again, and this time, we stopped at the “Saddle” Rest Area about 50kms before the border where we stopped for morning tea, and to also finish eating the little bit of salad we had left plus a few pieces of fruit, before we actually hit the border.  

A boab with character

It seems that we were not the only ones doing this, as we met several other travellers in vans who were doing the exact same thing.  By the time we left here, we had nothing left that could be confiscated as we crossed the border. 

There are very strict on quarantine going into Western Australia, but I can understand this as just over the border you have what is called “the salad bowl of Australia”.  It is a fertile area where many small food crops are grown.  

Crossing over into Western Australia

Kathy and I at the border

Steve and I at the border

Western Australia here we come..

It was a little bit more difficult to pull over and have photos taken at the border here as cars and vans were queuing up to drive through the quarantine station.  We did manage to grab a couple of photos, but not with all of us.  The quarantine officer went through our van, opened our food cupboards, checked the fridge in both the caravan and car before he was happy to sign us off and let us drive on.  

The turn off to Lake Argyle is only another 6 or 7 klms down the highway, but then a further 35kms into the resort.  It was quite a drive in with stunning landscapes and scenery, both geological and plant life.  

The spillway of Lake Argyle

The road into Lake Argyle

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The sunset cruise we had booked

 

We arrived at the Lake Argyle Resort just after lunch, still not sure whether we would stay one or two nights.  We were keen to do the sunset cruise, so it really depended on when we were able to book this cruise.  As we soon found out it was completely booked out for Sunday evening and there were only 5 spots left on the Monday night Cruise.  We needed four of them, so Steve and Kathy booked them immediately as they paid for our accommodation, and that solved the problem of one or two nights, with us now booked in for two nights.

I am so thankful we had the two nights, as we had a wonderful time just at the resort on the Sunday.  You hear so much about their Infinity pool everywhere you go, so of course we were going to check it out and actually have a dip in it.  

Magical spot

Kathy and Steve at Lake Argyle

Steve an I at Lake Argyle

Someone is certainly relaxed

The amazing infinity pool overlooking Lake Argyle

Steve and Kathy about to hop in.

Is it really that cold

Ian and Kathy in the Infinity Pool

Trying very hard to get in...

Enjoying a swim with Steve

Kathy and I in the infinity pool at Lake Argyle

 The water was freezing, and it didn’t help that there was quite a stiff breeze blowing.  We did however get in and managed to stay in for a good half hour or longer.  We also managed to get lots and lots of photos as the views overlooking Lake Argyle were stunning….

 There were lots of lovely grassed area with picnic tables and benches scattered around overlooking the lake also, and they had advertised that they were having a musician sing and play on the headland here for the hour before sunset.  The musician’s name was “Steve Case”.   Now we have a friend back in Queensland called “Steve Case” who is also quite a musician.  Of course, we were going to make sure we were down there to watch a sunset and listen to this guy.  It was definitely not the Steve Case we know, but the Steve Case we know has just retired, so we took photos of his namesake to send through to his wife. 

He was actually quite good, and very pleasant to listen to as we sat there and enjoyed the beautiful sunset and the magical views in front of us.  

Steve Case performing on the cliff top

When we booked in, we also found out that on Sunday night they do a Roast dinner special.  $26 per head which included a roast meal and desert, so after a a long day of driving and lazing around the pool, we decided to book in for the Lake Argyle Sunday Roast dinner.  

Good old Bundy in Queensland... made me feel at home..

Ian and Kathy enjoying a good night out...

Steve and I enjoying a good night out. 

Our meal

The meal was lovely; the restaurant was set up outside under festoon lighting and the stars.  Steve Case entertained us again, and it was a truly wonderful evening.  Many of the songs we were familiar with and could sing along. 

Our musician for the night - Steve Case

Quite a few couples got up and started dancing, one couple in particular who really were Rock n Roll enthusiasts and they entertained the lot of us.  By the end of the night, he pretty much had everyone up having a go at dancing, including Steve and I, and Ian and Kathy.  Not that we are dancing, but there were a lot of us not dancers, but all up there having a ton of fun.  It was such a special day, and one we will hold in our memories for a very long time.