"We are not completely normal" pt. 5

OK y'all, let's get this finished. When one of you is writing my obituary let it not be said that I leave things unfinished FOREVER, just for an awfully long time. 

When last we left our Tale of the Gibb, (which ended a mere 6 months ago, I'll have you know), the Gibb River Crew was leaving Kununnura en route to Lake Argyle and the final stages of our journey. Gaia and I, in typical fashion, got distracted on the way. Lake Argyle, you see, is VERY CLOSE to the state border with the Northern Territory. To date, I haven't left Western Australia in all my travels here. So since it was only about 15 extra minutes drive to get to the border, off we scooted so I could say I'd at least made it TO the border, if not crossed over it. Because Covid. Katherine, NT (a town which I am dying to get to, for obvious reasons) was in the midst of an outbreak so WA had restricted all travel there. 

So excited I showed off all of my chins!

Then as we carried on, we saw a little herd of wild horses! So we obviously stopped to try and feed them apples. 

Views on the way into Lake Argyle Resort

The little "resort" we were staying at was actually this gorgeous little campground overlooking the lake. It has an infinity pool that offers very Intagrammable views of the lake but since I A. do not do the 'gram and B. have become really petulant about going into cold water, you'll have to be content with this photo from outside the pool of our first sunset at Lake Argyle.

We settled into our site, cooked up some dinner, and hung out listening to the live music drifting through the campground. I got up early the next day for dawn yoga overlooking the lake and couldn't have been more excited about that little taste of civilization. By the time I made it back to the campsite, the sun was well up, the heat of the day was starting to kick in, and a little breakfast was all I wanted before nipping down the hillside for a long swim and nap down by the lake. I mean, I was up for sunrise yoga, so I deserved a nap!

That afternoon we were booked in for a boat tour of the lake, but there was this nerdy little documentary film being played in the campground office before the tour began which showed the lake's construction back in the '70s, so obviously I went to that, too.

Some history: Lake Argyle is the largest freshwater reservoir in WA and it was made by damming the Ord River. It's actually so large it's classified as an inland sea - it's surface covers nearly 1000 sq. km. (390 sq. miles). Wildly large, home to lots off freshwater crocs and bird species, and nestled in among beautiful mountains, it would be beautiful just to cruise around on, but our skipper/tour guide, Tracey, was AMAZING. Frankly, the tour was our crew and a bunch of old folks. And because we were slow getting on the bus that took us to the boat ramp (I was really into that doco, okay!), we were first OFF the bus and onto the boat! So we got front row seats by Tracey, and then spent the entire afternoon laughing and joking with her about living in the remote north of Australia, about the rugged beauty of the Kimberley, about working in hospitality in a resort town. We totally hit it off. We dropped the ball by not getting a photo with her, but she absolutely made the boat trip worth while. 

Tracey taught us that 80% of a freshwater croc's diet is insects, hence the long, skinny snout

When it came time for the sunset swim in the lake, we were among the minority of passengers who took the opportunity. It was getting chilly, y'all, but there was no way I was gonna miss a chance to float about with my mates in water, at sunset, with pool noodles and cold beers. It just wasn't gonna happen. So up we climbed, to the roof of the boat, and away we jumped, straight into the cool, blue water.

That evening at the campground was going to be a surprise variety show, according to Tracey. The owner/manager of the place was moving down south after many years of apparent adoration from his staff, so they were putting on a farewell evening that wasn't to be missed. That was all the encouragement we needed to embrace another night of someone else doing the cooking, so down we hopped to the campground canteen for a feed and lots of laughs and dancing. One of the groundskeepers played the didgeridoo, the yoga instructor led the crowd in a dance class, and the resident musician played two of his greatest hits: "Kimberley Cassanova" and "Double-Dick Derek." Yes, they were as excellent as you imagine.

Our full day at Lake Argyle was a grand success. We'd soaked much of the red dirt off our bodies (if not our cars), I'd stretched out my cooped-up muscles on land and in water, and we spent the night rocking in laughter at the amazing staff of the Lake Argyle Resort.

Next morning was an early drive because we were on to our second-to-last big stopover of the trip: Purnululu National Park AKA The Bungle Bungles! It was a big drive day, so Gaia and I were happy to take a little chance at a rest stop when we drove past the largest, probably oldest boab either of us had ever seen. When boabs get to be quite old (remember, they can live more than 1500 years! We're talking Crusades, people. We're talking trees that have seen some STUFF), they go hollow in the middle. They're still alive, but the trunks hollow out and the branches stay alive. Hence my fascination with the things. Wild!

Grandmother Boab

Besides our visit with a Very Old Tree, the day was spent legging it to the National Park. We arrived just in time to find a campsite and then watch the sunset over the hills. 

Purnululu National Park is quite long and narrow with major sites at both the north and south ends. We were staying at the campground inside the park, not far from Echidna Chasm, one of its major attractions in the north. So we hatched a plan to start the day at Echidna for a hike and then make our way down to Cathedral Gorge and to see the actual Bungle Bungles - the striped domes that the park is named for. We had plans set to do a helicopter tour of the domes, but we wanted to experience them up close from the ground, too. So away we went!

Inside Echidna Chasm

The hike out of Echidna

The drive through the park meant we had some time to cool our heels from the heat - we were missing the hikes of El Questro and the Gibb that always seemed to end in a refreshing waterfall swim - before getting back into it. 

With the Bungle Bungle domes

en route to Cathedral Gorge

Cathedral Gorge has amazing acoustics!

That night we hung out around the campsite and listened to Andrew make spontaneous songs in similar style to the muso at Lake Argyle resort. Give that man a guitar and some beer inspiration and he can make magic! The new morning we headed back to the domes for a view from another angle. Nick, our helicopter pilot, was a gem, and Luke and Aaron the other pilots we dealt with were equally lovely. So away we went for our tour in the skies!

Captain Nick

After our sky expedition we were off to our final destination: Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater! Mia was, frankly, the only one who cared about this stop. She is a big old nerd, and she wanted to see a sunrise and a sunset over the crater. So after our flight we had to get rolling to make it in time! Of course, that doesn't mean that we didn't make time to stop and visit with this little guy who was crossing the road:

A blue-tongued skink!

We made it in time for the sunset, but I have to be honest: the moonrise was even prettier. 

Moonrise

We stayed up late "watching" Wolfe Creek, a horror movie about backpackers who get kidnapped and murdered and all that jazz while they're at the crater. So obviously I watched until the first scary bits started happening and then I bailed for my swag. The acting was appalling, but scary movies are just not ever gonna be my thing. 

Next morning was an early one for the sunrise over the crater. I beat Gaia in the Waking Up Olympics for probably only the second time of the trip, so I made some avo toast, tea, and got to packing. The trip was over, really; we just had to get back to Exmouth first. Away we went, with no firm notion of how far we were going to drive. 

The day of R&R at Lake Argyle had kind of worn off, the weeks of long drives had caught back up. We weren't sure if we could make it all the way to Lake Argyle and I spent much of the day's drive getting back into the same funk that had plagued me at Button's Crossing. I was ready for a shower with soap and hot water, we were having trouble finding a campground with availability on the route back, and it was a hot day, despite the aircon rocking in Tessie. Gaia, bless her, had gotten quite skilled by that point at letting me fuss and then stew silently at intervals, before making a recommendation on our stopping point: why not go back to Broome and ask Kieran if we could camp in his yard? Have I told you that woman is brilliant? A text was sent, a reply of "just let me know when to start up the barbie" came through, and the promise of hot food, warm showers, and cold drinks pulled me right out of the funk. 

I sewed up a hole in Kieran's favorite boardshorts in thanks for his  hospitality...again.

Rested, less grumpy, and committed to soaking up the final days of our travels we hit the road again, but for a much shorter day of driving. So we had a morning of shopping in Broome (we bought one of the "car backpacks"  (my term) I'd been salivating over for the whole trip; they're durable bags that hang over the spare tire on the back of a car and are great for carrying rubbish and dirty laundry - smelly stuff you don't necessarily want in the car with you while out camping), said goodbye to Oceane and left her at her house there, and then we decided to only travel as far as 80 mile beach, and to take the days with a bit less of a pedal-to-the-metal attitude. Dinner over the camp stove, another day of proper showers, and sleeping in the swags under the stars before carrying on to Karratha the next morning. We planned a day there for massages and shopping, and I got some of my FAVORITE chocolate milk at the Good Grocer. 

Choccy Milk!

And then it was finished. We left Karratha in the afternoon, got back to Exmouth soon after dark, and that was it. Tessie completed the journey. We all both loved and hated each other more than we had at the start. As Gaia told us on a near-daily basis during the trip, "we are not completely normal," true, but man, why would we want to be? I don't think normal people would've had nearly as much fun.