Around Straya
Lake Argyle is only a 45 minute drive from Kununurra just before the border of the Northern Territory. We took a day trip to go and visit this famous place.
We learned that this was the largest man-made lake in the world and was created by the damning of the Ord River yet again. The damn was finished in 1972 and it took two years for it to be filled to capacity.
One of the largest diamond mines is located here and the only known deposits of Zebra Stone in the world have been found near Kununurra. We were fortunate to find some zebra stone while we were staying at Buttons Crossing and we also bought some zebra stone pieces from a rock collector in Kununurra.
Zebra Stone is very attractive fine grained Siliceous Argillite ( indurated silt-stone or clay stone ) with rhythmic pattern of red bands or spots contrasting sharply with a white background. Most sites found to date are under Lake Argyle.
The first thing we did when we got there was to take a walk up the Rocky Mountain to see the gorge situated just before the damn wall. It was a hot and dusty walk with lots of shale and rock and very few trees or shade. The view at the end was rewarding though and very beautiful.
We then drove down to view the lake from the damn wall. Unfortunately this is the best view you can get of the lake without actually taking a helicopter or aeroplane ride which offers the best views. It was very beautiful though as it was close to sunset.
When we left the Lake and headed for home it was getting dark and we got to see a wild horse looking beautiful on the side of the road.
