19/05/12 – A tale of three swims

The infinity pool at Lake Argyle - brrrrrrr!

Be careful when it comes to these signs...

This was a river crossing too far...

Boogied on out of the Bungles area pretty early doors (bearing in mind that the sun was now setting at 5pm, and rising at 6am – ‘pretty early doors’ means around 7am!), and got straight to the other end of the Gibb River Road. After swearing that we wouldn’t go on any more gravel roads, we quickly backtracked and decided to give it a try to get to Emma Gorge. We promised each other that we’d turn round if we hit any serious river crossings or very nasty road, but the only bad crossing was a stone’s throw from the resort so we parked up the Beaut and did the rest by foot.

A dip in Emma Gorge

Zebedee Hot Springs - something
strange happened to Tony's arms...

Took a load off at the Zebedee hot springs before starting the hike to Emma Gorge itself, and were very happy that we’d risked the drive – being surrounded on 3 sides by 65m high walls was a little intimidating, but spectacular. Jumped in for a much more refreshing swim, and somehow managed to misplace one of Annaliza’s flip-flops (doh – her first pair had already died a death!) before hot-stepping it back to the car.

Got out the other side of the Gibb
River Road - relief!

Another inviting watering hole

The picturesque drive to Lake Argyle

Mini-bungles at Miriam NP

Had a quick stop at Kununarra’s Miriam National Park, home of the mini Bungle Bungles, prior to heading to Lake Argyle – the largest manmade lake in the world containing 30% of Australia’s fresh water catchment. The earth had already turned away from the part of the sky that the sun is in, but upon seeing the amazing infinity pool we felt we had to have a final dip – freezing, but worth it for the photo op!

Key Learnings:

  1. When it comes to rock stepping, use the colours: Green is mean; Black and you’re on your back; Blue is true; Trust the rust.