This morning I woke well before dawn and I rose and sat with a cuppa as the day broke over the creek to my E. The bird concerto in the trees and above the creek was simply amazing, but as the light increased they then quietened and the air became warmer.
I headed further W today, crossed the Victoria River and not long out of Timber Creek I found the history of the naming of Gregory NP.
As expected Gregory was an expedition leader in the 1855 leaving Morton Bay and eventually had a camp in the area on the Victoria River. They spent many weeks in the area before leaving a note carved into a local Baobab tree with date and details of where to find their planned route in case they perished before arriving home.
This expedition basically put paid to the notion that there would be a great inland sea and was instrumental in opening the area up for grazing.
The landscape changed again as we ran along and through the Pinkerton Range. The Baobab trees were becoming more common, and I had never knew the size and the shapes that they can get, extremely interesting, and I couldn’t help but look out for the next one. I couldn’t always photograph them as it was not always possible to stop in a safe place to do so.
I stopped at a rest stop for morning tea and met a wonderful couple, driving a truck towing an A-Van camper – he (also a bike rider) was actually delivering the truck to a station further W and his car was being carried by the truck and they were going to have a touring holiday on the way home.
No sooner had I left them I reached the border where I met up with four riders from Victoria doing a circuit as well – 2xBMW & 2xVStroms. We had a brief chat and then crossed into WA passing through an agricultural check point.
I then entered the Kimberley Region – one of my many granddaughters has been eagerly waiting for me to reach this region - you guessed it, her name is Kimberley. Kimmy I am here my darling.
Just over the border you turn off and head S into Lake Argyle – well what a wonderful experience this is. The Lake is the consequence of the damming of the Ord River – which has created a lake some 12 times (at the moment and it is only 1/3 full) of Sydney Harbour, and is the basis for the regions development. When the Dam was finished after 3 years of construction in 1972, they expected it to reach its current level over a 3 year period. It reached it in 3 months – someone got their maths wrong. It will rise 15m over an enormous area creating a lake some 72 x the size of Sydney Harbour – simply massive.
The deep blue of the water surrounded by the red rocky mountains is just an amazing sight (there was some smoke haze around). I was going to proceed on but after doing some sightseeing of the dam, having lunch in a park maybe 100m downstream from the wall, I decided to camp for the night.
What a fabulous decision as the camp ground is terrific with a pool overlooking the lake – a view worth a million+ dollars and I was only paying $12.50 for the night to have this privilege.
I met a couple & their 3 children from my stay at Mataranka. Another group, Peter a cattle ringer, his wife Ann and 18 year old son from Barcaldine who just wanted to talk and share their trips. Peter & I sat with a cold ale whilst we watched the sun set over the Lake.
This has been simply a long (the clock went back another 1 & 1/2 hours today) and truly inspiring day – far beyond my expectations.

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