It does my heart proud to see Lake Argyle and marvel at the collective feat of pioneers, engineers, hydrologists, and labourers with their families and politicians who pulled off this huge bit of water magic. In Australia this is perhaps the last major life giving miracle of nature we have witnessed in over forty years. With a grand vision, our Aussie nation took on the role of nature’s hand-maiden to create, ever-so-simply, a long term fresh water source of breath taking proportions.
The political struggles to achieve the dream are legendary.
So too are the cropping failures over the decades.
From memory it was Charlie Court, then development minister sparring with P.M. Robert ( pig-iron Bob) Menzies for federal funding. And these days Colin Barnett has announced that the dam wall will be heightened by four metres to provide an additional 100,000 hectares of agricultural land.
After reading and hearing so much about the Ord project over the decades, it is awesome to finally take a look at it.
Over 1,000 square kilometres of fresh water and the comparisons beggar belief ( if you can indeed believe them!). Like 16 times bigger than Sydney Harbour or 5 times bigger than Port Phillip Bay.
Hooey to comparisons. This is a very bloody big body of water.
The adding of 4 metres more of dam wall beginning next year, will make Lake Argyle 2,000 square kilometres in size, effectively doubling its capacity.
And the crops of the past that failed? Sufficient to say the vision still remains firmly rooted in those who would invest in the future marriage of water and fertile soils to finally succeed.
But today it was our turn to sail upon this beautiful waterway.
How stunning to at last actually have contact with the results. Travelling with like-minded boomer nomads, who all agree with, support and marvel at the enormity of the vision that brought all this to reality.
We had a tumultuous day on Lake Argyle yesterday and we head for Timber Creek en-route to Katherine in the NT. today, just over the border with NT our clocks advance one and a half hours to central time.
No Telstra* in this part of the world from Argyle to Victoria Creek where we are tonight being beyond Timber Creek and just 200km drive Wednesday to reach Katherine. * just purchased WiFi called Roamin’
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