Argyle Homestead and Lake Argyle

This post is going to be a long one , because there is a lot of history and i want to bring it all together

The story begins with a family, the Duracks, an Irish family that migrated to Australia in 1853. The family were struggling tenant farmers in Ireland, sadly two months after arriving in NSW the father Michael was killed accidentally leaving his young son Patrick to care for his Mother and seven siblings. Patrick settled the family in NSW in the Goulburn area and moved to Victoria to make his fortune.  He returned after 18 months with £1000. Patrick , now married, and his brother Michael decided to move the family to south west Queensland where there was more land and opportunities.

The brothers ended up claiming 44 000 square kilometres of land and established the Kyabra and Thylunga stations. Patrick soon had several other properties operating as hotels and butcheries 

In 1881 wanting to further increase his kingdom Durack purchased land on the Ord river in the Kimberlies in the name of his two eldest sons. Shortly there after the Duracks organised the longest cattle drive in Australia’s history , sending 7250 cattle 4828 kms , the drove took two years and four months, they arrived with half the original herd.

Not long after Patrick sent his sons by boat to set up “Argyle downs and Ivanhoe stations” 

The homestead above and below was constructed in 1895 by Patrick Durack, built from limestone blocks and mortar made from crushed termite mounds ,the home was renowned as one of the main places for social gatherings in the area.

Sadly the Durack families financial status dramatically declined resulting in the sale of properties and the government ultimately resume a large portion of the land for the Ord River irrigation scheme. The families history is an interesting story and i look forward to learning more by reading Patricks granddaughter, Mary Duracks novel, Kings in grass castles.

When they commenced building the Ord river dam (now lake Argyle) they believed that it would take 5 years for the lake to fill. However as a result of cyclone Tracey and a few big wet seasons it started filling rapidly. There was a lot of pressure to move the  Durack homestead due to his. History which was soon to be flooded, by locals and Mary Durack. So the homestead was dismantled stone by stone , numbered and stored , for several years, to be ultimately rebuilt on much higher ground, it was opened to the public as a museum in 1979.  It was a very interesting home , and a lot of really interesting information was provided about the family, the traditional owners who worked for the family and all the other  prominent families  of the area.

The Ord River dam wall that you can see above on the right , was commenced in 1969 and is built entirely of stone and clay and was built over three dry seasons.

The water you can see pumping out is from the Hydroelectric station which was built in 1990 and now produces enough electricity to support Kununurra and Wyndham. 

When the Ord river Dam was completed in 1979 it became the largest capacity dam in Australia with an estimated capacity of 5641 gigalitres , 11.2 times the  capacity of Sydney Harbour however with the building of the hydroelectric power station they needed to ensure that the dam had a constant high volume so an additional 6 metres was added to the spillway, this then doubled the size of the lake to a capacity of 10763 gigalitres. We did a guided cruise on the  lake and it was like doing a cruise around the whisundays, there was so much water.

The creation of the dam however did not just flood land and require cattle stations to close it also removed the home of 1000s of creatures.

This resulted in the  development of what was called Operation Ord Noah

Whilst the crocodiles were well and truely able to fend for themselves they say that at the time of building the dam there was about 350 freshwater crocodiles living in there is roughly lake Argyle, now with few natural predators that population is estimated to be about 35 000.

The western Australian wildlife association was tasked with Operation Ord Noah

They enlisted several well know conservationists, like Harry Butler, Malcolm Douglas and many others to help plunging into rapidly rising floodwaters and using tinnies they rescued walllabies, skinks, snakes and all sorts of other creatures from drowning.  They also used boats to roundup herds of cattle, relocating them outside the dam.

For some animals like the above wallabies they were located onto one of the hundreds of islands created from the dam. Unfortunately though these wallabies are starting to show signs of inbreeding and really need to be relocated to a larger population. 

As part of the tour we received a constant well almost constant running commentary with so much information about the dam, its building ect …..

But we also got the opportunity to swim, the boat moored in the midst of the dam  well away from the crocs lounging on the shores, as the water is fresh water and VERY deep, pool noodles were highly recommended.  

As we cruised back to shore we enjoyed cheese and nibbles, wine, beer and soft drinks.

It was a very memorable adventure, leaving me with a thirst to learn so much more.

Until the next blog

Travel safe 

The Touring Knights