Lake Argyle

Last night I was at a birthday party for a girlfriend with 11 other women.  All of us are swimmers and we were relating funny travel stories as we have been away together on various trips to participate in swimming races.

These adventures are great.  It's nice to travel in a group (even though there can be some friction at times).  It's good to have a shared interest and then the wonderful memories that bond you together.

The photo here is from Lake Argyle in the Kimberleys.  A group of us went there to participate in a 20km swim.  I was in a squad of 4 and we did 10 minute legs.  The locals from Kununurra hosted the event and provided safety boats.  What a fantastic trip.  We saw rock paintings near ancient waterholes, boab trees and the colours of the landscape all around was fantastic.

There were lots of social events: a full moon festival starring Marcia Hines and many informal gatherings as well.  We went to a rum distillary and to the local markets.

The photo is of one of our teams in the lake.  It is very large(about 65km long) and can even be seen from space.  There are apparently a lot of fresh water crocodiles in there but I didn't see any - probably just as well.  They aren't really dangerous, it is the salties you have to worry about.

Anyway, just reminiscing about a great time.  It took many hours to complete this race and I feel proud that I did it.  It's fresh water so a lot harder than the ocean swims we usually do - less buoyancy.