KImberley Special - April 2022

 

Kimberley Special 

Introduction

Four months after we arrived in Australia in April 1997, we were given an inspiring book The Kimberley, Australia’s unique north-west by our friend Ken Tinley who, like us, had also immigrated from Africa. In time to come, we were to become devotees of the ‘’Top End’’ and the book travelled around Australia with us along the Gibb River road, to the Mitchell Plateau, to Windjana gorge, the Bungle Bungles, and many other similar places.

Within the book was a beautifully illustrated chapter describing a voyage taken by the author, Jocelyn Burt, along the Kimberley coast with its many indentations, array of over 2 500 islands, its bays, estuaries, beaches, plunging cliffs, craggy headlands, and hidden reefs … all making us long to see the place for ourselves.

Here we are, twenty-five years to the very day of our arrival in Australia, about celebrate by stepping aboard a 25m catamaran Discovery One!

        

Mon 28^th March

Since parting with our rig over a year ago we cannot deny feeling a little envious of the folk we see hitching up caravans in the Discovery Caravan Park, ready to go somewhere … as we suppressed our ‘’itchy feet’’.    House bound, albeit happily so, for over a year, we seized the opportunity to embark on a two-week waterfall cruise along the unique and ancient WA’s Kimberley coast. A nerve racking seven weeks wait for this trip dogged us as covid numbers rose threatening to pull the rug from beneath our feet. Earlier cruises cancelled with ours hanging in the balance until a compromise reached. Go to Kununurra four days earlier to ensure no covid – we were happy to do anything to make it happen.

Uber took us to the airport for our flight to Kununurra, in northern Western Australia. The plane was full, and we were unable to sit together. This created covid angst as Lea sat between two people who coughed or sneezed too many times! Such was her paranoia so close to Boat date.   Three hours later, approaching Kununurra, we encountered storm clouds with rain falling beneath them creating lovely rainbows while down below, steep ridges of the rugged Carr-Boyd ranges, with their conspicuous folded form, came into view.

The Kimberley Grande hotel, our accommodation for the extra days to ensure we hadn’t picked up the dreaded virus going through airports before boarding the coach to Wyndham. We revelled in the all too familiar warm, humid conditions. An evening leg stretch through Celebrity Park re-acquainted us with the boab trees and shoreline of Lake Kununurra, while forked lightning, flashed across the horizon. We were very aware of late cyclones in this Top End and hoped one would not come during our trip.

  

Having a beer before dinner we sat with Discovery One passengers, Chris, and Bill Mutch. (They’d sat behind us on the hotel shuttle, with Lea had hearing the name Christabel on introduction!) Together, we watched cane toads arrive to feed on the insects drawn to the lights. Another sign we were back in the Top End!

Tue 29^th March

After breakfast we took a circuit through Celebrity Park and counted many small dragon lizards (aka Ta-ta lizards) stopping to wave between dashing around. The swimming pool beckoned on our return. Despite a shady spot and quick cooling dips over next two hours – we both landed up with sunburn!

     

 Many Ta-ta lizards sunned themselves around the enormous pool giving George photo opportunities.

 A boab still had flowers attached to the young seed pods hanging from its branches.

Over dinner, another couple introduced themselves – Carol and Trevor Ireland, from Adelaide. Carol (a botanist, with a particular interest in the eradication of rabbits) and Trevor (a geologist). With common interests we had a lot to talk about.

 Wed 30^th March

We skipped breakfast as we knew morning tea was on the day’s agenda. Keith Wright (owner of 2KTours) took us on a guided tour of Kununurra’s Agricultural Enterprises.  Keith knew the area like the back of his hand after 53 years in the region. For the next three hours he kept us well entertained and informed; taking us to see the radial gates below the diversion dam used to regulate the flow of water into the lower Ord; the Zebra Rock gallery; Ivanhoe Crossing (the original stock route crossing and an old road to Wyndham). Through the first (14 000 ha) phase of the Ord Irrigation Area which, since construction of Lake Argyle, has been developed on the floodplain of the Ord river. With his knowledge of all the crops grown we were intrigued to learn that in the production of hybrid seeds (sorghum, maize/corn, and sunflowers) helicopters are used to blow the pollen of the male plants onto the rows of female plants. It was fascinating to see and hear how Indian sandalwood (a hemi-parasite) is grown by planting it in rows between two host species (such as Sesbania) from which the trees obtain their nourishment.  Sandalwood (covering 7000 ha of the flood plain) the basis of a $100 million industry, Keith intended taking us to the Sandalwood shop. However, in the early hours of that morning it had been ram-raided. The police were still there on our arrival. Apologies from the owner and no morning tea! Keith took us off to see the second phase of the Ord Irrigation Area (13 200 ha, with sugar cane as its mainstay) and the canal which, in time, will extend into the Northern Territory, instead.   We had no idea just how extensive the gravity fed canal system is; how large the scheme will be, and the seemingly unlimited amount of water available from Lake Argyle. A large prawn farm (in which Keith has shares) has been established in the NT on the other side of the Keep River, using water drawn from the Timor Sea. The hyper salinity due to the high evaporation rate is combatted by introducing freshwater drawn from a dam. It came as little surprise to hear the venture is on the brink of collapse.  An unexpected bonus for George was to find yellow butterflies and dragonflies caught in the grill of the bus! He carefully stowed his loot away for casting in resin when he got home!

Thu 31^st March

Our morning walk along the edge of Lake Kununurra found a freshwater croc floating offshore.

Far more importantly, D day had arrived for our SARS Antigen Rapid Test. Reception gave us our kit (a nasal swab and use of a fluorescent light). It was time to see whether we had caught Covid on the plane trip! If this was the case, we would not be allowed to board Discovery One next day and our whole trip cancelled. The result – NEGATIVE was massive relief. 

Keith Wright kindly arranged an afternoon trip to The Hoochery (a rum distillery) and the sandalwood factory. Especially opened for us since the Tourist season does not begin until 1 May.  The Sandalwood display was well worth seeing. A video explained how, after reducing the roots and lower part of the tree stem to chips, oil is released by boiling them, using the waste wood as fuel for the boilers.  We were able to see (and smell) the finished products of the factory sent all over the world. Keith’s concern as a shareholder, was one of these days someone would produce sandalwood oil synthetically! Another interesting day, ended with a climb up to a viewpoint that overlooks the town. On Keith’s recommendation we walked to the Kununurra Hotel for supper for a change of venue and menu! Our last night was spent watching Shane Warne’s State funeral memorial on TV.  With 50 000 people present it was a very fitting tribute to an extraordinary, fun loving Australian character.

Fri 1^st April

Our Twenty-fifth anniversary since arriving in Australia. We were up with the dawn to most meaningful calls of kookaburra to board Keith’s coach for the hour-long journey and running his commentary along the road to Wyndham, he claimed to have done ‘’12 000 times’’.  On arrival at the rather run-down looking ‘’port’’ of Wyndham we could see Discovery One anchored offshore in the muddy waters of the Cambridge Gulf. We had to remain on the bus until a member of the crew came ashore to take our temperatures. Vicki Little was in for a surprise as the interior of the bus was so cold due to air conditioning, her thermometer wouldn’t work! Before long, we climbed into one of the tenders (10 people at a time) to enjoy breakfast aboard Discovery One.

Captain Lennie introduced us to the crew and without further ado, anchor was promptly raised to catch the outgoing tide of the Cambridge Gulf. Everyone shown to their cabin in turn and ‘housekeeping’ rules reiterated.  Particularly the wearing of masks unless outside in fresh air.  Better news, no footwear to be worn on the boat.  We loved the informality of this boat.

We immediately felt as if we were on Lake Kariba aboard the likes of Musankwa! As the shape of ‘’Kariba Heights’’ receded behind us (the Five River Lookout on the hill overlooking Wyndham) we thought we could even see ‘’Bumi Hills’’ (an island out in the hazy Gulf) in the distance. Even the sound and speed of the boat (12 knots) was identical. The only difference was the muddy colour of the water and the whirlpools that arose as we neared some islands at the entrance to the Gulf.

 

After clock watching all night for fear of missing this boat, Lea decided a sleep was very necessary and she ducked down to the cabin.  When the time came to wake her for lunch George found the cabin so dark, he couldn’t find her as he felt the bed! The darkness ensure Lea slept so well throughout the voyage.

It took three hours to reach the open ocean where a strong NE wind blew. This not only drove everyone off top deck. It caused the dining chairs to blow over and salads flew off plates! When the boat turned westwards, the waters of the Gulf began to clear; long beaches could be seen along with steep rocky headlands, but we were travelling too far offshore for details of the coast to be discerned. The atmosphere hazy, largely due to the fires we could see burning on the mainland.

Ten hours later, with the sun setting behind a huge anvil shaped cumulonimbus cloud we finally dropped anchor in the mouth of the Berkeley estuary and a wonderful silence reigned. The estuary mouths a hazardous area to negotiate due to the shallows caused by sandbars.

A life-belt drill took place before dinner – all completed in good time except Lea down in the cabin at the time, forgot lifejackets! After dinner Captain Lenny informed all, we’d be spending the next day in the Berkeley.

Signs of humanity came as we anchored close to the Berkeley River Lodge’s little boat harbour and a helicopter arrived with well-heeled clients to land at the lodge (out of sight).

Sat 2^nd

Next morning Discovery One took us another a further half hour up the Berkeley estuary, before we boarded the tenders on our first waterfall excursion.  Freedom is spinning across the top of the water, hair flying and a sense of adventure filling hearts. We were yet to fall into a natural split being the Captain’s Team - leader of the pack, with Team Brad following!

 The first - Casuarina Falls.

Nosing the prow of the tenders under the falls we were to experience the first of many enjoyable freshwater ‘’showers’’ or water massages. Camera all put away in watertight bags we all learnt to be smarter when it came to capturing these moments!   While Team Brad took their turn to be dunked - - our serious Captain unexpectedly began doing doughnuts! Oh No, he was merely circling fast to drain the sloshing water that filled the floor of the boat. And Lea dared to believe Captain Lennie was hooning!   

Feeling very refreshed, we continued upstream with cliffs on either side of the estuary becoming increasingly steep; in places one could see saline mudflats behind the fringe of mangroves; crocodiles regularly sighted as well as ospreys. In places, signs of rockfalls; presumably induced by sodden rain during the Big Wet or the occasional earth tremor.  The further we progressed upstream the more spectacular did the soaring 70 – 80m high, rust coloured sandstone cliffs on either side of the gorge become.

They seemed to go for ever with each bend in the estuary bringing more awe-inspiring scenes. Next stop came opposite a huge amphitheatre of vertical sandstone cliffs, streaming with water, to walk along slippery platforms below and have another shower. In the clear water below, we could see large Archerfish swimming.

 

For 12 km we continued up this spectacular gorge with tenders moving swiftly. All heads tipped upwards marvelling at the cliff heights and colours, we caught glimpses of Brahminy kites and two pairs of Brolga cranes in flight.  Some folk noticed plastic debris floating down river! On sighting a large globular lump, Lea was immediately reminded of Perth’s Swan River jelly fish and went to check with George – only to find he too, had taken them to be plastic bags.

We finally reached the terminus, the tidal limits, of the estuary – this marked by a rock sill over which the Berkeley river dropped as a small set of falls.

  And, in the surrounds of these falls we were relieved to find floating… dozens of large jellyfish.

 Some stranded by the tide on small pocket-sized beaches or up on rock ledges.        

As the tide began to recede, we headed back downstream around 1.30pm. Going back the way we’d come, with the sun now at a different angle the return trip was no less spectacular. So picturesque it was almost beyond belief and impossible to stop taking photos! We concluded that even if we were to see nothing else – the Berkeley estuary was unbeatable. Alone it would make everything worthwhile. 

Two hours later Discovery One was anchored once more at the entrance to the Berkeley estuary. Some of our fellow passengers began fishing with handlines off the back of the boat. The fishers rapidly  catching (and releasing) small, one metre long, black-tipped reef sharks. Others, like Lea, thought it was an ideal time to socialise in the spa!

 Lea, Trudy, Hazel, Trevor, and Carol

After dinner we sat on the top deck enjoying the cool breeze, star gazing and watching bats flitting past to catch insects attracted to the lights. It had been a marvellous day … with more to come by the sound of things. 

Sun 3^rd

With the sandbars at the mouth of the estuary to be negotiated at high tide, the noise of engines startled sleep at 5.00am, and Discovery One headed towards Koolama Bay and the King George River – five hours away. The colour of the sea water still far from clear (turbid) making the limnologist in George want to take a ‘’Secchi disc reading’’ – just to record the changes in water clarity gradually taking place.

Source: Scott (2012)

Koolama Bay (150 km west of Wyndham) is the site where a ship named the Koolama was beached shortly after the bombing of Darwin, after an attack by the Japanese on 20 February 1942. It was carrying 91 passengers, 89 crew and a cargo of war supplies destined for the Australian army. Local Kwini people walked out half of the 180 survivors to the nearest mission. Others were rescued by small boats passing.

Once anchored in Koolama Bay, the tenders set off to the well-known Twin Falls that lay 14kms upstream. Our first port of call along the cliff lined, zig-zag shaped estuary of the King George Estuary was a set of falls at the back of a small inlet where, with much screaming and gesticulation, everyone had a good ‘’dunking’’!

     

Further upstream lay the 80m high Twin Falls, the highest falls in Western Australia. The falls are separated by a stack like promontory, with the eastern arm carrying by far the largest volume of water. Everyone, Captain Lennie included, just to cool down had another dunking below the falls on the western arm and upon entering the ‘’mist zone’’ around the falls on the eastern arm, got just as wet again. On the sides of the cliffs adjacent to the falls we could see signs of honeycomb weathering and immediately downstream of the falls was a brown, chocolate mousse like foam on the surface of the water.

Within the majestic cliff surrounds it was an exhilarating never to be forgotten experience. It reminded George of riding aboard the Maid of the Mist beneath the Niagara Falls.  He found it particularly interesting that the flow of the King George river maintains a relatively constant level in the gorge. This section of the Kimberley coast is microtidal, that is characterised by a 2m tidal range instead of the mesotidal / macrotidal conditions found elsewhere.

                            

Before racing back to Discovery One we had a quick look around a small mangrove lined inlet where Lennie mentioned a dugong with a white sun-burnt back was sometimes found. No sign that day.

Anchor up, we were on our way once more by 1.30 – this time heading for Tranquil Bay and another set of falls at the back of a barrier sand dune on the western shore of Koolama Bay.  There was a ‘’croc infested’’ lagoon outlet to be crossed and front runner George was way ahead of the pack.  Lea followed in his tracks across the outlet, only to lose a shoe as her foot was sucked down into sand. Fortunately, being plastic, it bounced to the surface, but she almost lost her balance and precious phone! Adrenalin alone, got her out of the predicament. On seeing Michelle take a tumble as the main gang struggled up the sand bank on the opposite side, closer to the ocean. Lea decided this crossing was not for her and she began the return walk to the tender.

 The delightful crew member Vicky came back and guided Lea over.

By now, we could hardly believe things could possibly get better and yet, by 5.00pm, we were anchored in Glycosmis Bay with yet another waterfall to see! It lay not far off, dropping some 30m over a cliff face blackened by cyanobacteria, into the sea below. Previous encounters with microbial mats of cyanobacteria had been associated with the famous stromatolites of Hamelin Bay, the colonies of which had been around for well over 3 billion years giving rise to the oxygen we now all breathe. However, here they were again in the Kimberley forming the distinctive dark black crust we could see on rock surfaces on both intertidal and freshwater environments.    

 Glycosmis Falls

By evening, the bay was swathed in a ‘’golden pond’’ sunset, it deepened to red as darkness. We enjoyed apple cider as our sundowner of choice and watched a spectacle of lightning flashes in distant clouds with the occasional eye-catching fork lightning, to end another incredible day.

It should be recorded that aside from the daily cold meat and salads we had been given gnocchi and beetroot for lunch, both of which are George’s pet dislikes! Consequently, he was only too glad to tuck into the barbequed barramundi we had for dinner, not to mention the chocolate brownies and ice cream that followed! 

Mon 4^th

A few hours after leaving Koolama Bay we rounded Cape Londonderry, the meeting point of the Timor Sea and the Indian Ocean. The coastline rather flat and featureless.

Characterised by a distinct change in the colour of the water, as well as the upwelling of whirlpools. (photo - courtesy of Trudy Clothier)

We were headed for Vansittart Bay  to see the wreckage of a USAAF Douglas DC3, a mass-produced military utility aircraft (commonly known as a Dakota) that intended to land in Broome on 26^th February 1942 but flew past it in the dark and ran out of fuel, forcing the pilot to make a forced on the edge of Vansittart Bay. They remained on the beach for a few days using pipes from the plane to distil drinking water until rescued on 1^st March 1942. 

Five hours later (around 2.00pm) we finally reached Vansittart Bay and were taken to see the wrecked plane. It entailed walking around a lagoon that lay at the back of a barrier dune and some distance into the bush beyond.

However, the tide was fast going out and we were all prepared to take the ‘short cut’ across the very slippery lagoon floor.  

 

    

Eighty years later we surveyed the scene! Having made a soft landing, the plane had been stripped but the aluminium skeleton was largely intact. One of its radial engines lay nearby and wings looked a bit battered.

Thereafter we continued heading westwards and finally anchored around 6.00pm in Perry Harbour. It had been a long run today, eleven hours in all, so it was a great relief to have the engines of Discovery One shut down as they play havoc with George’s poor hearing!   Oh, there was delicious carrot cake for morning tea and cottage pie on the menu for dinner. George’s favourites one day early.

Tue 5^th

We were jolted from sleep by the noise of engines at 4.00am … The first lady George met in the passage, Catherine Newton, stopped to wish him happy birthday! Lea had obviously let the cat out of the bag despite his insistence his birthday be kept secret.  However, in mitigation - a couple of days before; Catherine’s husband Peter had asked Lea how old George was. Lea had responded with Shh! He doesn’t want anyone to know his birthday but 78 comes up in a couple of days. On the QT, they kindly wished him Happy Birthday.  The cat was not out of the bag, his birthday passed as he had wished. Over coming days many people were to ask how old George was, as he was so nimble on his feet and such a speedy mountain goat! We were the oldest on board.    

After passing Cape Voltaire (comprised of black volcanic rocks) we began threading our way among the islands of the Montague Sound. The different shapes, colours and sizes made for very creative imaginations and cameras clicked away merrily. Just very hard to pinpoint where photos came from at the end of the trip.

 

Around 10.00am we anchored in Palm Bay and had morning tea before the next tender excursion. 

As soon Adjat began to drop the anchor a large tawny nurse shark came to inspect what we were up to. It hung about swimming around and below the tenders creating much interest. 

As soon as morning tea was over everyone was ready to take off on the tenders for a strenuous walk ashore to see Aboriginal paintings to be found beneath overhangs of some large rocks we could see on the mainland.  Passengers with hip or knee problems were advised to give it a miss. Lea and Peter stayed behind. They were intrigued to see a tender from another boat anchored well away, race past Discover One and catch up with our two tenders where á conversation took place before that tender returned to its base. Later, we two learnt the rush had been to warn our people that his group were visiting the paintings and they had Covid! They steered well clear of that party.  Meanwhile Peter and Lea ended up having a long chat to Adjat about his sixteen years living in the top end after being head hunted from Jakarta. He did his captain's ticket at the same time as Lennie. 

 

 

There were three different types of paintings to be seen. The oldest (c. 17 000 yrs old) showing figures of people with headdresses; examples of Wandjina images (spirit figures with mouthless faces) and examples of some naturalistic art (paintings of animals). The floor of the overhangs containing the paintings were covered in shells and in one place was a green tree frog clinging to a recess on the wall.

As the party picked their way over the rocks, they came across damp spots covered in tiny flowers.

Another excursion took place immediately after lunch to see the painting of some kangaroos on a rock face alongside the shoreline – beautiful

Followed by a stop on a beach (comprised of pulverised shells) at the back of which lay the most extraordinarily attractive sandstone caves. A lost city – cool and beautiful with large slabs of resistant sandstone underpinned by supporting columns of softer, fast disintegrating types. And on the same beach were fine examples of shell middens created by the Aboriginal inhabitants of this ancient, fascinating landscape.  Lots of corridors leading away from the beach façade.  Fig trees grasping the rocks added to the loveliness.  

By 5.00 we moored beside Prudhoe Island. The keen fishers soon had hand lines in the water and were fast hooking in sharks as fast as Brad released them.   By dinner time there were literally dozens of sharks, some a couple of metres in size, swimming around below the boat, some snatching things from the water surface. A mesmerising sight that had us watching from the back of the boat until bedtime. 

Wed 6^th

Our destination today was Porosus creek (satellite photo below) which lay at the entrance to the estuary of the Hunter river which discharges directly into Prince Frederick harbour at the southern end of the York Sound. I was looking forward to it assuming there must have been good reason to have called the creek after Crocodylus porosus - the scientific name for none other than Australia’s estuarine saltwater crocodile. The Hunter river is said to have the highest proportion of saltwater crocodiles in the Kimberley region.

 

Satellite image of entrance to Hunter estuary (from Scott 2012)

It was to be a long run, passing through what is known as the Scott Strait, past Bigge Island and Cape Torrens. However, on the way we did stop on a couple of occasions to have a look at some of the features of the steep rocky shoreline, as well as some of the mangrove lined inlets. It suited George well as he’d long been puzzling over the absence of oysters (and algae) on the rocks in the intertidal zone, something he wished to understand, once home.

 

We reached Porosus creek at 5.00pm in beautiful surrounds. No sooner was the anchor lowered than out of the mangroves came a 3m long crocodile making a deliberate beeline towards our boat. It obviously expected a handout of some sort; its mouth partly open it stayed gently sculling with its tail alongside one of the tenders for the rest of the night! Its behaviour must arise from cruise boats that frequent the area feeding the crocs (as they do in the NT’s Adelaide river) It was rather confronting to watch its brazen attitude over many long hours virtually until morning.

Porosus Creek was a very picturesque spot. Before not too long a Brahminy Kite arrived. Taking bits of meat being held aloft on a pencil by Lennie, our skipper! He’d been feeding the bird for ten years and rapidly learnt not to hold steak in his fingers!   

 A large cumulonimbus cloud continued to grow behind the sheer, rust coloured sandstone cliff that lay to the east of us, it changed its colour as the evening grew darker and flashes of lightning within the cloud began to illuminate it. A magnificent laser light display being put on by nature just for our benefit while beside the boat Mr Porosus, the watchdog, continued his surveillance, slowly flicking its tail from side to side to keep pace with the outgoing tide. 

Thu 7^th

When we arose the next morning, a different croc watched our boat from further afield. This one with the more conservative behaviour of a ‘’saltie’’. A good few sharks circled about too. The best news came after our temperatures were taken. All passengers were declared fit and well. There was no longer a requirement to wear masks! It was optional now. Must admit Lea found them good sun protection for her nose and chin under her large Discovery One sun hat.

While the tide was low, we took a fascinating slow ride up Porosus Creek – the banks alive with mudskippers and brightly coloured fiddler crabs (photos below by Carol Ireland);: swirls of water everywhere as mullet dived for cover and at one spot came across a croc with a freshly caught fish still flapping in its jaws.

George being an ‘’estuary man’’ was sad to leave the place and could happily have stayed in Porosus Creek for much longer. However, being at the mercy of the tides we had to move on. Instead of continuing up the Hunter estuary as he’d expected, we went back into the vast expanse of the Prince Frederick harbour. Without a breath of wind, the water was mirror-like calm and lake-like. It served to emphasise an important feature of the Kimberley coast … the lack of waves. With its enormous, relatively shallow bays, often filled with protective islands it is regarded as a low energy environment.

In due course we went ashore near Tanpanmirri Island to see a remarkably good example of a Wandjina painting on the roof of inconspicuous looking rock.

   

The main objective of the day was to reach Careening Bay, a place named in September 1820 by Lt. Phillip Parker King, the first person to accurately chart the Kimberley coast in an 84-tonne cutter called the HMS Mermaid. Due to leak in the hull of the Mermaid he’d been obliged to careen the vessel in Careening Bay (hence its name) to execute repairs by allowing the ship to beach and turn on its side on a gradually shelving beach to be fixed. Then waiting a couple of weeks for the spring tide to re-float it. While in the area they found supplies of freshwater nearby and chose to engrave the name of the Mermaid on the trunk of a baobab.

We had to delay going ashore for a while due to a windstorm that suddenly blew up, bearing a bit if rain. 

However, once things had calmed down, we to see the HMS Mermaid boab, a beautifully shaped (squat) double-trunked old tree said to be over 1 000 years old.  As the letters carved into the tree show little distortion by subsequent growth it can be assumed the tree must have been virtually the same size at the time (J Burt,1996).

     

 

At the far end of the beach was a grove of cycads. That night, Brad cooked 40 steaks on the barbeque and a fellow passenger, Ken Linke, had a birthday celebration. George sighed with relief as Ken was given a metallic dunce cap to wear and candles to blow out on the delicious peanut butter cheesecake as we all sang the traditional song.  

Fri 8^th

Coming up was the St George Basin, at the far end of which, lies the Prince Regent River, one of WA’s straightest rivers flowing through a fault known as the Prince Regent lineament.  

As we entered the channel leading into the basin, we encountered the whirlpools that accounted for the name of a nearby promontory – Whirlpool Point. These turbulent domed upwellings and the circular slicks that developed in the centre of each whirlpool, were amazing and George concluded they may be formed by a concentration of diatomaceous oils. A theory developed during his Kariba days that may well hold true here.

By midday we had entered the mouth of the Prince Regent estuary and we immediately noticed patches of sediment laden water and the presence of debris at the surface – suggesting there could have been a flood upstream. We were full of anticipation knowing the Kings Cascade lay within and somewhat mistakenly thought they lay at the head of the estuary, so we were very surprised to suddenly hear the boat stop and there it was, in its spectacular terraced form, spilling into a short the little estuary on its right-hand side.

The nightmarish story told in the book Croc Attack (by Hugh Edwards) has gripped us over the years and re-read several times to enforce the sinister nature of a ''saltie'' since our arrival in Australia in 1997. It is in this rather sublime spot, Ginger Meadows, lost her life to a croc. An American beauty queen who decided to come out to Australia after watching the movie Crocodile Dundee; became involved in part time work in Fremantle over the big yacht race - The American Cup. She was hitching a ride on a yacht returning to Darwin via the Kimberley prior to a flight home. Only to be taken by the croc on the eve of her 25^th birthday in 1987. She perhaps panicked on a rocky platform of the Cascades and tried to get back to the tender when cries alerted her of a “CROC” by fellow companions at the top of the falls. Consequently, when we boarded the tenders to get closer and have another tender-dunking with Adjat at the helm, the thought of Ginger was never far from our minds.

   

 

George and Lea take their dunking with Catherine and Peter Newton

That done, we returned to Discovery One and were all taken further upstream into a narrow creek filled with flood debris (floating logs) and a croc lurking at the entrance, to see the Cathedral Falls dropping some 40m into the plunge pool below.

Once back in the estuary channel we stopped to see and hear all the fruit bats hanging or clambering noisily around in the mangroves. The water now very muddy suggesting the river which still lay a long way upstream was indeed in flood.

We were back on Discovery One by 3.30 and on our way back into the St. George Basin, continuing until darkness fell, and anchoring for the night behind a spot called the Python Cliffs.  Mother Nature painting  glorious sunsets across the skies most nights. 

Sat 9^th

The engines of Discovery One roared into life at sunrise – and we were on our way to the Camden Sound, passing back through the whirlpool zone we’d encountered yesterday, past a bay where small boats from pearl fishermen were working and the harbour established by the Paspaley pearl fishing company, until coming to a halt beside Sheep Island.  

    

Why Sheep Island? After a glowing report submitted in 1863 by an early explorer, James Martin, described the land ‘’as 300 000 acres of the finest quality grazing in a district of unsurpassed fertility’’, over a hundred settlers from Victoria, in typically callous indifference to the invasion of Aboriginal land, arrived the following year on three ships carrying over 4000 sheep to take up occupation on the mainland just opposite this island.  They formed the Camden Harbour Pastoral Association but soon became fed up with the heat, the soil with its ‘’consistency of well burnt brick earth”, the lack of water and the numerous clashes with the understandably hostile local Aborigines. After the death of several people (seven of which are buried on Sheep island) the settlement was finally abandoned in 1865.

 We visited the grave of Mary Jane Pascoe, the first white woman buried on sheep island as the volcanic soils on mainland were too hard for grave digging.  Her husband had died a couple of months before and she died after giving birth to her 5^th child on 4^th June 1864, aged 30.

 

 

On the boab tree carved parts of her name remain along with a plaque commemorating Constable Walter Gee who died on 17^th August 1865 of spear wounds, leaving behind a pregnant wife and three children.    

After lunch, we were taken to a beach beside Hall Point to have our first ocean swim with firm instructions to slip into the water between the two tenders only and not to splash about and alert crocs or sharks by attracting them in.

As we beached our tender, a group of 8 eagle rays resting in the shallows amongst stones rose in fright and took off to the end of the beach.

When most of us were out the water looking for the rays a chilling shout “Shark” had us first think someone was crying “wolf”!  But sure, into the shallows, snooping about, came a large hammerhead shark. As it cruised by, its dorsal fin clearly visible at the surface caused much excitement and the theme tune to Jaws immediately came to mind and stayed as an earworm.

Before returning to Discovery One we were taken to see a portion of the coast clad by a series of incredibly sculptured / weathered columns of sandstone (reminding us of Angor Wat in Cambodia), one complete with an osprey nest on top and the pair of ospreys flying above.

 Once we began travelling in an area of the Sound unprotected by islands, Discovery One began to roll quite violently, causing everyone to stagger when walking about. On the surface of the sea, we encountered rafts of floating seaweed – presumably stripped from the surface of Montgomery reef which was not far off. We anchored for the night behind Raft Point with a gorgeous view of Steep Island in front of us.

 Sun 10^th

Captain Lennie had plotted our journey and seen our arrival at Montgomery Reef and Horizontal Falls coincided with Neap tides. Each night, immediately after dinner he spoke to crew and passengers giving them the proposed program for the next day and ended with his signature patter “Any questions? All subject to change this ends transmission for this part of the program,”. We all loved that!  He gave early warning the status of key features would be far from their best and required extra travelling hours – with very early starts to arrive a day early in the hopes of improving the viewing to Montgomery Reef.

Today we were scheduled to visit the Montgomery Reef – only visible for a few hours each day at low tide. Ever since our visit to Waterfall Reef at the entrance to King Sound (in Aug. 2020) we had been very keen to see this 400 sq. km reef formed by what was once a flat-topped mesa inundated 6 000 years ago, now coated by coral and algae.

Once again, the tenders hurtled across a glassy sea as far as the eye could see, holding onto our hats we waited for something to emerge on the horizon. Such an exhilarating part to each day!

Lea presumed her first sighting to be nothing more than a long muddy looking narrow sand spit peeping above the water line.  It looked nothing like she imagined.

Further on, the strange new wonderland unfolded.  Continually eroded by storms and semi-diurnal macrotidal flows, there is a small island in the centre, locally known as Yawa Jaba island, lying 4m above sea level. The surface of the reef is drained by a series of gutters clearly visible in the aerial photo shown below, but the main channel into which they run is surprisingly deep – up to 15m deep.

  

We’d arrived at the turn of a neap tide so the gutters were only gently spilling water off the surface of the reef. In the remarkably clear water the place was alive with five different species of  turtles, in a variety of sizes. Some swimming at great speed leaving a wake behind them; others splashing around on the edges eating whatever it was coming off the platform.  

Rather like travelling in a glass bottomed boat we could see large batfish swimming beneath us, ribbon-like garfish skipping across  the surface as they avoided whatever was chasing them; a large eagle ray lay doggo among the seagrasses on the bottom of the channel and numerous reef egrets fed on the edge of the gutters. Quite the most extraordinary sight and without another boat in sight – we had a vast piece of wilderness to ourselves. The tide range may not have been in our favour hence the speed to get there but we couldn’t help wondering if we had actually struck lucky coming  to see Montgomery Reef on a such a calm tide  rather than busy rushing water altering  visibility.  The current in the little side channel and the main channel  we meandered up and down, was evident.   

On departing back to the mother boat, we came across a feeding frenzy! A  flock of white-winged black terns diving into a ring of water  to grab fish as a young shark dizzily chased a school of fish in circles.

So  much interest  we could easily have spent all day there!  Nonetheless, we were privileged indeed to have seen something of this truly magical place lying semi-concealed out in the blue yonder of the Indian Ocean and, we can vividly imagine it quietly draining as the tide turns and the turtles start splashing about, just as they have done for thousands of years.  Apparently, Aboriginals still go out to the reef to hunt for turtles and dugongs. Perhaps that accounts for a sense of panic we aroused amongst the sea creatures.

Banana bread loaded with nuts and topped with cream awaited us back on board.

After returning to Raft Point (named by The Beagle because Aboriginals were found building rafts out of the mangroves there) Discovery One backtracked for Ruby Falls, and we visited immediately after lunch.  Since a scramble over steep rocks was involved, our party was split into two - those that felt capable of the climb and those that would prefer to remain swimming in a pool below the falls. The falls lay at the end of a muddy estuary and assumed the form of a three-tiered cascade at the top of which was a lovely pool in which to cool down.

Confronted by the climb involved Lea and Carol opted out and were taken back to Discovery One by Brad. During this trip the prop hit a rock damaging it.  

It was a long ride to our next night stop among the Kingfisher Islands.  An ever-changing sunset that steadily became more intense and vivid with a group of photographers, in and out of the air-conditioning as they chased down the everchanging sunset.  At one point Chris Mutch was well forward of the boat when a large wave swept over the prow and just missed engulfing her in spray.  Tentatively, Lea stood back and fortunately captured a double sunset reflected in the glass.

 Mon 11^th

After a night among the Kingfisher islands, imaginations ran wild with the variety of shapes we saw – as Kimberley One made its way past the Iron Islands and Slug Island into Talbot Bay – home of the Horizontal Falls which we had visited in Aug 2006.

The ‘’falls’’ lie within two narrow gaps in steep ridges at the back of Talbot Bay that resist the inflow and outflow of the macrotidal conditions in the bay, causing water to bank up behind them. Depending on the state of the tide they can form dangerous rapids – so for us it was particularly interesting to see them on a neap tide when there was hardly any movement at all between the two embayment’s concerned.

Adding to our interest was the complex geology to the surrounds of Talbot Bay with its steeply tilted (dipping) and dramatically folded volcanic rock structures, these were particularly evident as we travelled in tenders into Cyclone Creek.

     

 In places much of the shoreline was comprised of conglomerate boulders with stunted mangroves clinging to the rocks and sandstone covered with fossilised ripples, the remnants of past sea level changes.   Hiding among the rocks were white quilled rock pigeons and black footed rock wallabies – a threatened species with a distinct black shoulder stripe, thick padded hindfeet and black tufted tails now confined to only small areas of the Kimberley.

Rock wallabies (photo – courtesy Chris Mutch)

In another part of Cyclone Creek, we came across a fleet of boats lying tied up to floating jetties waiting for the return of new season of thrill-seeking tourists, beginning in May.  A crewman came out waving to say don’t come close, we have covid and run out of beer! Poor virus captives!  

 

Turtle falls

 Once back aboard Discovery One we went into Dugong Bay and took a ride in the tenders along the shore until reaching the Turtle Falls (where everyone had another dunking) and another set of unnamed falls which lay at the end of a deep canyon. By the time we left this, it had a name. The agile mob that included Catherine Newton had climbed up the steep rocks for a swim in pools above the falls.

 

Back on the tender Catherine realised she was missing her glasses! The tail end of those still climbing down were requested to return and check the rocks for glasses. Much searching about eventually resolved with glasses being found in the water. Safely returned to Catherine amongst much banter that occasioned the naming Blind Lady’s Falls.

A fine loop of scenic exploration back to Discovery One had us come across a pair of dolphins in Dugong Bay – by colour, we wondered whether they were snub nosed dolphins. The glimpses too hard to discern the species.  Strangely, we saw very few and fleeting sights of cetaceans over the course of our entire trip, despite the hundreds of miles travelled at sea. Perhaps dolphins are drawn to people, and this was all too remote!   

Tue 12^th

After the Big Breakfast Cook Up – the only cooked breakfast we had on board Discovery One we went back through Talbot Bay on route to Crocodile Creek.  With all its islands, flooded valleys, network of waterways and continually changing views, this was one of the most picturesque parts of the Kimberley coast (a reminder of the fiords of Norway).  The different shapes of the islands, the differing nature of the vegetation cover and the ever-changing folded nature of the geology, the wave cut caverns at the water’s edge and the dark linear form of the high-water mark.

All suddenly changed entering ‘’The Canal’’ approaching Koolan Island and Cockatoo Island where iron ore is mined, bearing all the scars of strip mining, dump trucks and tugboats included. It was sickening.

 Little wonder Aboriginal Mark Bakar, in the book Kimberley History (2012), considers ‘’mining and development is now fast becoming an additional burden’’ in the region.

   

The sunlight highlighted the tapestry of wounds inflicted by mining.

Our afternoon excursion’s first port of call was the ‘’hole in the wall’’

 Masses of black isopods ran over the rock walls like little cockroaches.   

 

We stopped at the ‘’crocodile claws’’ at the entrance to Crocodile Creek  for a closer inspections of the crevices before going up the creek to a set of falls.  Crocodile Creek is situated on the mainland near Koolan Island. It became a recreation area of choice for the resident Koolan families. A labour of love, in that heat and humidity to improve lazy Sundays spent there. The erection of a steel ladder to get families up to the next level with a cemented pathway to the barbeque area, seating included.  The right tides obviously made it easier for all the eskies to be hoisted up.

 

 

We were warned not to risk swimming in the pool because a person had been attacked by a crocodile, swept into the pool on a high spring tide. Instead, the agile group clambered across the rocks surrounding the pool and ascended around the cascade to a pool lying above for a swim.  It was an awkward climb especially barefoot due to lose, uneven rocks

At the end of the swim up there George found Lennie and Brad sitting on the lip of the falls staring intently into the pool below, croc watching for long enough to make him wonder whether the attack (on 4^th July 2015) reported in the press to be ‘’a passenger on a Discovery Cruises charter boat tour’’ had in fact been on Lennie’s watch!  Maybe … maybe not!

Lea had wisely remained behind and wallowed with several others in a rock pool just below croc pool and just above the sea.  A little infinity rock puddle.

After our happy sojourn here, we head onwards to see Jaffa Falls

Water trickled over a brilliantly coloured vertical cliff face, stained red by iron oxide and black by cyanobacteria, at the head of another creek

Monument Beach with its striking angular slabs of shale (siltstone) used by yet another osprey for nesting purposes.         

In the afternoon Adjat took us for a swim on a beach behind Nares Point, a well-known promontory comprised of an arch of hematite (iron ore) and overfolded sandstone, crushed and shattered by the tight folding of the earth’s crust in years gone by.

With the setting sun then brilliantly illuminating the folded rust-coloured rocks in the cliff face of Nares Point we were forced to come to terms with the knowledge our trip was near its end. We were had reached the eastern shore of King Sound with Cape Leveque to the west of us.

     

 

Wed 13^th

On waking this penultimate day – the sky was covered in a thin cloud. Our first stop of the day in the Buccaneer archipelago came opposite Silica beach. The only beach of its kind in the Kimberley with a quartz derived sand that ‘’squeaks’’ when one walks on it and white as white!

   

     

After his swim, George walked the beach photographing the flowers of the beach beans (Canavalia sp.) growing on the highwater mark and looked for isopods in the cleft of some rocks at the end of the beach.

    George hunting isopods

Later, Discovery One passed Hidden island and the Packer islands (comprised of dolerite) and stopped in Strickland Bay to see the graves of Japanese pearl divers that lay behind some incredibly beautiful slabs of siltstone (shale) sculptured by chemical weathering and pockmarked by cavities (tafoni) to form the sort of works of art one would expect to see in a gallery. – except, that is, for the osprey nest on the top of one of them! 

 

It was time to head deeper into King Sound to place Discovery One into its anchorage for the night that allowed tide and timing for a perfect docking in Derby Harbour.  King Sound experiences some of the largest tides in the world ranging up to 11m in amplitude. This tidal amplification occurs because of the Sound’s steep sided, gradually narrowing triangular shape, as well as its shallowness. Consequently, strong currents develop during both the incoming and outgoing tides causing not only significant upwelling wherever obstructions - in the form of underwater mounds and islands occur. Also, the resuspension of the sediments being deposited at the far end of the Sound by the Fitzroy River.  Travelling through to Cascade Bay the outgoing tide had us pass through another whirlpool zone – strong enough in this case as to affect the steering of Discovery One, making it swing from one side to the other as the helmsman attempted to maintain a straight course.

  

Amazing to see small vortices of swirling water developing within the whirlpools, each generating foam that would then linger on the surface of the sea.

We anchored off Lachlan Island our last night. 

 In the lead up to sunset, Adjat and Brad took us on a last sightseeing trip along the coastline

 

And so, as the sun disappeared leaving awesome lighting across the Sound  we returned to Discovery One . On our return Lennie called across to Adjat to check the depths from our tender as the tides continued to run out of Kings Sound. Too shallow for our anchorage so as soon as we had boarded Discovery One – we moved  to deeper water.  

The ladies were requested to dress for dinner followed by the usual patter from Lennie after dinner along with his farewell speech. Photos were taken of the crew as our thanks poured out in gratitude for a most memorable trip.

   

Thu 14^th

At 4.30 am we were on our way to Derby, five hours away at the end of King Sound – the water by now so dirty it looked like a soup of thick brown mud.

Our luggage loaded into a tender with the final moments on board given to hugs, tears and more thanks to a Captain and crew who had done us proud with a trip second to none. By 10.30 we were in the hands of Chris the bus driver taking us to Broome. The Derby Harbour in the process of being cleared and prepared for a gigantic tide due Easter Sunday to swamp well into the carpark and cover the area on either side of the road into Derby itself. A most surreal thought looking about.

We stopped at the Derby Prison Tree and Roadhouse on the far from smooth switchback ride to Broome in the little bus. A relief to check into Broome Time Resort, which we knew from our stay in Broome in 2020 when our family had come to visit us in the October. Wifi signal brought in news of the world. Once it was cooler, we walked to shopping centre and bought Noodle takeaway dinner and joined a small group of fellow passengers in the pool gardens.

       

 

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 End notes

A W (Sandy) Scott’s book A Travellers Guide on board Discovery One helped us appreciate the different types of sandstone (sedimentary rocks) and other rock types (dolerite, basalt and siltstone) that had been deposited as a series of layers over a period of millions of years into what was then an extensive gradually sinking depression, known as the Kimberley Block. Although these strata (bedding planes) have remained relatively horizontal, the Block underwent an intense period of folding about 600 million years ago (mya). In addition, the whole area was uplifted on several occasions - a major uplift occurring c. 200 mya, followed by another c. 20mya, each causing erosion to increase as the sea level was effectively lowered.  On each uplift weathering, river erosion and deposition were rejuvenated, leading to the creation of new landforms and the earth moving forces caused lines of weakness in the form of fractures, joints, and faults to open – all accounting for the blocky, strikingly beautiful cliffs one sees along much of the coastline. 

Our journey was taken during a period of neap tides. Although the macrotidal conditions for which the Kimberley region is well known was lacking it was still interesting to see some areas colonised by mangroves where, due to tidal action, the banks of alluvium had slipped downwards, complete with mangroves and all, into deeper parts of the channel killing the mangroves in the process.   The number of short (stunted) mangroves growing on or clinging to rocks on the shoreline was also unusual.