Happy birthday to me.
For my birthday this year I gave myself a present of a Kimberley Cruise aboard Discovery One. I wanted to see the Kimberley coast, which is only accessible by boat, and I chose this particular cruise for a few reasons:
- It coincided with my birthday and the end of the wet season, meaning the waterfalls were all flowing
- It was on a small boat with only 20 passengers and I really am not good with a lot of people for long periods
- Because it was a small boat it could get in to places other, larger, boats couldn’t
- It was a photography cruise, with a professional photographer on board (thanks Glenn Smith). He gave us lots of tips to improve our photography and editing, so I had lots of opportunities to try out all my new camera gear
And it didn’t disappoint!
In fact, it exceeded expectations. I hardly know where to start with how amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring, spectacular this was. Every day was reaching into the thesaurus for more words to describe the scenery.
We cruised up rivers between towering cliffs of red Kimberley rock. Anchored in sheltered bays for some amazing meals. Walked along beaches that few people have set foot on. Saw, and sometimes played under and behind, amazing waterfalls flowing at the end of the wet season. Explored caves. Saw artwork and cultural sites dating back tens of thousands of years. Swam in pools of the freshest, clearest water flowing along the Kimberley creeks. Sat out in tenders watching the sunrise cast its golden glow turning the red of the Kimberley rocks even redder. Saw crocodiles, dolphins, sharks, turtles, fish, rock wallabies, and many, many birds.
And I celebrated my birthday on board.
There were so many amazing experiences it’s hard to decide the best. But I will try to pick out a few highlights.
Montgomery Reef
If you don’t know Montgomery Reef I really recommend you check it out on youtube. There are a number of videos showcasing the reef. Photos don’t do this place justice, so I stopped photographing and just took in the experience.
And what an experience it is.
With the tide going out and the reef appearing above the surface, the water cascaded down, forming waterfalls under which turtles and larger fish waited for the smaller fish to be washed down.
Herons, sea-eagles, ospreys, oystercatchers, and many other birds sat on top of the reef snatching up those fish which didn’t make it off in time.
Cruising along in the tenders we saw fish swimming in the clear water and corals. Barramundi, a school of batfish with their fins above the water, ref fins, angel fish the size of dinner plates, even a dolphin fish. And turtles. Turtle after turtle after turtle. So many turtles I felt like I was in finding Nemo, with the turtles all swimming in the current.
Then Captain Simon took us out to a sandbar in the middle of the ocean, where we saw starfish and I got to have a (very quick) swim in the ocean while he kept a lookout. Not, as everyone expected, for crocodiles, instead he said, “there are big sharks around here”. But no sharks came in and I get to say I had a swim off Montgomery Reef!
Lost City at Winyalkin
It’s hard to express the feelings I had wandering around this Indigenous cultural site. This is a whole site with a series of ‘galleries’. The art is stunning, and possibly tens of thousands of years old.
But more than that, it’s a look into how Indigenous people lived prior to colonisation.
The artwork tells stories of their life, and how they would have lived within the spaces and the site as a whole. There were spaces with smooth stones that could have been for grinding grain. Some that appeared to tell a story of trading of commodities, and one big open space (or what would have been open before all the trees and other growth was allowed to happen) that was for big gatherings and ceremonies.
If I had access to a Tardis this is the place I think I’d ask to be taken. To see what life was really like prior to colonisation.
Oomari (aka Twin, aka King George, Falls)
I was drinking champagne in the spa on the deck of the boat as we cruised up to Oomari Falls. I can’t think of a better way to see them.
I was supposed to drive into Oomari Falls when I was on the Oombulgarri Track last year. But due to incoming stormy weather we had to get off the track quickly, so I missed it.
Of course, this time around Oomari was one of the places I was really looking forward to. It’s one of the highlights of every Kimberley Cruise, for good reason.
It is monumental.
It’s where the fresh water flowing down the King George River meets the salt water coming up in the tides. Given the height of the falls I’m sure ne’er the two shall meet.
Looking at it was awe-inspiring. It is huge. With what seems to be massive amounts of water flowing over both sides of the falls. It is loud, and totally in-your-face. Nothing subtle about it. I loved it.
Then we took the tenders out and drove under the spray. That was so much fun!!!
