Cruise Our Natural Wonders

Cruising the Kimberley offers the chance to experience Western Australia’s vast, ancient wilderness finds Sally Macmillan.

It's seriously big. . With  an area of 423,517 square kilometres, the Kimberley is bigger than 75 per cent of the world’s countries. It’s also rugged, remote and boasts 12,000 kilometres of spectacular coastline.

Cruises between Broome and Darwin generally take 10 days to explore the region’s best-known (and uncrowded) natural attractions. The little pearling town of Broome and its surrounds are home to almost half of the Kimberley’s sparse population of about 40,000. A stay at the famous Cable Beach Resort is a great place to start your adventure: you’ll see the first of many magical sunsets and the contrasting, vivid colours of the earth and sea.

A three-hour Zodiac tour from our ship, Silver Discoverer, to Montgomery Reef was our introduction to the effects caused by the area’s massive
tidal changes. We were lucky enough to be there during king tides – as the tide drops, water cascades off the sandstone reef, revealing green turtles and fish in the churning sea. Reef egrets, tattler birds and black-and-white oyster catchers feast on the exposed marine creatures as the reef appears to rise before your eyes. Rapidly rising and falling tides coursing through narrow gorges create the Horizontal Falls in Talbot Bay – Sir David Attenborough once said it is “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”.

We saw two distinct types of Aboriginal rock art on Jar Island, Wandjina figures and the Gwion Gwion or Bradshaw paintings. The Gwion Gwion paintings are believed to be at least 17,000 years old, but there is fascinating speculation about their origin. The Wandjina figures are comparatively youthful, dating back  a few thousand years and retouched by tribal elders. They are sacred to the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunumbul people. When you look at  the locations of the paintings, you wonder how people first came to these isolated places and what life was like.

BEWARE THE CROCS

The onboard expedition team is there to help unravel some of these mysteries. Experts in geology, marine biology and ornithology, they guide us on all shore and Zodiac tours, and present enlightening talks. We learn that much of the Kimberley is at least 1.8 billion years old, pre-dating fossils, and there are more than 300 species of birds in the region. And lots of crocodiles – the saltwater variety has lived there for thousands of years. We spot a few of the reptiles on Zodiac trips, lurking  in the water near mangrove swamps.

Swimming is allowed in the freshwater pool at the top of King George Falls, if you take the steep hike up there. Zodiac trips ranging from two to six hours set off early in the morning to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and beautiful light. The twin waterfalls thunder 100 metres down rusty red sandstone gorges and we are treated to a thorough drenching as our Zodiac noses right beneath them.

DIAMONDS AND CORAL REEFS

Fans of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia might recall that King George Falls featured in the epic movie. Scenes were also shot at Purnululu National Park, home to the Bungle Bungles. After docking at Wyndham, we took a scenic flight to get a bird’s eye view of the vast area from Kununurra to Purnululu.

We flew over Lake Argyle, the largest man-made lake in Australia. Our pilot told us some terrific stories about the Argyle Diamond Mine, one of the world’s biggest diamond suppliers and famed for its rare pink diamonds.

The Bungle Bungles look like a maze of stripy beehives from above and photographs cannot convey their scale and complexity. One fellow passenger had taken a 4WD camping tour through them and said it was one of the best travel experiences of her life. The sandstone range was formed some 360 million years ago and hidden among the domes and gorges are Aboriginal rock art and ancient burial sites.

A day at sea took us to the uninhabited island of Pulau Jaco in East Timor. The crew set up a fabulous barbecue and bar on the beach, and we enjoyed snorkelling and swimming in amazingly clear water. You only have to venture a couple of metres offshore to see colourful coral reefs swarming with tropical fish and marine creatures, and it was refreshing to plunge into the sea without worrying about being devoured by crocodiles.

One of the youngest passengers on the cruise, 11-year-old Lachlan Lotter from Melbourne, said snorkelling  at Pulau Jaco was his top-rated experience of the cruise.

“I learned more about Australian nature and wildlife – especially the birdlife – than I would at school,” Lachlan said. “To see the Horizontal Falls and Montgomery Reef rising  was amazing.”

By the time the ship docked in Darwin, we had sailed more than 3000 kilometres and, like Lachlan, felt privileged to have glimpsed a few of the secrets of this incredible wilderness.

BEST TIMES TO GO

The most popular time to cruisethe Kimberley is the dry season, April to September, when temperatures are high, but the humidity is not so extreme. The wet season usually finishes in March and the waterfalls are at their peak soon after. Whale-watching is best between June and November, when humpbacks migrate north from the Southern Ocean.  

BOOKINGS

Silversea Expeditions’ 120-passenger Silver Discoverer 
five 10-night cruises between Broome and Darwin, April and May 2017, from $10,575. Phone 1300 306 872, visit silversea.com.

114-passenger MS Caledonian Sky operates five 10-night cruises between Darwin and Broome, July and August 2017, from $11,895. Phone 1300 196 420, visit kimberleywilderness.com.au. See kimberleycruises.com for a list