Remote, Beautiful, and Unforgettable - The Kimberley, Western Australia

The Kimberley – Western Australia, August 2024

by Peta Laery

 

As I sipped my cup of tea at 5:15 AM, the colours started to change before me.  The next half hour delivered one of the most incredible sunrises I have ever seen – intense reds, yellows and oranges danced across the sky hitting the emerald-blue clear waters of the Kimberley. I pinched myself to make sure it was real. At last, the sun peaked above the horizon and the dance was complete.  Could it really have been more powerfully spectacular than last night’s sunset?  I’ve seen a lot of sunsets and sunrises, but the northern Australian sunsets are definitely the most stunning in the world!

I pinched myself once again. I am a naturalist working for a month on Ponant’s luxurious small expedition ship, Le Laperouse.  A classic small cruise ship with stunningly beautiful lines, she is one of six explorer-class ships, all named for famous French explorers.  Launched in 2018, Le Laperouse comprises 92 guest staterooms and up to 180 passengers cared for by 126 crew.   The beautiful vessel is replete with panoramic indoor and outdoor areas, stylish lounges, and a theatre large enough to accommodate all passengers, a spa, gym, pool, and a unique underwater lounge/bar.  Being an explorer, she is equipped with 18 zodiacs that allow guests to explore the most intimate and remote parts of the world.

 

I joined this ship after visiting Antarctica twice with Ponant. The first time was aboard Le Boreal to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, and more recently to the Ross Sea on sister-ship Le Soleal. The experience was so powerful that I contacted Ponant with 10 reasons why they needed me to join them as a naturalist. I was thrilled that they agreed! My goal was to exceed my guests’ expectations by taking them via zodiac around special parts of the Kimberley, providing interpretation relating to the sites, geology, biology, and nature that we encountered, providing lectures and recaps, and offering humour, education, assistance, and entertainment throughout their voyage.  Like the rest of Ponant’s crew, I wanted to be the most outstanding adventure guide they have ever had.

Our first port of call was the mind-bogglingly incredible King George River – and what a way to start (or end) a cruise.  Our zodiacs, each with 8-10 guests, zipped up the 14 km river estuary over approximately 2.5 hours.  The estuary meanders gently around bends and constantly moving mudbanks before it starts closing in between the 80m high sandstone cliffs.  These quintessentially Australian cliffs look like they have been constructed by jenga blocks – but in reality, they formed over 1.8 billion years from some of the oldest rocks in the world. If the colours don’t explode your eyes, then the teetering rocks and blocks, inhabited by birds of prey, hardy rock fig trees, Australian rock wallabies, and snakes surely will.  Way up at the top there is a huge expanse of flatness…we are literally boating up a flooded canyon. The radio crackled. A naturalist called in ‘snub-nose dolphins and a dugong’.  The zodiacs peeled off from where they were exploring and raced toward the wildlife. Guests started shouting in excitement, raising and clicking cameras as soon as they spotted these usually elusive creatures. The excitement was palpable!

 

Around the last corner is the head of the river estuary – the spectacular twin King George Falls. As it was late in the season, there was barely enough water to sprinkle on our heads as we nosed the zodiacs beneath the falls.  At the height of the rainy season, the spray of the falls gushes out over 300m, and it’s impossible to get close.  As we gazed at the cerulean sky above the vertical golden rock, the enormity of the place settled in – even with no flowing water, a feeling of grandeur was upon us all. Around the corner, beneath the second waterfall is a Ponant surprise. The bar boat – a secret zodiac – had snuck away from the ship and arranged a ‘champagne waterfall’.  Everyone enjoyed a glass of cold, French champagne, a surprise that was especially welcome in the heat and humidity.

We returned to Le Laperouse, marveling at the remoteness of this region. Twelve thousand kilometres of coastline and 2,500 islands and archipelagos between Darwin and Broome comprise the Kimberley region.

 

The evening’s gala dinner was served by all the crew, dressed in their whites. The service staff multitasked as fabulous entertainers and comedians. They regaled guests with magic, jokes, and attention between courses of the delicious French cuisine presented by the culinary team. Later, the ship’s entertainers provided a fun night of dance and humour. Cedric, the entertainment leader, consistently reminded us that 'whatever you choose to do, have a beautiful day’.

The next day we were at sea, heading to Ashmore Reef – a highly political and marine-protected biodiversity hotspot located about 80 km from Indonesia and 630 km from Broome. It’s a birder’s paradise, and as we approached through the reefs in our zodiacs, we were accosted by curious Brown Boobies who were fascinated by how we manoeuvred in the water. Boobies, close relatives of gannets, are named for their clumsiness on land… and we could see why!

 

An Australian border force ship moored nearby, and we felt their binoculars trained on us just as we trained our binoculars on the hundreds of thousands of birds looking for mates…and for supper. Although it isn’t permitted to land in this area, it is stunning to explore. We were among the very few humans able to visit here. As we returned towards the mainland, the naturalist team delivered fascinating lectures, photography workshops, and whale- and bird-spotting lectures. It’s fair to say that the vibe on board was highly anticipatory and excited, since we would soon see many humpback whales with their new babies.

This area is among the most important regions for the West Australian humpback population.  They were in the Ross Sea in January and have made their way to the Kimberely to give birth, teach their babies how to be whales, and then mate before heading back to the feeding grounds of krill in Antarctica. Seeing these enormous creatures breach high into the air and wave their fins around never gets old. Everyone on the ship felt a sense of something greater. We witnessed a ‘heat run’ – where a group of males, excited about becoming fathers, aggressively chase a female who has just given birth. If she is ’lucky’ she will be pregnant before she gets back to the ice and will return to the Kimberley to give birth next year. (I’m glad I’m a human to be honest!)

 

 

My colleagues were incredible. Here are a few of them:

• Naturalist Julie is an award-winning photographer and a whale specialist. Her enthusiasm was infectious as she spotted all sorts of marine creatures and their babies, including rare dolphins, whales, and even sea snakes.
• Jarrod is a 30-year-old Mandarin-speaking Kiwi who is now an Aussie. He’s a TedX speaker with a PhD in reproductive science. He knows more about menopause and periods than all of us on the ship put together, and he regaled us with information about sex life in the Kimberley – purely scientific of course.
• Our Assistant Expedition Leader, Tom, is a down-to-earth Aussie who has been on the water his whole life. He lectured on how the tidal phenomenon works in the Kimberley. It’s too complicated to explain here (best you book a trip!), but depending on the moon phase, tides can be up to 12 metres in height causing huge water flow. A big part of a Kimberley cruise involves the tides. (The thing about the Kimberley is its all huge! Did I mention the tides? The tides are the third largest in the world, behind the Bay of Fundy in Canada and Mont Saint Michel in France.)

Next up on our sailing is the Horizontal Falls. This region boasts an impressive 40 million years of geology – and in the actual horizonal falls themselves, you can witness 5 stages of geology.  The falls themselves are viewed through two small gaps between two huge ridgelines. The two embayments flood with water, and the narrow gaps are what force the enormous amounts of tidal flow to pass, causing this incredible rip-roaring phenomenon. At the fullest flow of the tide, there are one million litres of water passing through … every second! It’s truly bonkers! Riding the zodiacs here is great fun. We visited twice – once on the incoming tide and again on the outgoing tide. It’s great fun…a little like sliding on a slippery road, but without the fear of crashing.

 

Between the tides, we visited Cyclone Creek, so named because ‘back in the day,’ when pearls were farmed in these clean waters, workers used to shelter along the creek during the cyclone season. The creek – actually, more of a river – is similar to Horizontal Falls, just a bit wider. Formed between 1.8 and 1.84 BILLION years ago, you can see intricate detail where tectonic plates, sediment, and sandstone have collided, creating a folding, bending, thrusting, pulling, tragic, thriving, madness of activity.

Naturalist Elsa, aka the Rock Lady – pointed out various forms and the geology started to become clear.  You might feel like these collisions happened in more recent times, but reality is that this immensity occurred over a period of 40 million years. To better understand the timescale, consider this: if the world was born one hour ago, then 10 minutes ago the first multicellular organism arrived; 4 minutes ago, the dinosaurs became extinct, and 1 millisecond ago humans arrived. Got it? OK, as you were.

 

We stopped at Cadbury Flake Rock and tried to get its shape and form into our camera frames.  Across the way is the stunning Kimberley rose – a bright red flower against the golden yellows of Northern Australia – but only the foolish would bring this rose home on Valentine’s Day! It smells awful.  Further up and into the important mangrove areas, we watched the antics of mudskippers, weird fish-like creatures dancing all over the mud; with their bulging eyes and walking on their fins, they were like a cartoon caricature. Scarlet fiddler crabs scurried around, the males with their oversized claw, used to attract the females. There wasn’t much romance in the air while we were there, to be honest... The boys need to up their game, perhaps! Our capable boat handler and future Expedition Leader, Jade, spotted Archer fish in the water.  These fish understand light refraction, and they squirt water at insects to knock them off their perches with perfect and lethal aim!

Further up the river, conglomerate rock hinted at previous glacial or alluvial action, but who really knows how this formed?  We stopped for a stretch and a drink of icy cold water before heading back down this river of ancient history and back to our luxury mothership where we relaxed and regrouped. Cocktails and champagne finished a perfect day along with another beautiful sunset taken in from Deck 6. 

Sophisticated luxury and design are the baseline of each of Ponant’s fleet; and the French do it so well. The AB’s (Able Seamen), who welcomed us back at the gangway expertly guided guests onboard. Our young French captain frequently came to bid au revoir and welcome back guests at the gangway. Even mobility-challenged and elderly guests were well cared for and assisted on and off zodiacs; they were never made to feel less than the agile, light-footed adventurers that they are. On shore, the naturalist team guided guests over rocks and boulders, sometimes a short foxtrot over a rock, or waltz over another ledge to distract from the difficulties of some walks and keep a smile on already happy faces.

Ponant ships all have an open bridge policy. It’s fascinating to go and chat with the bridge officers and captain whilst checking out the depth, heading, and other ship capabilities. The ship is ‘green’ and powered by electric propulsion motors for reduced emissions. There is no background hum of diesel engines, and sailing is silent other than the sea moving outside your balcony. All waste is recycled to the nth degree onboard. Insulated Ponant water bottles refilled with fresh filtered water and ice keep trash to a minimum.

In addition to nature, we had several cultural stops on our journey. At Jar Island and Fresh Water Cove, we learned fascinating Aboriginal history.  We were told that this area was ‘discovered’ by westerners beginning in the mid-1600’s, which seems awfully long ago for brave explorers. But when you learn that Aboriginal history in the area likely began 65,000 years ago, it doesn’t seem so impressive. We were welcomed at Fresh Water Cove by some of the Traditional Owners of the land. The welcome ceremony was special, and once everyone had ochre marked on their cheeks and walked through a spirit-cleansing smoke, we made our way to see two different types of Aboriginal rock art.  Gwion Gwion art is 12,000 – 17,000 years old while Wandjina art dates back a mere 4,000 years. Much Aboriginal history is told through story lines, and we learned what the images might mean based on the study and interpretation of our own naturalists. I personally discovered a new interest in this fundamentally different way of life, appreciating how these people had managed to survive; it made me think about our own ways of living, open to questions and new ideas about life, nature, and more. By no means is our way the right, or only way.

Walking amongst the ancient rocks with their ancient art forms, we imagined how these people survived, educated their children, celebrated events, harvested food, and loved. We also know that in those days the sea was approximately 120 metres lower than it is now, so the landscape would have been very different – and that plays into how they lived. 

Vish was our fabulous cultural specialist, in addition to being brilliant in many things. With her immediate smile, she was generous with her time and knowledge. She has a quick energy, always stepping in to help with zodiacs, heading out early, or finishing up late. She knows the night sky like the back of her hand. One evening, with popular naturalist Kyle, they bantered with each other seamlessly as they shared stories of the night sky and helped spot modern and ancient constellations from the upper deck.

Back on the ship, it was a pleasure to return to our splendid staterooms. Nicolette, the head of hotel, has a huge job. Responsible for the greatest number of crew and everything from food and beverage to reception to housekeeping and cleaning, her mega-wattage smile makes it easy to see why she is so well respected. She and her team were attentive to details large and small, with the goal of pleasing guests and making them feel they were among caring friends. 

The following day we entered Porosus Creek and the Hunter River.  Named by explorer  Philip Parker King, Porosus Creek is named after Crocodylus Porosus, when he noted a huge prevalence  of saltwater crocs in the area. Salties are at the top of the food chain here, and there were plenty to be seen! They are masters of disguise, camouflage and stealth. Nobody talked about how nice a quick swim in these waters would be.  

The secret call went out on the radio – the code word for croc alert!  The zodiacs zeroed in on the bank, and we saw a huge prehistoric log lying there in the sun, its enormous mouth wide open and its teeth gleaming. Zodiac drivers are trained to a distance from wildlife, and we always have our engines in reverse for a quick getaway if need be. Every passenger gets a turn to comfortably see the creature as we motor back and forth. We had one call, then another call, and another. These enormous ‘lizards’ were literally everywhere! A human has a bite force of 150 psi – my African Grey parrot has a bite force of 1500 psi, and a croc has 3,000 - 5,000 psi! 

 

We drifted in and out of the mangroves, admiring how these trees have survived and adapted to the ravages of their twice daily drownings in the salty tide, before being parched by the relentless sun.  We saw more birds, archer fish, mudskippers, and osprey. In this region, there are also incredible pockets of rainforest – around 1500 – comprising around 7,000 hectares and creating their own little ecosystems linked closely to the geology of the area. They sit like lux green gems between towering outcrops of monstrous headlands which make you do a double take to be sure that you aren’t in some other alternative universe. 

Later, at lunch, a huge croc swam out to the ship and started gently mouthing the buoys on the Kimberley line – a rope attached to the ship that zodiacs tie up to when they’re not in use. It was a little too close for comfort, and I shuddered when I saw deep tooth marks on the buoy that my zodiac was tied to!

The following day we arrived at Vansittart Bay where we walked across the salt plain. There in the bush an old DC3 flew off course in 1942. Almost out of fuel, it landed on the plain before skidding into the bush. It’s largely intact, and a fascinating relic to observe, along with pandanas trees, green ants, and a boab tree. All passengers survived aboard the plane, by the way, and they were rescued three days later.

Speaking of boab trees, at Careening Bay we visited the ‘Mermaid’ Boab – a twin-trunked beauty that had the name ‘Mermaid’ carved into it in 1820. The ship was taking on water and had been pulled onto the beach by Philip Parker-King for repairs. The volcanic stone in the area proved a much-needed supply of fresh water. The boab is closely related to the baobab in Africa and is an important part of culture and bush grub.  Leaving Careening Bay, we were lucky to see a dingo walking the beach in the late afternoon sun.

And then, we arrived at Montgomery Reef.  Monty, where have you been all my life?

This incredible piece of the world is 400 km² in size, and twice a day it bursts out of the water as the tide drops. At high tide, Le Laperouse (our ship) could sail over the top of her. At low tide, she is about 5 meters above the waterline, and there is so much water that it cascades down at all levels of tide, creating zillions of spectacular waterfalls. It’s a place where you can just sit for many hours, watching the wildlife - birds coming to feed and endless heads of turtles who, when they pop up for air, get a terrible shock seeing us and dive for the deep. Good luck getting a photo of them! Most turtle shots show only a piece of the aquamarine-coloured sea! Everyone is quiet as we gently motor up the river which intersects the reef. It’s hard to describe, and even when the tide isn’t huge, it’s a truly spectacular place.  Dugongs, sharks, fish, corals, octopus, and turtles all thrive here. Birds stalk their prey with glee. The sound of the endless waterfalls is hypnotic.

 

We finish at the glorious Lacepedes Islands. Originally, they were romantically named by the French as Naploean, Grant, and Victoria Islands. Later visitors renamed them West, Middle, Sandy, and East Island.  Hmmmm...

The Lacepedes is another birding paradise. Like the name sounds, it’s almost dreamy in its peaceful tranquillity of nesting & hunting birds, turtles, crocs, dugongs and the rest of the marine ecosystem. The sandy islets are fully protected and have been free of rats and cats for many years now. Some 20,000 brown boobies live here, along with roseate terns and other migratory species. Wonderfully clever Frigate Birds are the pirates of the skies. They cannot get wet as their feathers aren’t waterproofed, nor do they have webbed toes to help them swim. They have learned to chase and agitate other birds who have caught their food. The harassed birds drop their catch and the frigates dive for the lost catch and steal it.  It’s a clever way of adapting and so exciting to watch in action.  They literally look like pirates with their black arched wide wings.

As we steam towards Broome, I reflect on our 10-day journey. The Kimberley is as remote as Antarctica, and it’s thrilling, exciting, and has overloaded all my senses. I’ll miss this group of passengers who embarked as strangers but have become friends during our adventure together. I can’t wait to welcome my next group of guests for what is a bucket list and memorable trip in one of the world’s most special places.

 

I would be remiss in not inviting you to New Zealand – come and visit us while you are on this side of the world.  Roz and Marc will sort you out! Or come join me during the next Kimberley season aboard Ponant!