17^o  29’ 60 S  122^o 03’ 03 E

DAVID AND VALERIE’S

VOYAGE  IN THE KIMBERLEYS, NORTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA,

FROM BROOME

TO TOP OF MITCHELL PLATEAU AND BACK

ON AURORA CORAL PRINCESS

4^TH – 14^TH June 2007

Coral Princess, a stable catamaran to carry 50 passengers for our 10 day voyage

In the tropical northern western waters of Australia

We joined Aruora Cruises for a 12 day trip along the Kimberley Coast from Broome in North Western Australia sailing east as far as Bigg Island.  It is an amazing coastline of red sandstone containing some of the oldest rocks on the surface of the planet. They have been dated to 1,800 million years old! This land also contains signs of the earliest settlers in Australia going back some 60,000 years.

Captain David Donda with David and Valerie at the cocktail reception

Like our Antarctic cruise there were only around 40 passengers which made for a very relaxed fun atmosphere.

Botanist Libby Sakker with Expedition leader, Len Zell on Montgomery Reef

We were fortunate to have Len Zell aboard as one of the tour leaders.  He is a marine biologist and is author of the Lonely Planet Great Barrier Reef diving & snorkelling guide amongst a number of other books.

Expedition leader Mike Cusack

Mike had lived a year in the wilderness of the Mitchell plateau in the Kimberley’s with his wife 20 years ago,

He is a great source of information and inspiration for these wild lands.

Extraordinary weathered siltstone on Edeline island, where so many Pearl divers had met their fate diving too

Deep in the late 1800’s.

The High Water Mark on the rocks shows that the tides reach 12 metres further up the cliff face

We could cool off in Crocodile Creek swimming hole,  safe from crocodiles as it’s high up from the mouth of the

River

Talbot Horizontal falls so named as the gap is so narrow between the cliffs

That the tide causes the water to shoot in between like a cascade, 5 metres tall!

We all had a ride in the RIB to experience the thrill of riding back up against the rapids!

Valerie’s not used to wearing a life jacket in the RIB, but the RIB did have a job pushing up against the tide race

Even with its 40 HP outboard

Striated ferrous limestone is pushed up by the earth’s tectonic movements

causing these extraordinary ripples,  treating hard rock like toffee

Coolan Island Ore workings have recently begun again since the power needed to pump the water for the iron ore open cast mines made extraction uneconomical after 31 million tons of ore had been removed in the previous 27 years. The increase in ore prices has made it a viable proposition again. The mine was due to ship out its first load the day after we were there!

Bulk Ore carrier and floating crane for Aztec resources as part of the infrastructure requirements for the mining

Uphill to the ledge of Numbi to visit the Aboriginal rock paintings

Wandjina Rock Paintings used to be repainted every year to ask the spirits to bring plenty of water

This custom stopped in the 1960’s, and these old paintings will gradually deteriorate as no one has the right to repaint them, the local tribe having moved away.

David's Birthday drinkies

Namarali Island. Sacred historical aboriginal story tells that this was the fish cast in stone when

She (the fish) married the person from the wrong clan