Camels, Pizza and Fine Wine

What a fitting way to end such a magnificent trip. As the sun set over Cable Beach I and 40 or so of my new best friends, rode off into the Sunset. It was a wonderful way to see Cable Beach (some sites not so much, it is a nudist beach and I am not sure why, but really attractive people don't do nude, if you get my drift) I kept my eyes on the sunset!

After our ride we returned to the bar at the Cable Beach Resort for a nice chilled white wine and a Pumpkin and Feta Pizza and it was incredible. Then back to Orion, to pack, have final drinks in the Bar and to view the Photo Presentation prepared by our Expedition team, it was amazing to see the photos that they had taken of everyone and to relive the places we had visited.

It was sad to be leaving the ship and Broome, but I know that I will be back and I hope that if you ever get the chance to visit Australia you will take the time to visit this amazing region.

Broome

Broome is a picturesque town located at the southern gateway to the Kimberley. It is a small town where the bush meets the sea and dis full of history and characters that have been born out of the isolation. Its heritage is unlike that of any other town in Australia and the beauty of the surroundings matches this remarkable story.
The waters are a turquoise blue and the beaches are soft white sand. The surrounding area is known for its vast cattle stations, some of which dwarf some countries in Europe. Until the mid 1980’s Broome was only accessible by dirt road. The town is renowned as a world class migratory bird stopover and offers stunning night skies and beautiful sunsets.

The town actually grew out of the discovery of the world’s largest pearl shell, attracting hundreds of people like a gold rush. The pearl industry slump mid last century was not enough to drive people away and they remain captivated by the natural beauty and laid back lifestyle.

If you love pearls, Broome is home to one of Paspaley Pearls wonderful boutiques and many of the guests on board will be attending an afternoon cocktail reception with an opportunity to sort pearls, taste pearl meat and view some of the world’s most beautiful pearls. I on the other hand will be climbing up onto a very hairy camel for a sunset ride along Cable Beach……how appropriate that I will be riding off into the sunset!

Sadly our trip is coming to an end. Today we arrive in Broome for our final day and tonight will be our final chance to catch up with new found friends and swap email addresses for photos to be shared. I have been extremely lucky to meet and spend time with such an amazing group of people. From our Crew and Expedition Team who are so passionate and excited about what they do, to the guests from around Australia and the World. We have had folks on board from 20 to 87 and have one lady on her 13th Expedition…not too shabby.

Montgomery Reef & Raft Point

Montgomery Reef and Raft Point.
This is what I had been waiting for, the opportunity to see Montgomery reef and the Aboriginal Art of Raft Point.
Let’s chat about Montgomery Reef first.
The Kimberley region features some of the largest tidal changes in the world. Actually the Kimberley has the second largest tidal range of anywhere on the planet. Montgomery Reef is a spectacular example of the impact of these huge tides. This is very evident in spring when tides can change up to 12 meters.
Today, everyone was loaded into our Orion Zodiacs for a 20 minute trip from Orion to the edges of the Reef. This reef is a 400sq mile reef that surrounds a small group of rocky islands called, amazingly the Montgomery Islands. As the Tide drops the reef becomes exposed with hundreds of waterfalls flowing from the top of the reef into the surrounding ocean. Even if you arrive during low tide, which we did, the reef is spectacular. We pulled up alongside the reef and watched huge schools of fish, green sea turtles, sea snakes and crocodiles and because it was low tide the clarity of the water was simply amazing. We meandered up an inlet with green sea turtles popping up all around us.
Montgomery Reef is not the usual Coral reef that you would see on the Great Barrier Reef. This reef is exposed to the elements for several hours so this means that only the hardiest of reef corals survive. On the edge of the reef you tend to see some of the more recognizable corals in the crystal clear waters.
On the way back to Orion for our reposition to Raft Point we stopped at a small sandy island, which was rapidly disappearing under the incoming tide, to be served a nice cold Bloody Mary by our intrepid Hotel team and the now very recognizable Blue Umbrella. What made this fun was the lurking Croc just of the beach that was keeping an eye on the umbrella and the Orion team…….glad we stayed in the Zodiacs.

Raft Point
This is what many of us were waiting for. Once again we boarded the Zodiacs and headed over to Raft Point for a 30 minute walk to the Aboriginal rock galleries. If you watched the opening ceremonies of the Australia Olympics you would have seen the Wandjina from this gallery featured. As we climbed we passed by a number of flowing plants including Gravillea, Kimberley Roses and Boab trees to mention just a few. When you arrive at the Gallery your breath is taken away by the art not only the images but the amount of art.
Darrin and Harry spent about 40 minutes pointing out specific images and providing us with a very informative overview of the history and importance of this amazing location. Once again it is important to note that this art is refreshed by the traditional owners of the land as a form of respect to the Wandjina.
Interesting Point. The red ochre that is used for much of the art is ground from stones and mixed with spit or water to form a paste. This is then painted onto the walls and absorbed into the porous sandstone. The older the art the deeper the colors. When the wet season approaches the reaction of the humidity with the ochre causes the paintings to glow. Imagine seeing these amazing figures glowing just prior to the rains commencing, it must have had a huge impact on the indigenous people of the region.
Of course I was one of the last people down the hill to board the Zodiac; it was just so hard to leave.
There is a saying the Kimberley that if you hug a Boab tree at Raft Point you will return. I can guarantee you that there was a lot of hugging going on, and it was not just me.

Fishing Continued

I am sure that you have all been waiting with bated breath to find out if Lesa was able to hold up the great family tradition and catch a fish or two…….drum roll…….

YES a resounding yes! At first I was a little worried as Mel, followed by Matt, quickly pulled several large fish on board including a reasonable size shark , sea perch and brim but I finally pulled in two very large fish (see photographic evidence).

Mark, our fishing guide is wonderful, very informative and seems to know every fish and bird in the Kimberley so it is not only a fun outing but extremely educational.

FISHING at Bigge Island

The pressure was on, everyone befor us had come home victorious. Mark our fantastic guide on the Bee Kaye (Orion's fishing tender) had arrived home with everyone else bearing amazing fishing stores, with photographic support, and in some instances fish for the dinner table. Could we hold up under the pressure and return with some great tails and perhaps some great tails, fish attached?

Oh, breakfast time, you will all just have to wait until I come back from Montgomery Reef to find out what happend.......

Tracks and Scats

Interpretation - animal tracks and animal pooh....sorry to be so forward but our nature walk on Bigge Island was all about tracking via animal waste.......I will explain in a moment.

Bigge Island is a glorious little island nestled off the Kimberley Coast. Most importantly is is a significant location to the indigenous Aboriginal culture of the Kimberley region. The island features a number of natural rock art galleries and there is also a meeting site and burial caves. This site is extremely sacred and as such no photography is permitted, however, the images and location are so breathtaking and special that I don't think photos would do them justice, this is one of those occasions where the snapshot in your memory is the best thing you will ever have.

What sets the rock art on Bigge apart from other Kimberley rock art is the depictions of sailing ships and men with European features, who appear to be smoking pipes and sitting in small row boats. These are all over the caves and you are inches away from them, no barricades, no rules. You look up and 3 inches above your head is a huge depiction of a snake, next to your arm is a turtle, hand prints adorn the walls, it is mind blowing. You feel very humble and small knowing that this art has been here for so long.

It is important to note that Aboriginals see art as a living and evolving thing. It can be painted over, updated, refreshed, they are an expression of life and as such always changing.

There has been a great deal of debate about these images, who where these men, perhaps Dutch sailors who sailed along Australia's west coast long before Captain Cook landed on the east coast, or perhaps they depict the arrival of Chinese ships on the shores of Australia.

These images and the circle rocks used as a meeting ground for the local Aborigines is significant and we all understood the request that this site be respected and left our cameras on board Orion.

As a burial site the Aborigines would travel the 8km from the mainland to Bigge with the body of the deceased and lay it in the rock circle until all the flesh had been removed by the elements. The bones where then rubbed with ochre, wrapped and placed in small holes in the rocks. No one actually lived on the island it was that sacred to them.

Along with our walk to the rock art we also took a very interesting walk with Harry, one of our Expedition team leads. Important to note that any walk with Harry will end up with a story about animal waste or POOH.....We were a able to see fresh croc tracks up the beach, NO SWIMMING, green sea turtle tracks and nests and the hundreds of tiny flipper prints from the small hatch lings. This island is also home to Quolls, small cat like animals that feed on the small ghost crabs and Australia's smallest wallaby the Monjon (I need to make sure I am spelling that correctly) You were able to track all of these marsupials by following the trail of small droppings. We also did our own version of Survivor Bigge Island and were able to ascertain that with a little effort we could all survive if the ship pulled up anchor and sailed away without us.

Paper Bark Trees - sign of fresh water
Mud Crabs
Fishing (we were advised what trees to use for spears and what local plants make great rope. Also shells that are fantastic as spear points.
Wild plants that offer fruit with 50 times the Vitamin C of an Orange
Fresh rock oysters

So you see we could have done rather well.....however, I was dragged back by other guests who had the hearts set on a cold beer and dinner on board Orion.

This was not the end to the day, but you will have to read my next entry for that.

Oh, did I mention that Bigge is a wet landing via Zodiac and that there is always the Blue Orion Umbrella set up with Clinton handing out cold drinks.........the man never sleeps!

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP!

I am going to apologise in advance. If you are stuck in your office, sitting at a desk or simply not with me you just can't be having as much fun!!!!

Yesterday we visited the stunningly beautiful King George River in Western Australia. There are not enough words, no poet, no writer, no artist could do justice to the rugged, stark beauty of this area. Yeah, you say, sure there must be.....I don't think so. Imagine a deep red, along side cobalt blue, next to cream, orange, and dotted with a tenacious green, I say tenacious because you can not believe that anything can hold onto the cliffs and grow. It really is as if an artist has dropped his/her primary colors and just walked away.

Anyway, I digress..... we arrived early in the morning and after a great breakfast our group headed off for our 5 hour Zodiac and Waterfall Walk. The trip up the river was amazing, we had a bit of a breeze down the gorge so not a bad idea to have a spray jacket and a must is a hat that stays on your head. We traveled past towering sandstone cliffs that are so old that they hold NO FOSSIL life, think about that, so old that they sediment was laid down prior to even single cell life on earth....past mangrove swamps, and may I say when the two very large crocs slid beneath the Zodiac we all held our breath (longer than the Zodiac may I just say). The falls are spectacular, they are the highest single drop falls in the Kimberley, over 80m or 260ft, at this time of year the volume of water is not as strong as let's say April/May, but simply wonderful. After pulling up on some rocks to the right of the falls we started our climb, and I mean climb, remember this is an Expedition. We slid, crawled, pulled each other up and dragged ourselves to the top of the escarpment and at this point the only word is WOW! The view is amazing and the walk to the water pools was just as fantastic. Imagine eating a very nice lunch, sitting in croc free ponds at the top of a 260ft waterfall with the sun shining, a blue sky and only 25 of your newest friends for company........as the add says priceless!

A number of folks took the heli flight to the falls and said this was amazing as well and of course our fishing tender had some great stories, believe it or not everyone has caught a fish, all huge, actually they are huge.

Oh, did I mention that when we climbed back down to the Zodiacs and rounded the corner to the falls again our tender was sitting waiting for us with chilled champagne and croissants.......not shabby at all. We then headed for the falls again, this time to get very, very very close. As you all know probably know by now, I don't let an opportunity go by, so when they asked for a volunteer or two to sit at the front of the Zodiac I didn't even ask why.....well the reason is they pull forward and dunk you under the full flow of the waterfall, needless to say I was a little wet and screamed like a girl.......so much fun. I am sure that there are pictures that will circulate the web but I will deny all participation.........

Anyway, it is 6:30am and we are approaching Bigge Island (Big) which is a significant Aboriginal art location. Will write again soon.

Lesa.