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.