Today is the first day of true expedition cruising. After our two days at sea and our day at Wyndham, exploring the rugged Bungle Bungles by airplane and the magnificent Ord River by boat, it was time to do some real expeditioning, cruising up the King George river, a 14 km long gorge that leads to a 80 meter water fall – the highest in the Kimberley. We drop anchor in Koolama Bay near the entrance to the King George River. This beautiful bay, surrounded by red rock cliffs set against tropical blue water, is named after an Australian merchant vessel attacked near here in 1942 during World War II. Severely damaged and taking on water, the quick-acting Captain managed to beach the ship along a stretch of sandy beach to prevent it from sinking, saving all the passengers and crew. Today, pied oystercatchers search the beach for food, probing in the sand with their long orange bills.
Koolama Bay is also where the entrance to the King George River is located. Today we spent the entire day exploring this scenic waterway. Cliffs of Precambrian Warton Sandstone rise steeply above sea level, culminating in the 80-meter-high twin falls at the far reaches of the estuary. We marveled at the amazing rock formations and erosional patterns in the almost 2 billion-year-old layers of sedimentary rock, painted orange by eons of oxidation due to the high content of iron in the rock
An early outing took a group of intrepid explorers on a hike to the top of the falls. Standing high above the river, hikers were rewarded with not only great views, but also a refreshing swim in the freshwater pools above the falls.
Meanwhile down below, Zodiacs explored the rocky coastline with many great sightings, including white-bellied sea eagles building a nest on a rock promontory and a Brahminy kite fishing right in front of the falls. Other sightings included several peregrine falcons and a number of egrets and herons perched in the mangrove trees, we also spotted a saltwater crocodile perched on a rock soaking up the last of the afternoon sun.
One of the highlights was the mimosas provided by the floating bar in view of the falls, but my highlight was the amazing colors of the sandstone cliffs as the sun sets on our way back to the National Geographic Orion for a well-earned drink and to reflect on our first true expedition day.
