After spending the last two days at sea and then docking in Wyndham, it was great to hit the Kimberley coast. We headed into Koolama Bay quite early and were able to watch the sun rise over the rangers directly opposite us. We also noticed the wind starting to pick up and after a couple of calm days it was a bit of a shock to the system to see white caps starting to appear. It was an early start for some of us who mustered up the courage to do the hike up to the top of King George Falls, but for the rest of the ship it was time to enjoy another sumptuous breakfast, and enjoy the scenic wonders of the rusty red rangers of Koolama Bay.
The early starters headed out on their six hour tour towards the King George River, a spectacular fourteen kilometer gorge cut into a one hundred meter high sandstone plateau. Up above our heads a large sea eagle with a fish in its tallons flew by us, as we marveled at the amazing rock formations and erosional patterns in the almost two billion-year-old layers of sedimentary rock, painted orange by eons of oxidation due to the high content of iron. We then made our way to the eighty meter high falls and started our hike to the top of the falls. Once at the top we were able to enjoy the scenic beauty of the lookout and watch the other Zodiacs down below navigating their way to the falls.
It was then time to head back down to our awaiting Zodiacs and explore the bottom of the falls to see how close we could get to them without getting soaking wet. Some of the Zodiacs actually went under the falls and screams of delight could be heard echoing around the canyon walls.
As we headed back to the ship for lunch we spotted a blue umbrella, and after further investigation found the hotel department had set up a bar with croissants and champagne to enjoy while taking in the ambiance of the spectacular falls, the perfect way to finish a spectacular day!
