Today we met the wild side of the Kimberley. Our gangway is now stowed for the duration of our journey together and in its place the Zodiacs are revved up and ready to go.
Eager to take advantage of every possible minute in this beautiful coastal wilderness, many of us were up and away by 0600 this morning and by 0800 we were all on our way. We left National Geographic Orion at her quiet anchorage, cruised across the wide bay to the mouth of the King George River, and up the river itself, where spectacular sandstone walls rose up around us and gradually enclosed us in a beautiful vertical-sided canyon. This part of the King George is a drowned river valley, cut by the freshwater river long ago during the ice ages, when sea levels stood much lower. As the great continental ice sheets in the northern hemisphere melted and sea level rose again the valley was flooded and became an arm of the ocean.
What this meant to us was a perfect highway of seawater up the gorge, passing between amazing towers, overhangs, and battlements of the ancient red and black rock. Around every bend the soaring walls closed in more tightly around us and one remarkable rock sculpture gave way to another again and again. We paused now and then to look at features of the gorge in more detail, marveling at the strange honeycomb weathering patterns, the subtle mauve, pink, and purple tones of the rock where the orange iron-oxide patina had not formed, and the incredibly hardy little mangroves that seemed to insist on growing in every possible spot, sometimes even springing up from tiny cracks in bare rock.
Arriving at the end of the gorge we found the canyon divided into a pair of gigantic amphitheaters, deep in shadow, their walls climbing seven hundred feet straight up from the water. In the back of each one was a waterfall, reduced to a thread-like trickle now in the dry season but still enough to give us a delightful shower as we nosed the bows of the Zodiacs under the spray. From the corner of one amphitheater some of us took on a challenging scramble up a near-vertical boulder-choked ravine, finally reaching the flat tableland at the top of the falls. Here we were treated to a completely different view of the gorge, looking down and back along the river where we had come. We walked and climbed over beautiful natural sandstone pavements and captured many lovely images of the strange and wild landscape of the Kimberley coast.
Returning to our ship, we recharged with a delicious lunch, but there was scant time to rest. Immediately after the meal we set out for an expedition afternoon, exploring a pair of exquisite little beaches on the west side of the bay. Tranquil Beach was a long, curving sand slope, backed by a pretty little lagoon that pressed up to the foot of the cliff. Not far away was Calamity Cove, named for the survivors of the Koolama incident. We found no sign of calamity, only a wide sand flat, backed by another beautiful curving beach, perfect for a quiet stroll and a bit of bird watching. The whole scene was made complete when we found a lovely little rock grotto with a shallow freshwater pool that was perfect for a refreshing dip in the heat of the afternoon.
More of the wild Kimberley coast and its beautiful desert islands stretch away to the west, beckoning to us. We’ve had a delicious taste of this amazing region and we are eager for more.
