Kimberley Day 9: Beach at Tranquil Bay

We went ashore in a (not very) wet landing on the beach at Tranquil Bay for an hour or so of exploring and photography. Here are some of the small-scale patterns made in the sand by plants and little crawling creatures.

Kimberley Day 9: Tranquil Bay Rocks

May 8 was our last day of sightseeing on the Kimberley Coast of Australia, and it built to a climax. I'll be posting photos on various themes for the next five days from this single day of sailing and beachcombing. First, the cliffs and rocks that rim Tranquil Bay, which seemed even more striking than those we had seen previously.

Kimberley Day 8: Crash-landed DC-3

In the afternoon of May 7, our 8th day on the Kimberley cruise, we went to the Anjo Peninsula in Vansittart Bay, the site of Truscott Air Base during WWII and now under Aboriginal control. The reason for our visit was to view a successfully crash-landed DC-3, (redesignated a C-53 Sky Trooper during the war). In addition to the well-preserved wreck, we viewed some interesting landscapes during our short hike on the peninsula.

Kimberley Day 8: Jar Island Scenes

The landing on Jar Island to view the Gwion-Gwion rock art yielded some other attractive pictures: scenery, colorful rocks, a small lizard with perfect coloration, and - at the end - a portrait of our guide Tom Collis in pensive mood.

Kimberley Day 8: Gwion-Gwion Art

Even earlier than Wandjina rock painting, perhaps dating from as much as 17,000 years BP to 5000 BP, is Gwion-Gwion or Bradshaw art. We went ashore on Jar Island in Vansittart Bay to view some of these paintings, a viewing that required some rock scrambling. But it was worth it.

Kimberley Day 7: Mitchell Falls

Views of Mitchell Falls, and a detail of a goanna - a food source for the Aborigines - that crawled out of the swimming hole.

Kimberley Coast Day 7: Helicopter to Mitchell Falls

This was our opportunity to spend a bunch of extra money to get an extra experience: Fly in a helicopter from a beach in Swift Bay over the Mitchell River to Mitchell Falls. Not only did this give access to an impressive system of three waterfalls and an otherwise inaccessible swimming hole, it gave a view of the forbiddingly rugged interior of the Kimberley. About 3/4 of the cruisers chose to make the trip, and were not disappointed. This post shows the vistas along the way in a way that only a helicopter or a low-flying small plane can do; the next will show the Mitchell Falls area up close.