Kimberley Coast Day 3: Cyclone Creek

In the late morning we cruised with the Explorer into Cyclone Creek, in the upper waterways of Talbot Bay. This was our first extensive view of the remarkable "twisting, buckling, and folding" of the ancient rock layers that are such a characteristic feature of the Kimberley. The dark gray surfaces above the water show high tide marks and cyanobacterial stains.

Toward the end of the pre-lunch cruise we spied a Brahminy Kite in a tree. From a distance, it might be mistaken for a Bald Eagle.

Kimberley Coast Day 3: Beginning the Day and Horizontal Waterfall

A typical lively morning in Talbot Bay on the Kimberley Coast.

Our small (just large enough to seat the 44 passengers + 2 guides + driver) boat, the Explorer, positioning itself for the morning's excursion. When not in use it is hoisted onto a platform on the stern of our cruise ship, the Coral Expeditions I.

The ship's engineer, Syed, explaining the workings of the engine room.

Tawny nurse sharks awaiting their morning feeding. (The apparent roughness of their skin is due to ripples in the water.)

Expedition leader Mark feeding the sharks.

One of the major events of a Kimberley Cruise is the exploration of the Horizontal Waterfalls. From Wikipedia: "Horizontal Falls have been described by naturalist David Attenborough as 'one of the greatest wonders of the natural world'... They are formed from a break in-between the McLarty Ranges, reaching up to 25m in width. The natural phenomenon is created as seawater builds up faster on one side of the gaps than the other, creating a waterfall up to 5m high on a spring tide. Within each change of the tide the direction of the falls reverses, creating vast tidal whirlpools." The ride through the gaps in a zodiac is comparable to shooting the rapids in a rocky river. 

Also note the bright, orange-red sandstone, of which we'll be seeing much more on this trip.

Kimberley 2: Zillions of Brown Boobies and Frigate Birds

Kimberley #2 Tuesday, May 1, 2018

We took our small boat, the Explorer, to the Lacepede Islands, which have the largest nesting site of the Brown Booby in the world, and the largest colony of Lesser Frigate Birds in the Indian Ocean. We were able to go ashore in small groups to view the nesting sites and fledgling boobies up close, and to see the individual partlcles of coral that over the centuries had made these islands. With the zodiac, we cruised the lagoon inside the island, seeing large numbers of green turtles.

Our great guides and lecturers, Tim and Tom

Beginning the Kimberley

With ready access to the internet from our hotel in Darwin and then at home, I'm now ready to begin a photo report on our extraordinary voyage up the Kimberley Coast. This will likely continue for a couple of weeks.

Monday, April 30, 2018 Kimberley Day 1
We spent until mid-afternoon at our Seashells Hotel in Broome, reading and admiring the lush vegetation and the long, straight palm trees. We walked down to Cable Beach (named for the trans-oceanic cables laid from here). It was beautifully calm and blue, but the lifeguards were at the ready. At 3:45 we were picked up and bussed to Broome Port, where we boarded our ship, the Coral Expeditions I. The tide was very low (these are the third largest tides in the world), so we had to walk down a steep gangway to the ship, and got good views of the tall poles supporting the pier. The scene got especially striking at sunset. In the evening before dinner we had a safety drill, focusing on how to put on our life jackets. Then a good buffet dinner with lively Australian table-mates.

Sunset in Darwin

We arrived in Darwin yesterday (May 10), after ten days cruising up the Kimberley Coast, Broome to Darwin, without access to the internet. Therefore, I've got a lot of catching up to do, and a lot of the photos are spectacular. But none are more spectacular than the ones in this post. After getting settled in our hotel and wandering around a bit, we headed to Mindil Beach for its fabled Thursday Sunset Market. Wow!

The last two photos are of a virtuoso drum and digeridoo duo, 

whose amazing music complemented the amazing sunset.

A Few Slabtown People

There were not very many people on the streets or outdoors at sidewalk cafes during the rather chilly, damp, winter days when these pictures were taken. But there were a few, who typify the quirky nature of the neighborhood.

Diverse Slabtown Signs

Signs serve a variety of purposes. Advertising, civic boosterism, warnings, etc. In Portland's Slabtown, they tend to have an unusual, somewhat funky vibe.