Australia - The Kimberley

...Ancient sandstone formations, aboriginal rock art, massive tidal changes, stealthy crocodiles, huge bird colony, pods of migrating humpback whales...

The Kimberley is a massive and remote region in Northwestern Australia.  It has 12,000km of coastline, more than 2,500 islands, a land area of ~425,000 square kilometres, but a population of only ~34,000, almost half of whom live in Broome.

We’ve been eager to travel to The Kimberley since we moved to Australia, but it’s not the easiest place to visit due to the remoteness and limited roads.  So, we were excited when Ponant, an expedition cruise company we’ve traveled with to other remote places (Antarctica, Kamchatka Peninsula) announced that they were starting trips to the Kimberley in 2017.  Exploring this area by ship has the advantage of being able to directly explore the coastline, which is not accessible by road, and traveling with Ponant has the added benefit of enjoying delicious French cuisine and wine.

The Kimberley is famous for it’s ancient colorful sandstone, some of which dates back 1.8 billion years.  Various forces have molded and shaped the sandstone into crazy contortions. Another unique force in the area is the tides, which can vary as much as 12m between high and low tide, which means the water is rising/falling at 4cm per minute!
    
Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us!

Itinerary

• Since there are limited roads, you’ll only be able to see select areas unless you travel on an Expedition ship.  Also, the coastal waters have pods of humpback whales migrating from Antarctica up the Western coast of Australia to calve in The Kimberley waters from late May to late August.
  
• Aboriginal rock art galleries can be visited at Jar Island (Gwion Gwion rock art) and Freshwater Cove & Raft Point (Wadjina rock art)
  
• A scenic flight from Kununura provides an opportunity to witness the vastness of the area, the beautiful, large Lake Argyle and the amazing sandstone formations of the Bungle Bungle Ranges.
  
• An open-door helicopter flight to Mitchell Plateau and Falls enables amazing views of the uninhabited area from the coast to the Plateau as well as the spectacular falls themselves.  You can also hike up to the falls if you’re exploring The Kimberley by car.
  
• Zodiak excursions to the Horizontal Falls and Montgomery Reef highlight the massive tidal changes.
  
• An abundance of birds, including brown boobies, can be enjoyed by a Zodiak cruise around The Lacapedes Islands.
  

Timing

• Intense monsoons during the wet season (Nov-Apr) mean visiting The Kimberley is really only feasible in the dry season (May-Oct) with the waterfalls being larger earlier in the season (e.g., May/June).  We visited in Aug, which had lovely weather and active pods of Humpback whales, but some of the waterfalls were pretty small.