Cruising the Kimberley coast on Le Laperouse, Darwin to Broome

[JohnM]

I did note on the “Office view” thread that all three CE vessels are currently on Kimberley coast voyages.

A bit of a zoo up there at present - witness the helo parade at Mitchell Falls.

 

[coriander]

A bit of a zoo up there at present - witness the helo parade at Mitchell Falls.

Yep, nothing like "feeling the serenity" of the remote Kimberley wilderness

 

[RooFlyer]

Temp and humidity?
Please/thanks

I haven't heard or seen a temp or humidity number. But I would guess around 30 max and low humidity. There has been little wind the whole trip, so feels hot all day. Nothing that a restorative G&T doesn't fix.

A bit of a zoo up there at present - witness the helo parade at Mitchell Falls.

Plenty of room for all of us. This is day 8 and the only other vessels we've see is La Soleil at wherever it was and C Geographer and another much smaller vessel at Hunter River.

 

[RooFlyer]

Righto, where was I.

Still at the first rock art gallery at Swift Bay, and some wonderful Wandjinas.












'Touch-ups' are freely admitted to, although the circumstances, and who could do it, was vague.

The back to the ship for lunch. Today's chef's special was roast lamb, as well as the usual extensive buffet

 

[RooFlyer]

During lunch the ship moved a few km, and a reminder of how shallow the waters are.



Not quite the red carpet, but walking up some rocks made easier ... Always lots of supervision and help from the numerous expedition guides



A second art gallery










Wi-fi has ground to a halt. To be continued

 

[RooFlyer]

Continuing










One of the galleries

 

[RooFlyer]

Tonight was 'white night'. Everyone was encouraged to bring some semi-formal white gear and wear it tonight. Nearly everyone did; I packed a snazzy off-white jacket for the occasion. But there was no 'occasion'. Just dinner as usual.





I went French again, and the house red.









My seating neighbours were involved in the family history society at Warrnambool - where some of my rellies were for a while. She e-mailed them and next day I had added to my family history

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day involved another early start. First we would zodiac up the Hunter River and a tributary, catching the low tide to see the animals on the mangrove flats.

This is a panorama with the sun rising and the moon setting.






Earlier...





The Coral Geographer was already there.



Zodiacs getting ready



And we are away. I'm in first one, which should be good for crocs



Sun is still rising!!



Helo activity all day, taking groups from us and CG up to the Mitchell Falls.

 

[RooFlyer]

There was a nice intrusive dolerite sill within the quartzite. The expedition leader (a biologist) described it as 'volcanic basalt'. Her partner is one of the geos on the team.



The biologist was very excited about the mangroves. I think of them as apartment blocks for mosquitos.



Apple mangrove



Nice quartzite cliffs



Small croc



Mudskipper - a fish out of water

 

[tgh]

Geology for Dummies…All the Quartzite I have blown..or crushed..or... has been grey.. these cliffs are red

 

[RooFlyer]

Some sort of bird









This guy just lay there & completely ignored us.



Of course everyone should have their own helo! We are heading back as the others go nup the creek, so to speak



This was off the Coral Geographer. Masks on, on board





A bevvie while waiting for the next zodica, which would take us to a nearby beach to board a helicopter to Mitchell Falls, abt 25 mins flight away. Optional tour, I think $700.



Boarding call ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Geology for Dummies…All the Quartzite I have blown..or crushed..or... has been grey.. these cliffs are red

Just iron staining. A bit of acid rain will clean it up nicely

 

[TheRealTMA]

Continuing

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One of the galleries

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Stunning.

 

[tgh]

Really nice set of pics roof_lyer..weldun..

 

[Port Power]

Lovely photo of a Brahminy Kite. You must have seen plenty of them on your travels? Enjoying your photos and observations.

 

[RooFlyer]

Lovely photo of a Brahminy Kite. You must have seen plenty of them on your travels? Enjoying your photos and observations.

I’m sure I have, it’s just that I don’t notice them very much. They move a bit fast for me - I’m more used to photographing static things.

In my defence, the Geo guide guy when he’s on my zodiac, points to lots of LBBs - Little brown birds.

 

[RooFlyer]

So off we go. 'Promised' doors-off helo, but in the end smaller Squirrels, 4 pax.









This country would be hell to walk through ...



After about 25 mins, the Mitchell Falls, struggling in the Dry, but still very impressive



Landed very carefully on a rocky, uneven platform.

 

[RooFlyer]

About a 10 min easy walk to a viewpoint, then a further 10 mins less easy walk to the next viewpoint,









Back at the helo point, there is a pool to swim in - mostly shallow, but a bit of investigation found a better part







It was very busy - the helo operator had 9 craft in the sky today, servicing our vessel, plus the Coral Explorer, and some folk who were at the base/road on the Mitchell Plateau, some way away.

 

[RooFlyer]

Going back to the beach









Back on board, I took the opportunity to snap the wine collection, in its fridge





The main restaurant

 

[RooFlyer]

Refreshment time.





Afternoon tea, and piano recital



Sundown





Some of the later groups were very late in arriving back. A wonderful full moon