If you’re wanting to escape crowded travel destinations and you’re looking for something spectacular and remote, then Australia’s Kimberley coast is the destination for you. Awaken your adventurous spirit and discover the wild remoteness of this region. Exploring via small cruise ships or light aircraft, offers endless perspectives, but for those looking for an overland adventure, the landscape doesn’t disappoint.
The complex landscape is made up of spectacular gorges with rock formations that are two billion years old. The forces of nature are visible in the remarkable layering of the towering cliff faces that give clues to the dramatic seismic activity of ages past.
Talbot Bay Kimberley Coast Image: GRACIE
Going wild in this region in a zodiac is the best way to get up close and personal to the spectacular waterfalls that thunder their spills into the secluded gorges. The famous Twin Falls can be reached via the magnificent King George River gorge. The twisting sandstone escarpments that usher you through to the falls are breathtakingly beautiful. The changes in colour against the bright sky are dramatic.
The Twin Falls form an impressive duo tumbling 80 meters over the edge.
Getting wet and wild
King George River Twin Falls Image: GRACIE
Pockets of lush rainforest aren’t absent from this region. There is an amazing variety of mangrove that are shaped by the largest tropical tides in the world. There’s an abundance of birdlife, marine life and the ever present saltwater crocodiles.
Montgomery Reef covering up to 400 square kilometres off the Kimberley coast, is famous for its spectacular 10 meter tides that drop rapidly causing water that becomes trapped in higher pools to cascade over the sides of the exposed reef. This can be viewed remarkably well from the air or by zodiac or small craft while the phenomenon is taking place.
As the massive 4m tides drop rapidly, water trapped in higher lagoons cascades down the sides of the exposed reef walls into rushing channels. The tidal movements affect all aspects of life in this region. As the reef becomes exposed, birds swoop in to feed off the marine life. Turtles are in abundance but they were only happy to pop their heads up momentarily for air and to check us out. Snakes, dugongs and reef sharks glide about but are difficult to see in the rapidly moving waters.
Remote and pristine are the words that come to mind when describing the Lacepede Island group of four. An astonishing variety of birds call this place home. We arrived amidst a gathering of brown boobies that swarmed and dived in countless numbers. The isolation of these islands provides an ideal breeding ground for birds as well as a haven for turtles.
Exploring the unique Kimberley definitely opens up a whole new world of experience and knowledge. In appreciating the geology, ocean currents and tidal movements, vegetation, marine and bird life, general wild life, amazement is a constant. A visit to this region is transformative and ‘a must’ if you can.
