Showing posts with label Kimberley NW Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kimberley NW Australia. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 September 2004

KING GEORGE RIVER TO DARWIN 23rd September



Wednesday 15th September
We have some waypoints for the bar crossing from Yampi and after a frustrating hour or so last night, this morning we got straight in on them. They are anchored inside. While Tas and Pearl go to catch some bait fish David makes pikelets and invited Yampi crew for afternoon tea. Ken and I swap a bit of software, tide program, and some charts. 
 
Kimberley Escape heads upstream in King George River.

Up the river as the sun sets and it's another unforgettably stunning sunset in this spectacular river.

We are anchored on a big bend with majestic red rock cliffs towering over us. There's a small sand spit fringed by mangroves and it looks like an ideal spot close for the fishy action. As it gets dark the fish are a jumpin! Wow.. Fishing heaven. Trevally everywhere the bait fish are dead but a rig with two hooks tied to 50lb line is pretty effective and the phosphorescence is breathtaking. Pools of light float past in the current, occasionally coming close enough to see the individuals fish lit up like stars, swirling around in schools. The fish chasing the lures become darts of bright light swooping on it. The Lures greate their own phosphorescence.


Our attempt to catch mud crabs next morning was unsuccessful so up anchor and slow motoring the 14nm upriver marveling at the amazing gorges, cliffs, waterfalls and an occasional wallaroo. There are very few breaks in the sheer red rock walls which zig zag inland to the falls. The rocks appear to be just balanced on each other with very little holding them there. The river is often only about 150M wide and the cliffs are at least 80M high.

The best is saved for last. Suddenly the river stops at the Majestic Twin Falls. The highest falls in Australia at 100m. Millions of tons of water rush over these falls every wet season. It's the dry season now so we can safely approach right to the base of them. Tied up to a small hole in the rock.

Taipan at the bottom of the falls


Amazing photo by unknown photographer from the same spot, in the wet
Excercise time. We anchor Taipan a little away from the face. A few moments of panic as Wombat does a runner and heads off back to the falls. No one is keen to jump in and recapture him even though he's only just out of reach A rapid un anchoring is called for and we race to catch him before he goes into the shallow water. 

Phew. re-anchor and off to the base of a steep scree slope to walk to the top of the falls. Its a fair climb. About half an hour up and fifteen minutes on a well-defined track marked with small stone cairns. The country on the plateau is very rocky and although treed they re small and wired looking There are still a few small pools at the top with drinkable water and enough to sit in for a welcome cool off.  Back down the cliff and David frightens a large goanna which runs straight for Pearl eliciting a loud screech from her. One very startled lizard heads for the hills. Few oysters to rejuvenate us at the bottom of the hill then back aboard. We watch a couple of dugong drifting and diving lazily about.   About two-thirds of the way up the river we passed a huge crack in the cliffs. There is supposed to be a lovely swimming hole up here but a climb to the said hole reveals a very slimy looking green hole. Too late in the season I think. Re-anchor Taipan close to the mangroves for fishing. Mangrove Jacks and Trevally. David caught a holy mackerel. This converted into strip bait and that converted into dinner.

Friday 17th September. 
Slept in. The shade of the huge cliffs caused that. up anchor and back to the big bend where we anchored the first night "Eclectic Dreams" and "2nd Innings" were at anchor here too. Into the dingy and down to the climb at the head of a large creek This too ends abruptly at a vertical cliff. It is very arduous looking though and we reckon were ten years too late for this climb. There are some lovely ferns growing under the rock overhangs on the cliffs around here. Aground. Nothing serious. We have to leave on thigh tide around 8.00pm .Dark. All prepared. Dam, the current is going out so its a falling tide. Radar giving good images but depth 0 to 100mm under the keel. David keeps very cool as we meander our way out at 2kn. Steering is difficult at such low speed. Half an hour later and we are anchored outside, ready for an early getaway.

Saturday 18th September
5.30am and were up for the run down the coast to Berkley river. It's about 40 miles. 600am and were off. Glassed off completely. The current is against us so were motoring again The Kimberley docent turn on much wind. Whales slapping tails. We haven’t seen many this trip. Perfect wombat weather. The smoke is so thick we cant see the coast. 9.30am it's still glass, but now, with the addition of brownish floating sediment type slime. Possibly some sort of coral spawning with the new moon last night. "Rite Track" appears ashore of us heading in the same direction but we lose him mid-morning. The wind has come and we put up the MPS. Multi Purpose Spinnaker  No pole. Steady 10knots on our beam. 90°. Trucking at 7knots. The Volvo gets a welcome break. 4.00pm sail down and we attempt to get over the sandbar. We are a bit early for the tide and after much banging and bumping we abandon the attempt. Take up anchorage at Reveille Island overseen by a platoon of stately Boabs. They appear regiment style on the hillside facing the island. Tas and David mark a track with the handheld sounder and GPS. A light appears to our north “Rite Track" is at anchor.

Sunday 19th September. 
Dawn and Tas and David finish marking our course in. 700am, heart in mouth. Anxiety prevails. We’ve been aground, and on our side, for the duration of a tide last time we were here. Tentatively we edge our way towards the mouth. There's about 1.5nm of the sandbar to negotiate and the tide doesn't give us long before it turns and heads out. We manage to get into the river and no less than 700mm under us. Phew. Timed it right. 
The trip upstream is just stunning. About 12 miles of winding flat mangroves then into gorges. Ancient blocks of pink stone stacked on each other in enormous columns. Each reliant upon the other. We drop anchor only 500m from the end of the navigable waterway having come through spectacular gorges and emerged in the inland with sweeping views of the ranges and Mount Casuarina away to the North East. A trip to the waterfall is very welcome as the Kimberley heat has really kicked in in the last couple of days. Very little breeze and quite high humidity. The small falls on the left of the end of the river are an easy climb. A large grey kangaroo is startled by our arrival but the greenish kingfishers hunt on unperturbed. The series of ponds and falls stretch away into the spartan stony countryside. Kapok flowers abound. Large yellow blooms resplendent against the blue sky. 
Taipan had taken a little wander during our absence. We return to find her sitting very smugly with her rudder firmly on a rock, tail in the air and tide falling. An effort to pull her off with the dingy failed. The Berkley strikes again. The anchor has dragged. Oh well. Sit it out. After a couple of hours and with about 400ml of bum exposed the tide turns  There are a lot of very perplexed fish swimming about. No damage was done and we re-anchor. The bottom of the river here must just be sheets of stone and it takes a while for the big plow to get a grip.

Monday 20th September
Walking up the Berkley river. There are miles of pools and waterfalls. The fall is not great so it's an easy walk. A dip in the running water here and there gives welcome relief in the heat. There is a lot of grass about and we soon come across fresh cattle shit. BBQ? No sign of the polluters. A few kilometers up there is a track winding in off the eastern bank. We presume it goes across somewhere because we’ve been advised of the existence of a track from the Oombilgari community near Wyndham to Kalumburu. Some large black waterfowl with black legs and beaks take flight ahead of us. Most bush life must be in the shade by now, however. Plenty of dingo tracks. Time to head back. Taipan still where we tied her this time  The 2-hour return downstream to the entrance is uneventful. Even "Rite Track" has disappeared. Tas and David off to catch bait fish. Tonight is the night for Barra!!

Tuesday 21st September. 
Well, last nights Barra didn’t manifest itself aboard. Pearl had one on but it snapped the hook in half. Darn However a lovely big thread-fin and 2 small sharks weren’t so lucky so we eat fish again. All action aboard this morning. We leave the Berkley River for Darwin. Taipan doesn’t like leaving the Berkley so her  first attempt to stop us was to refuse to start. Glow plugs not working. David flies in to action. Dr Diagnostic is effective in the electrical mysteries of Taipan. The delay costs us precious time. We have to be out by 8.00am. Theres a 3.7m tide and this is lower than the one we came in on. The tension builds. By 7.30 we are underway. Anxiety plus. We go over several spots where the bottom is only 200mm below our keel but we don’t touch. By 8.10 we are anchored safely on the Darwin side of the bar. 
Taipans next effort includes refusing to run on the fuel tank we switch over to after changing her filter. By10.30 all is ready and she’s finally capitulated and we all agree, we are off. We only have about 90 liters of fuel so it could be a slow trip. There's not much wind  6-7 knots and it's from the wrong direction so we put up the MPS again and go on the wind as hard as possible about 90°. Start off at 5 knots The wind drops and were doing 3 knots. Finally, we get a decent breeze. The endless flat water drifts by. We eat. We sleep. We do four hour round the clock watches. Calm. Night. Hissing through the inky black casting stars in our wake. A pall of smog and cloud obliterates the skyline and as the moon leaves below the bank of dense cloud the darkness is complete. The trusty Volvo is humming now we are forgiven and she's ever-ready to take up the slack when the wind fails. Phosphorescence abounds. Sometimes fish are illuminated as they wizz by leaving their own trail of light. Dawn.

Thursday 23rd September. 

The clouds persist. Sunrises through a distance bank. The buildup is coming.  Tas and Pearl sleep on. The change in time zone and a bit of night watch slow down Tas morning wanderings. We are riding the tide into Darwin. 15nm to go. Into Darwin and into the Cullen Bay Marina we head. This is a locked marina and its an adventure of its own going into the small box. The doors shut and in comes the water. Soon we are riding high above the tide in the marina basin. Welcome long hot showers and someone else to cook the food. What a great trip. Thanks David and Pearl Hammond for all the great fishing lessons. I hope our future holds lots of fish!.

Saturday, 11 September 2004

ANJO BAY TO GEORGE AND MILDRED BAY 11th September

Arrived at Anjo Bay 13 56 970S 126 34 084E
Into the dingy and ashore to look for the Macassin,  Beche de mere processing site. It's not difficult to locate. Right there on the beach just above high water. All that remains are the 9 raised sand mounds arranged alongside each other. They are about 2 to 3 Meters long about 500mm high and have scattered rocks on top. They apparently once served as tables for processing sea slugs. They were cleaned here then boiled in huge pots, probably copper, then smoked for packing. Just at the end of the row of tables is a large depression in the sand. This is where the boiling took place. Ashore further in from the processing area is a large sandy flat treeless area of about 1 acre. It would have been a great campground. 

Many boats would come here and anchor for the season before returning to  Sulawesi. Mathew Flinders encountered a large fleet of  trepangers here when he surveyed the area in the 1700s   We couldn't find any evidence of fresh water but there is a creek on the west side of the bay. We tried to walk to it but it's very rough so we went fishing instead! 3 Spanish Flag and one Bluebone and a heap of oysters again. Pickled, fried, crumbed and omelets.

Remains of the Macassin Traders processing facility/


Saturday 11th September
Remember the towers?  Several years ago we were approaching this island from the west and spotted 2 very tall towers There was much conjecture as to their purpose. As we rounded the headland we came across Blue Gold. An enormous superyacht at anchor near the entrance to this bay. 
We are starting reasonably early with a fishing trip  Tas and Pearl found a likely spot on the north side of the peninsula and David and I are trolling in the dingy. No luck but bouncing those little rubber fish around in the reef crevasses is pretty fun and pretty productive for fishermen or women who like to keep "office hours"  so we missed the "best time" this seems to be the reason we don't catch more fish. More effort this afternoon and no fish but more oysters! This is a great spot and fishing is there if you research, oysters good and we eat fish again.

Sunday 12th September 
David saw a dugong swimming in a pool of phosphorescence last night. Lasted for ages. The black-fellows still spear them for food. So we are hush on their whereabouts 

Off early towards Koolama Bay at the head of the King George River. One of the best anchorages in the Kimberley and at the entrance to one of our u and most spectacular places.
Strong wind warning! Abandoned attempt to round the headland and instead anchored in an unnamed bay at 13 56 155S  127 09 260E south of Cape Londonderry and in the Blowen apart Gulf! 25 knots on the nose and unpleasant. 

The steep rocky headlands are made up of blocks of stone which seem to have been carefully arranged. A work of Mother Nature though. The evening softens the light and there is a sharp contrast between the midday color and the softness of the early evening washed in pinks and pale blues. As the skies darken, the stars are bright pinpricks across the sky, shooting stars are common and on a still night, the water sparkles with their reflection.

Monday 13th  September 
Strong wind warning again, from Kuri Bay to the Queensland border. Well, we go out and give it a shot but it's 35 knots out there and we're making 2 knots in the teeth of it. Back again.
On with our explorer gear and off we head to explore this bay.  We can't get Taipan on far because the tidal range is 6m and the bay is fairly shallow. Ashore to the beach and we drop Tas n Pearl so they can walk up an interesting looking creek. It's steep and rough country don't know how far they will get.

David and I are off fishing. I think we got that wrong somehow! Trolling along the edge of the fringing reef. Wind is a little moderated by the huge cliffs. Two hours later and still trolling to no avail  There are two beautiful Brahminy Kites perched together in a nearby tree, one does an occasional fly past. There's a huge nest of sticks precariously stuck on a rock pinnacle. Large numbers of turtles and even dugong pop up for a look. 

Back to pick up the explorers. Drama! They have walked along a high rocky headland to a creek and fortunately overlooked it from their high vantage point. Their intention was to go up the creek on foot and explore a rocky pool. As luck would have it, they spotted a very large croc (18 to 25ft) swimming just off shore where we had recently been trolling!  So they decided to explore upstream on the high side instead of the creek. On the way back they must have spooked another one because a very large lizard came stumbling out of the undergrowth and ambled off into the water to join his mate. Just off the beach where we had planned our rendezvous. Tas and Pearl could see from their high point what was probably a nest in amongst the grasses and mangroves just in from the beach. Much gesticulating and making of crocodile signals as we approached had us on high alert. We spotted those monsters and they were both over twice the length of our dingy, which is 12 feet. The biggest crocks we've seen. George and Mildred name the bay! We snatched Tas n Pearl off the beach in a haze of sand and spray and bolted to the boat for wine!

Fortified and undaunted David went off to explore a channel to the south-east as a possible shortcut out of here and Tas went fishing again but surprised his friend again who arced up and Tas was off like old meat! We hoisted the dingy and we're all feeling somewhat uncharitable towards our scaly mates.




Tuesday 14th September
Strong wind warning still current. A red motorboat with sun covers appears around the corner. Probably from the Faraway Bay Resort in the next bay. They head straight to where we know the big crocs live. I wonder if they feed them to entertain their guests? Then they headed over to the big hawk nest. 
We dropped Tas n Pearl off so they could try to get some live action movie of the big crocs and we followed the tourists. Down into a shallow gorge where two Braminy Kites are giving a wedge tail eagle a strafing. Moving further into very shallow water and we come across two Jabaru "dancing". A spectacular display of spinning twirling jumping flashes of black and white feathers on red legs as they attempt to herd and then snatch the little schools of fish for dinner. Lucky to spot this performance. We've never even seen Jabaru before. 

Returning is slow as a falling tide has made it very shallow. Must come back in Wombat and explore further up this gorge. Tas couldn't get a shot of the crock but we saw him in the shallows just outside his creek. He submerged when we were about 100M away. He's huge!






Back aboard and we are going to try to make Koolama Bay. The wind has dropped to around 25kn the sea is still standing up quite well but we made it in at 4.00 pm and anchored in the bay because there is not enough tide to get over the bar into the river mouth.

Sunday, 5 September 2004

FRESHWATER BAY TO KALUMBARU September 5th 2004



Sunday 5th September.

Day off. David and I. are going ashore for oysters. Yum  there are heaps of them so we will fill up the larder. Pity Pearl doesn't like them and Tas is a bit ambivalent about them too. Provisions to re assess, this doesn't take long cos we are pretty low. Focaccia for lunch. Tas n Pearl off fishing on a bommie.


Our trip to the waterfall was well worth it. We've been here 3 times before and never been the few extras meters into the mangroves. Well today we found the pretty little fresh water stream, after which the bay is named. Freshwater Bay. Had a quick splash in one of the larger pools, ever watchful for big goannas! Some people on a Wharam Cat anchored nearby Rod, Lisa and Lush, all from Kunnanurra. Also Penrod ll with Ken, Arthur, David, Carole-Anne & Dorothy and Yampi with Ken Phyllis and young Ken so it was a pretty social crowd as we gathered on Penrod for sundowners to swap stories and information. A book by Ian Crawford called WE WON THE VICTORY, Sounds like an interesting read about Aboriginality. 

Freshwater Bay has improved its status as an anchorage, with oysters, freshwater for drinking and a swimming hole. The sand flies are atrocious as they seem to be everywhere. There is another creek with falls and pools about 1 nm to the west of us apparently. Dingy job.. Didn't see a croc but you can bet they're there.

Bad news. Trent Bridge, my best friend for 22 years is very sick. Sounds like kidney failure and or cardiac issue. He's in a lot of pain and I've asked Jason to arrange to have him put down as soon as possible. He's 22, not old but he had a cardiac issue when he was 17 and developed arrhythmia. He has had a very big Holliday since then. I don't expect to ever have another special horse like him in my life again.

Monday 6th September
Dawn and we are up and off to Jar Island to locate the aboriginal rock art gallery reportedly there. We couldn't find it last time we visited and a croc nearly got Trevor Ball while he was fishing. He had to run for his life up a crag and wait while the thing stalked around him for an hour before swimming out to Taipan to lay in wait for the rest of us. He grabbed our floating anchor marker and dived with it when we returned, it was completely destroyed and he hung onto it as we pulled anchor, right to the last moment.  So this time we will be watchful. Our cricket is gone! I hope I didn't poison him with spray trying to get rid of B... sand flies! I'm sure they live in the horrible carpet. It's bad luck to hurt a cricket!

The forecast is good and so far the sea is flat. The smoke haze is still quite thick so visibility is pretty average.

As the morning wears on it has completely glassed out. There is a pearl farm near the anchorage and ... What is this... that darn croc which chased Trevor is still here and eager to be reacquainted!  We'll have a cup of tea and see if he tires of watching us. No. He is far too interested. We tried lowering the dingy but he was straight over. We put a plastic bottle on a string and he straight away chomped it. I think one of the tour boats is feeding him! Bloody stupid.



We abandoned the attempt to see the western gallery but up anchor and off around the east side. Re anchored and we jump in and off ashore. The galleries are fairly easy to find. Straight up the beach from a point about 14 08 870  and 126 14 615. The caves are really just a tumble of huge rocks forming shelters. The paintings are reputedly Bradshaw style and may predate the oldest known European sites. The local Aboriginals don't acknowledge or accept ownership of them and consider them rubbish. There is still a lot of conjecture as to their origin.

The wind has come up so we up anchor and head south to a little bay called Maria Cove and drop anchor in about 7m at 14 13 584 / 126 16 507

A fishing boat called Kolimba is anchored near the entrance and a large white boat which looks like Kimberley Escape is anchored near Long Island. 
Evening draws in. David and Tas have gone exploring while Pearl and I are nursing our sand fly bites.

This bay was apparently used by early Macassan traders as a processing point for beshe-de mere. Sea Slugs. These intrepid seafarers from Indonesia's Macassar in Sulawesi, regularly visited northern Australia to trade with aboriginals. It is also possible that the nearby cliff contains remains of aboriginal ancestors. We've been told there are skulls and bones stashed in caves around here. Eerie!
Well the hunters return Only one fish. David caught a small barracuda. Good for bait. Maybe we can catch something edible with it. Gas came across a burial site right down on the water near the tip of the eastern point. He thinks about 6 burial mounds marked with large bailer shells. There were also three large holes about one meter deep and one and a half meters across arranged in a line about 100m away. Some beach stones had been carted up into the bush and arranged. He surprised a crocodile in the vicinity and they both made off in opposite directions! 
Fished more during the evening but only managed bait!

Thursday 7th September
We are awake at dawn so we can go back to Jar Island to give Tas another shot at the fishing there. Yes. A chorale trout, a blue one and 2 Spanish flag. They are small but we eat again! Now back to freshwater bay to collect some water and maybe do some washing. Ugh! There's a pleasant S/SW at 10 knots so we sail. It's not often that we get to sail. It's either too light and we have too far to go or the wind is from the totaly wrong direction. 

Our cricket has succumbed to the ravages of Baygon! We will lay him to rest in a match box with the epitaph "Let baygons be baygons!" I hope our luck doesn't get too bad.

Sail to Freshwater bay is lovely now for water collecting. 3 x 20lt containers provide portable tankage, a length of flexible hose and a funnel and off! Dingy transport distance a out 200m each way. Very effective system. We now have 400lts of water aboard and the Freshwater Bay Laundromat is in full swing. Sheets Towels, clothes etc all smelling like roses again. Thankyou Mr Hoover Twin Tub!!


Wednesday 18th September
Middle rock is the big boogie looming today. It's a narrow passage between Mary Island and Long Island to the east of us. We had a Nast experience here four years ago, when as novices we took it on in a falling tide and a strong NW wind. We were going so fast we couldn't keep up with the pencil plotting and we were towing a tinny which was trying to pass us as it raced down the big following seas. Today should be better because it's low tide and we have CMap!
Washing is all in and dry. There's a fresh S/SE breeze (accommodating) and we have been farewelled by the resident croc resplendent in his orange flote hat. He must have been messing with someone's crab trap and got tangled, he looks very humor out and quite distinguishable if not distinguished.

Middle Rock approaches!  The breeze has freshened and come round to head us a little. David missed the note about the 40 min less in the tide time so we are a little late and have 2kn against us. That's OK! Now why are we heading straight for the rock! It's quite visible and so is the reef surrounding it. Crap!!! You just can't trust these electronic gadgets. Back to mark one eyeballs ! The chart would have put us right on the reef on Middle Rock side. Safely through however and a nice cup of tea to calm the nerves!
The black fellas are burning again! Well the bush is afire all over.
Kalumbaru. Well Honeymoon Bay is our destination. A fellow named Les French is apparently the local custodian and for a small fee $50 he can be persuaded to take us to town for provisions. I'm not sure how many people can legally ride in the back of a land cruiser utility in the Kimberley but I think we are about to find out. We hope to take all our rubbish, refill our gas, get ULP for the outboard and replenish our much depleted larder. We are out of dried fruit so have to snack on lollies. David is mortified!!
14 05 975 / 126 40 913. At anchor in Honeymoon Bay. Pleasant sail in with wind astern. About time. At the head of the bay is a large shed on the beach. No walls. Just like a big hay shed. There are several small dingies on moorings. There appears to be some sort of accomodation and at least 1 vehicle we can see.
There is a remarkably large boat tree in the middle of the beach. Tas and pearl are off ashore as the advance party. checking on avvailiablility of a lift the 26 km to Kalumbaru. Wombat must have and ice maker.
Pearl and Tas have found Mr French. He was asleep and they were advised by the young white fishing guide not to wake him and not to press him if he did wake negatively. He has however agreed to take, 2 people only, to the community in the morning at 7.00 am

Thursday 9th September. 
Dawn…. still no fish, just a tangle. The live bait swam around all night with a 100b line! Tas and David are off to “town”. Pearl and I will fill in time repacking all the stores aboard then reading.

The hunters have returned. The Kalumbaru store is pretty basic... like VERY! However we are grateful for small mercies. We have some new supplies. Les French had a visit from Len Wright, a previous Taipan crew from Bremmer Bay to Esperance. He took Les for a fly in his helicopter.
Tananui the red and silver Warham Cat is at anchor having just sailed in from the north. Rob and Lisa and Lush. Lisa has remembered where she heard Kerry Harkers name... also a former Taipan crew on the Freo to Darwin Splash in 2002, Kerry has just been appointed at Argyle Diamonds as nursel Lisa also works at Argyle. Small world.
Rob came over with all their spare beer.. about 2 cartons. Large spag-bog extends to seven and we have an interesting and entertaining late night.

September 10th
David and Tas and Rob are off to Kalumburu again more shopping. Visited Tananui to farewell Lush and Lisa. Both leaving tomorrow. They have heaps of spare food and beer so we are loaded up .heading for Anjo Bay. And a small anchorage there. Its very near the end of the peninsular. 13 56 970 / 126 34 084 The Tidal range is smaller in this area Never exceeding 2 and ½ meters. The anchorage is very protected from all bar strong SE

Tuesday, 24 August 2004

SALE RIVER TO CAPE BOUGANVILLE. AUGUST SEPTEMBER 2004

Google Earth Picture of the Kimberley Area NW West Australia. and some of our stops


Into the Sale River.
More water now. TIde running in. Rock on the right and rocks on the left. The bottom is very lumpy. Stop at the big right angle bend where there is a terrace with boabs and vine tickets left and right of it. Land with dinghy and small motor so we can pull it all out of the water and clear of the rising water and crocs. (some of whom we have met). Walk in to the left towards some very tall trees. There is a fresh water stream under the massive undergrowth. Tall emerges in a few places the vegetation is awesome. Huge trees, some sort of paper bark with palms and gums forming a cathedral like structure curtained in lush fine leaves all the way up to the sky. Under foot are giant ferns not unlike herringbone fern. Very beautiful. We disturbed two large birds which took wing They may have been wild turkeys but looked more like pheasant. Quite startling copper plumage. The sail river certainly deserves a closer look and a lot more time. Took flight ourselves at about 4.30 to get out of the river and over to Raft Point anchorage for the night.
Sale approach 15 58.110S 124 35.024E. Outer 15 58.139S 124 33.811E 16 00.084S124 30.112E 15 58.236S 124 35.471E 15 58.689S 124 36 419E Anchored 15 59.361S 124 38 417E
Raft Head
 
Wednesday 25th 16 01.567S 124 15.784E At anchor at Montgomery Reef. Pulled out of Raft Point around 6.30am and motored here. The tide was just starting to run off the reef. The reef is roughly 20 miles by 10 miles and covers an area of hundreds of sq kilometers with only a few islands. The entire reef uncovers at low tide. In spring tides it would stand 2 to 3 meters out of the water. Amazing spectacle as millions of liters of water gushes off the edges, forming torrents in the gullies to empty the lakes and pools which form with the retreating tide. The water around the reef foams and turtles and other fish flush out of the reef in an endeavor to escape as it dries. Predator fish hang about the edges to capture the fleeing smaller fish. This happens twice a day! We took an up-close look from the dingy. 

 
At the moment David and Tas are fishing. No luck but certainly a fabulous view for fishing. At 10.30 am we pulled up the anchor out of a sea of glass, heading for a new destination at Deception Bay.

Thursday 26th 15 39.906S 124 23.116E Nice place east of Kid island. Just around the corner of Hall Point. Bit of rolling through the night but weather nearly calm. After anchoring last evening we went ashore and fished with the throw net. Pretty little beach but quite deep close in so I aborted my swimming plan. Back on board and Tas caught 3 little reef sharks. Yum. He used live bait and a 100 lb hand line – don’t forget the gloves. Presently 7.30am we are motoring north towards Kuri Bay. Outgoing tide assist. 7 knots of breeze.
 
Restless night I awoke about 4.30am and got to thinking about Davids crazy houseboat scheme. Maybe its not so crazy. The sand flies would still drive me nuts but air conditioning would help relieve the itch. An ideal houseboat would be able to sit on keels, to also steer efficiently in the currents and turbulence. Be powerful enough to go against a reasonable current, Accommodation in two cabins. One bathroom come laundry and WC altogether. Galley with normal household appliances and a large freezer. Should open into main living space and have good visibility. Main steering station forward but second station aft. Hydraulic controls and outboards probably. How about rudders fore and aft? Ideally, the whole thing should pack into a 40-foot sea container except the pontoons. No mast. No sails. Workshop out the back. Large capacity diesel storage. Fishing boat with easy docking facility and interchangeable motors. A small tinny and outboard for me. Upstairs deck and vegie garden. Miles of hose and a big pump to collect water from falls and creeks. Plenty of water storage. Fish tank for live bait and viewing. A computer workstation for me. Studio space and plenty of cupboards.
Meanwhile, we motor up Rogers Strait through Kuri Bay Pearl Farm. Very pretty section. Imposing bluffs in the distant ranges. Vine thickets ashore look interesting. A rock appears ahead, not in  Cmap but is shown on the paper chart!. Hate that!. Huge pearl farm boats owned by Paspaley. Onward towards Prince Regent River. Spectacular islands with very inviting beaches. Past a white catamaran at anchor. No luck trolling need to purchase a small live bait trap.
Houseboat needs water catching facilities. Perhaps an awning over top of foredeck with a hole in the center which can be fitted with a hose to the tank. Telescope on top deck for bird watching. Decks could be perforated aluminum sheet to facilitate breeze and very few internal walls. Roll down canvas walls ok for privacy when other people aboard.External walls of fridge panel for lightness and insulation. Ceilings too. Big sliding aluminum windows with shutters outside. What about fold-out wall which turns into a bed over the water. All shade cloth or clear ends and canvas top. Fun spare room. Great ventilation. Good way to keep the floor space available when no visitors. Pop up roof would be good too. Provide a seating area on the top deck and to help ventilate below useful spot to roll out the swag too.
Prince Regent River. The prince of rivers in the Kimberley. Great flooded ranges with countless islands and high ridges of ochre and white stone. Sage green tide line on the rocks at the edge of aquamarine waters. Whirlpools and eddies cast the light in unusual directions. A large humpback whale and her calf cruising. The calf determined to impress us with a display of big belly flops and tail slapping, there have been a lot of whales about today. They are very difficult to photograph! Maybe the pop-top can be high enough for a table. It could be nice up there in the shade with a wine and a view all round.
Need to have a garbage muncher to mush up food scraps so we don’t attract snapping lizards.
The channel is conducive to heightened anxiety with very erratic depths. One minuet its 100m and then its 16m. There is a smoke haze which partly obscures the distant mountains and somewhat washes out the spectacular, Mt Waterloo and Mount Trafalgar. As the afternoon draws to a close however, the last of the suns rays highlight the west faces of the rocky battlements and edifices. This area has apparently the largest number of mangrove species in one place on earth. 

I want to be able to see out from the chart table / nav station when we go down the Prince Regent in the house boat.!! Ive had to watch the Radar screen to keep us 150m off the southern shore....There is a big row of vicious rocks running up the center of the chanel which have had plenty of action. Bottoms out of boats mainly!!

The focaccia I made for lunch was a hit. Its the cheese and onion one in the muffin book. I used a bit of phylie cheese mixed with tuna as a filling.

Friday 27th August.
Very close to mangroves up the creek. Its about 10m deep right to the edge. Yesterday was a big run so we didn’t fish but did eat the shark fillets cooked on the barbie ring in a batter of plane flour, bicarb, salt and water. Flour fish first. Runny batter but was superb. My sand fly bites are really driving me nuts. Was quite severely eaten at the beach on Wednesday night. The creeks off the main stream here very fish and crabby. Must come back with house boat!. Its quite hot this morning and very very still. The reflections are awesome.
We mooch about up little rivulets and tidal mangrove creeks for an hour, in awe of the variety of vegetation and the spectrum of greens is impossible. Still quite smokey so the distant vistas are shrouded in a purple haze. The cacophony of birdsong starts pre-dawn and crescendos by 8.00 to tail off to intermittent ditty’s during the late morning. Its all quiet in the heat of the afternoon, then builds again into the evening. 

The coast watch plane seems to have lost us. We haven’t seen them since Raft Point. I have been having great fun with the camera. Going a bit wild and will have hours of editing ahead to delete the rubbish. Currently the hunters are out depositing crab traps baited with the heads of beautiful mangrove jacks we caught in the Sale River.

Wow! Crabs we can do!. The hunters have returned with three muddies. They’re not that pleased about having their fierce looking nippers removed. We break them up , wash them out and get the cooker fired up. Bread is a proving.... This hunter gather life style is very time consuming and pretty hard work! Feasting on crabs and warm from the oven Focaccia is not hard to take though.

Now its time to go up river where its narrow. The trip is about 20nm. We did 10NM yesterday so we are going up about 7NM to anchor till tomorrow when the tide is full and we can get up to the falls. Staying .125m from the right bank to start then we cross over to the Left and as we enter a section where there are 2 islands to go between the river widens and Pernulu creek goes off to the left. Squelch! A sand bar. 

Several attempts to negotiate fail and so finally in neutral we let the incoming tide find us a channel ..which it does. 

Attempted to get into camp creek its 5.20pm now and there doesn’t seem to be enough light left to do all the anchoring stuff required in there so we cross the river and anchor slightly down steam. 25M of chain out in 3m. Now we are moving again.
Need to have a set of wheels to go under the houseboat so we can tow it with a tractor up a ramp or hard beach for dissembling to transport.

Shifted anchor because the current will swing us onto some rocks when the tide changes. Now have 50m of chain out. 15 32.334S 125 12.106E

Saturday 28th August
Prince Regent River. Dawn. Its still again. A croc visited in the night and is still hanging about so we decide to leave the missing crab trap. Maybe we will get it later. Motoring on up the creek in the early dawn light. Subtle pinks and orange mingle in an oily sheen over the still water. Tide is quite low but coming in. There are a few moment in a couple of places where sandbanks are not where they are supposed to be. Kimberley Quest tender comes by and gives us some advice just at the right time. With the entrance to the Cascade we encounter another bank but hard right and along a steep rock wall and we are past. Kimberley Quest 11 huge thing, is just pulling out and we have the falls to ourselves. 


After tying onto the face of the fall we eventually maneuver into position where a funnel in the water tank has us catching enough water to fill our tanks. Tas and Pearl frolic in the falls as they cascade on to the fore deck. Go ashore to walk to the big pool at the top. Me I'm going to have a rest instead 
 
No sooner have they gone when up pops 2 yachts. Opal Shell from Fremantle and Storm Child from Port McQuarry. Just getting them sorted, and in rocks Penrod II with Ken Lipold. We’ve met and sailed with Ken on the Splash Return from Darwin and on the first trip back with Taipan at Montgomery Reef. 

Tas and Pearl arrive back and we off out with the tide. Make anchor at last nights spot and plan to go up Camp Creek a little later. Everyone has gone for a GU. Tide is whizzing out now. Tas got a lot of fish action here last evening but only landed one small shark so hes keen to get another go at them tonight.
It has been named. The house boat will henceforth be know as Wombat. (Eats roots shoots an leaves.) A somewhat ungainly creature with the capacity for a good turn of speed if the occasion warrants. Some how construed as a cuddly animal, it snuffles about in burrows and remote places.
Our Wombat needs two sets of anchors on windlasses. Forward and stern and easy to deploy and retrieve so it can anchor in tight creeks and across current if necessary for wind.
Everyone is up from naps and it looks like time to re anchor. So we do then its live bait to catch. It seems that live bait are really the only way to catch fish. Tas will teach David to throw the bait net.
Fishing more successful. Sharks..a quite good size one is chased aboard by a very aggressive croc. Hes hard to dissuade. We tried donging him with the boat hook but hes still hanging about.

Sunday 29th August. Camp Creek
We are off in the dingy to explore Camp Creek. Motor ...Motor... Motor... its a long way and the tide is quite low so the mangroves look pretty battered. The end is sudden and very pretty. We disturb a small croc sunning himself on a ledge he quickly scampers off into the water. Its not a good place to land at low tide. A long climb over very slippery muddy rocks so we abort that plan and go back to Taipan. Really need to go up on top end of a rising tide. It looks like an interesting place to explore if a person had more time. Wombat time! We have heard that there are aboriginal galleries in the area.
Back aboard now and Tas and Pearl have been fishing in our absence and very successful too. Mangrove Jack, Cod and shark.

Camp Creek to Careening Cove
The tide is still coming in so our progress is a little slow for the first 2 hours. No bars present themselves because we have more water. Many of the hazards have disappeared underwater. Its a beautiful clear day. Less smoke about . A breeze blowing from the west. Sails out and we turn north with a nice breeze. The whirlpools are fairly whirling making steering interesting.
Penrod ll following us but veeered off towards Ivy Cove. Sun sets on another beautiful Kimberley day.

Monday 30th August. 

Late start. Lluewin pulls out at about 7.30. A pretty sight. Head ashore in the dingy with the throw net and camera. Mermaid tree to photograph and bait fish to catch

Pleasant little sit in the water to cool off. Not that its really hot, although David Tas and Pearl are a bit warm after an explore up the creek. Lots of little whiting make it into the net for lunch and a few baby millet will join the others in the intensive care department. Its a plastic net basket about 600mm deep and 300 across which I made yesterday to hang over the side in which to keep the bait alive. Seems to work well. The new chums have adapted well to basket life and appear to be quite revived. The mermaid Tree is so named for His Magestys Cutter Mermaid which beached here in 182o for repairs. The name HMS Mermaid 1820 is carved into the trunk of a huge Boab on the beach.


At 1.30 we Left Careening Cove and headed for an anchorage somewhere on the way to Biggie island. Westerly breeze 10 to `5 knots, out going tide helping a bit making 8+ knots which is quite change in this generally windless corner of OZ. “Yampi” left a little earlier for Scott Passage. (Ken and Phylis and young Ken.)
Wombat needs awnings. Something which fold down and strengthen waterproofs sides.
At about 5.00pm we drop anchor at Cape Pool. Very rolling and wind not dropping. Lowering the dingy and off to shore. “Yampi” are also anchored here and they already ashore with buckets. Must be oysters. Mot much daylight left and we race about getting a respectable number of molluscs. Its a pretty spot. There may be some fresh water running in here because a small stream crossing the beach appears to be brackish, not totally salt. Turning in early tonight. Tas and Pearl feeling a little off, so dinner very light.

Tuesday 31st August
Cape Pool to Wary Bay
Its an early start. We are up at four and in the water by 4.45. There is what looks like a trawler anchored further into Scott Strait, They are usually lit up like a night club. Beautiful sunrise with streaks of orange shot through pink clouds. An aura of gold around everything. The wind is light, about 7 knots and we are motoring north west. Petulant little waves throw tiny white tantrums of rage against the unyielding black rocks fringing the island. Inviting secluded white beaches appear out of the soft morning light. This country side is flatter, although still streaked and daubed with colorful stone edifices. There are islands all around. Pretty and crisply defined on the aquamarine surface.

Ever present Kimberley currents are against us this morning slowing our progress. Lures still out but no fish Our bait fish escaped from the intensive care basket in the night. Will have to make a lid.
Its around 10am and we’ve just arrived at Wary Bay. It shoals steeply so we have anchored quite a way out again. Its high tide so the dingy doesn’t have to be dragged far. The beach here is quite short but coarse pale sand littered with coral and shells make it clean and attractive. The surprising feature of the place is that there is a rock art gallery right on the beach. Its bemusing to behold the new chums. It seems so unlikely. The cave has a beach sand floor and consists of several small chambers. Most have some art. Ships with men in them predominate and are in stark contrast to the elaborate line work in the serpent on the ceiling and turtle like creatures. There is one striking male figure with impressive genitalia. We have been told he is a lizard man. Lucky lizard woman!. The figures in the boats are wearing clothing and appear to be wearing clogs or some sort of boot. They smoke pipes and have high elaborate head wear. The is one Winjarra figure in red and white ochre facing the water and in a separate cave. Its about 1m high with many halos. There are 3 human skeletons is small caves near by. 



Now for a swim. The water is fairly clear although its better in neaps. Not exactly a swim. More prolonged immersion with a sharp watch being kept. Tas and Pearl have gone to explore the forested gully to the north east. Back to the boat to make bread. These people still have to eat!
David off to pick up Tas n Pearl. They found a wet gully with small fresh water pools. Too small to swim but running and fresh.
Destination Prudhoe Island to anchor in Shelter Bay for the night. Its only and hour run. The bread is done and Tas,  Pearl and I go to explore. These islands are so rocky and clean looking. No mangroves to speak of. They sit in a sea of glass sparkling somehow after the rivers which although full of life are slightly claustrophobic. A mission to replenish the live bait is fruitless in the very shallow water of the bay. We all walk about in knee deep water for half an hour before giving up. Back aboard not more than 2 minuets and Pearl spots a large croc just behind the boat. He must have been stalking us just out of sight. Phew!
The bay is a bit shallow so we have to re-anchor to avoid bumping a low tide. Its the low end of springs so would not be much good in springs. Tides here are a little inaccurate we have found. The range is so great that I guess you would expect some discrepancies.

Wednesday 1st September.
Stunning glassy morning. The reflections are dazzling. 9.30 anchors aweigh. Tides a rising so we head slightly east of our course to Cape Voltaire to avoid going straight into the current. The wind is gradually picking up from the east. By 11 its about 14 knots.
Round Cape Voltaire and “Yampi” is at anchor in Krait Bay. Ken is very helpful with advice re Crystal Head, waterfall etc. “Kimberley Escape” is just coming out of the Mitchel River and they also offer advice re fishing and anchorage in the river .Now “True North” emerges. Its very large and has a big white helicopter on the top deck They seem to be heading for Wyndham. I guess their charter is finished.
As the light dies and a pall of smoke billows away to our left the plumes become apparent. This large fire seems to be burning over a huge mountain to the south east of the entrance. Tide is almost out as we drop anchor with relief. Its been a long day and the fuel filter blocked again in a tricky spot. As it always does. Taipan's way of relieving the boredom and sharpening up everyone’s stress levels. Who says “this is the cruising life”. Or where does the anachronism “just cruising” come from. Break out the wine and steaks for dinner. The cryovac machine is essential. Just need a bread maker now.

Thursday 2nd September. 

Dawns cloudy but destined not to last as we watch the puffy little clouds dissipate to the north west. Down into the Mitchel river. Its a very wide shallow mouth and remains wide for quite a distance. As with most Kimberley rivers it is preeminently straight. It runs almost north south. Out into the Mitchel plateau at 14 30.336S 125 41.350E We drop anchor outside an unnamed creek running out of the west. It hasn’t much to recommend it visually but “True Blue” said they caught good barramundi here so we are going to give it a shot. Tas and David are off a bara hunting. Pearl washing and I’ve just made my first short crust pastry. Self sufficiency or what!
There is now a heavy pall of smoke all around. Visibility must be less than a mile. The incoming tide however has turned our otherwise muddy dead stick view into quite a charming sight with clean rock piles and lush green mangrove tops.
Fishing isn’t much good where we are. Couple of sharks was all we could manage.

Friday 3rd September. 

Smoke less of a problem but the wind is quite strong and gusting up to 25 knots. Yuk. The weather can really color your opinion of a place and with smoke and wind and no fish my opinion of the Mitchel is rather off the bottom of the scale.
 
We have decided to try for Parry Harbour. The SE wind should be favorable. Iv'e just made a bacon and olive foccacia for lunch but its pretty rolly down there.
The wind is getting stronger so we’ve decided to head for Osbourne Island. There is a large pearl farm there and a respectable anchorage on the SE corner of Middle Island. Almost directly SE from here there is another small enclosed bay on the mainland which the pearl farm use as a cyclone mooring area. The wind dropped overnight.

Saturday 4th September. 
Reasonably early start. Were heading for White Finger Bay. Near Cape Bouganville. It will probably get pretty blowy later. The pearl farm takes a while to get through. There are necklaces of black buoys strung together on about 100m lines and anchored east west. Its a maze to negotiate and we certainly don’t want to pick up any of their lines
Sailing is pleasant heading almost due north, at Parry Harbor we decide to go on .The wind is building across a strengthening current .Rock n Roll. Wet and wild would be the name of a show ground ride however its not. Its us rounding Cape Bouganville. Its very shallow so the seas stand right up. Bad decision to drop the sails as it gets shallow, cos now we cant steer very well. Not enough grunt in the Volvo. We finally make it through. Wet and wiser but unscathed. White Finger Bay is not viable because the NW wind is blowing through the entrance and we haven’t been in there before. We are are going on to Freshwater Bay. The sun is setting as we drop anchor in the very sheltered anchorage. Wind is dropping. Its too late to try for oysters but tired and relieved, showered and fed, we crash for an early night.

Pictures Fremantle To Darwin Incl Kimberley