Sat, 16th April, 2022 Kimberley Cruise, WA (Koolama Bay, King George River & Falls, Tranquil Bay & Pangali Cove)

6am - Heard the anchor drop into Koolama Bay.

6.30am - We are up before the sunrise which is at 7.07am this morning.

7am - Breakfast - lots to chose from.

8am - All aboard the Explorer to explore King George River. We get on upstairs then we are lowered into the water and off we go. The zodiacs are out too to get us up close to the falls later on.

Fabulous landscape and cliffs as we head up the river. First we have to get around a big sand bar at the entrance.

Our guest lecturers, Mike and Ian, are very informative about the rocks, plants and animals and with Jamie’s knowledge we are going to be learning lots. The weathering on the sandstone looks fabulous.

Looking back at the cliffs and the sand bar we rounded.

Warming up quickly as the sun beats down.

Learning lots - there are 17 different species of mangrove in the Kimberleys - not that I really needed to know that!

King George River is quite long so we zoomed along stopping here and there to look at the rocks, birds and plants. Osprey chick had better not wander in its sleep.

The zodiacs took us for closer looks at different things, like the sandstone weathering.

They call this King George’s throne as one of the crew climbed up once and sat on it.

More honeycomb effect in the sandstone. Found a crab. Some rocks look like they are about to fall.

Back onto the Explorer and we continued up the river. Spotted a waterfall along the way.

Then the first of the twin falls came into view.

Fabulous twin King George Falls (Oomari), 80m in height and the sounder on the boats says it is 74m deep under the main falls.

We checked out the main falls first. The mist was being pushed to us with a strong wind from the falls. Lovely rainbow too.

Looking back up the gorge.

We went back out to offload people into the zodiacs. Clive and Rebecca were first in to get up close to the falls. 

We continued around to the other falls in the Explorer.

The zodiacs arrived with everyone dripping wet from the first falls. Under the next falls for another wash off.

Our turn in the zodiac, around to the big falls first. We don’t go under it as the volume of water would just roll us over so we just bumped around in the water. The water on our faces was very salty as the freshwater was bouncing the saltwater back up. The wind was strong from the force of the water falling down. Test time for the waterproof camera. Glad I have it strapped to my wrist.

Dripping and laughing we went around to the second falls. We can go under this one and it was lovely and fresh so we could wash off all the salt water. Fabulous fun. Will be interesting to see Ilana’s photos later.

Back into the Explorer to cruise back to the ship. Just love this country and we are so glad to be able to see it from the sea.

The zodiacs get winched back onto the roof.

Back to our rooms to change then into the dining room for lunch.

2pm we were back on the Explorer to cross Koolama Bay to check out Tranquil Bay where Captain Eggleston beached his ship, MV Koolama, to repair it after it had been bombed by the Japanese in WW2 (1942). He was taking important munitions etc to Wyndham for the war effort and had passengers as well.

Looking across to the entrance to the bay and out to the sea. Then back to the ship, down to the mouth of King George River then around and into Tranquil Bay. There is a thin waterfall and a lagoon on the other side of the sand but we aren’t allowed to land here.

Amazing sandstone weathering.

The other crew and passengers off the Koolama were around at Pangali Cove where there was fresh water and shade. Amazingly no one was killed and only one man was badly injured when one of the bombs originally dropped, scalping him, but not exploding. The priest from Kalumburu had come past in his boat and took the injured man and the few women back on his boat. After more days of waiting the passengers then walked out with the aid of some local Aborigines from Kalumburu. The captain repaired the ship and floated it again to continue on to Wyndham with his precious cargo for the war effort. Unfortunately the ship was hit again by the Jap planes while at the wharf in Wyndham and sunk. 

It was very shallow as we approached and it took Dan a few goes to work out how to get us around into the cove where the freshwater falls were.

Spotted a good sized croc on our way out and he happily stayed there while we took photos. We could see where he climbed up under the tree.

Looking across to the point - it looks like a crocodile too.

Checked the moving map compared to the map on the back of our daily sheet.

Drinks on Sundeck as the sun sets. It is a fall moon tonight but it hadn’t appeared then later it popped up from behind a film of cloud.

Dinner - meeting new people each meal. So many interesting people and everyone is so friendly. The staff are great fun too and happy to get you anything. Basic spirits and wine are included with our meals so we are enjoying a glass or two.

Watched the first of three documentaries about how the First Nation people of Australia came to be here etc - The First Footprint - Super Nomads.