Criss-crossing the Kimberley

[JohnM]

Righto, ten weeks is long enough at home – especially in winter. Time to get back to the Kimberley and some warmth; this time on land in the dry season rather than along the coast at the end of the wet season as recently done (A Kimberley coast crawl).

Tomorrow it’s on the bird PER-BME to overnight before joining an Outback Spirit tour for two weeks. Outback Spirit operate several itineraries in the Kimberley. The one I chose is ‘Jewels of the Kimberley and Faraway Bay’.

I first did an Outback Spirit trip solo to Faraway Bay in 2019: (Kimberley Wet aerial safari) and PJM and I have done several others since: (Adventure across Arnhem Land, Target: The Red Centre, I’ll give you the tip – at Cape York). We have always enjoyed them.

This time, my brother and SIL, and another couple are joining in for their first experience of Outback Spirit.

The first day of the trip is activities around Broome – flying by floatplane to Horizontal Falls and driving up the Dampier Peninsula to visit the beagle Bay ‘Mother of Pearl’ church and the pearl farm at Cygnet Bay. We’ve previously been to Cygnet Bay, which I think is an excellent outing if at Broome (A longer brush with Broome). That visit and an earlier one I did solo (Brushing Broome to points further N) were both during covid and the Beagle Bay TO community was closed which thwarted my desire to see the Mother of Pearl church, so I’m glad the tour includes that.



Then it’s up to Derby and out on the western end of the Gibb River Road to Tunnel Creek, deviating to Fitzroy Crossing, the Bungle Bungle, Wyndham, Kununurra, Lake Argyle, then rejoining the Gibb River Road at its eastern end to head towards Emma Gorge Resort at El Questro and then further west before turning onto the Kalumburu Road to Drysdale River Station and then on to Mitchell Falls. From Mitchell Falls we fly in Outback Spirit’s own Cessna Grand Caravan to Faraway Bay. The tour finishes after flying to DRW in the same bird.

I was particularly keen to choose a tour that included Mitchell Falls and Faraway Bay as PJM had been to neither, the former being a Kimberley icon and the latter being a cool experience in a very isolated location accessible only by air or by boat.



As usual, the TR will be completed upon return.

 

[Major]

I take it this is your pre Wildflower season TR

 

[JohnM]

OK, back home after an excellent trip. A jam-packed itinerary covered a lot of ground, with lots of activities, including some heavy-duty hikes.

En route PER-BME. 1F in a whY-only QFLink A320.



Approaching BME. The tide was out.



Swinging around for approach from the west over Cable Beach.



Later, on the deck, we had the afternoon and most of next day free before the tour group gathered and we moved to the tour accommodation at the iconic Cable Beach Club Resort.

There is a major redevelopment happening at the N end of Cable Beach and vehicle access to the section of beach N of the main swimming area is shut. That, and school holidays meant that the S end was chockers with vehicles. The main swimming area was also quite busy, and at about 1530h the iconic camels were being led to the beach.

 

[JohnM]

After dinner at the famed Matso’s, straight across the road from our accommodation, and the inevitable pearl shop crawl the next morning, we transferred to Cable Beach Club Resort in the afternoon.

The heavy blue line shows the tour route, including flights. Total distance driven was about 2700km.



There was some variation to the schematic route shown previously for the Broome-Beagle Bay-Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm-Horizontal Falls component of the trip.

The first day was full-on with a 0545 departure by coach to Beagle Bay, then on to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for breakfast and pearl tour, followed by a short retracing to the Lombadina airstrip for the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures’ floatplane flight to Horizontal Falls. Lunch on the floating platform was followed by a scenic boat ride in Cyclone Creek and several passes through Horizontal Falls, before the floatplane flight back to Broome following a couple of orbits over Horizontal Falls.



First, the mother-of-pearl church at Beagle Bay.



Then to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. The pearl extracted from the demonstration shell was assessed as being worth $980.

 

[JohnM]

Then to Lombadina airstrip and the floatplanes coming in. They dropped a group of pax who had flown directly from BME early to Horizontal Falls and would now coach back to Broome via Cygnet Bay and Beagle Bay. I think we got the better deal of coach first/flights second.



Flying out over the tip of Dampier Peninsula and the One Arm Point community, then across the Buccaneer Archipelago at the top of King Sound, before landing in Talbot Bay and pulling up at the platform. The swirling waters of the tidal movement were clearly visible from the air.

 

[JohnM]

The platform is an impressive operation, made up of several modules each with a kitchen and seating for each tour group. They keep it simple but delicious with lunch of grilled wild-caught barramundi and a selection of salads.

There was a constant stream of birds flying in and out and the fast boats going in and out for the tour of Cyclone Creek and the dashes through the Falls. An impressive large-scale well-oiled operation.



There is a swimming enclosure for those who wished to get up close to the tawny nurse sharks (a gummy shark) and other fish.



A gentle cruise up Cyclone Creek.



A floating hotel provides some overnight accommodation.

 

[Daver6]

What was row 1 like on the A320? MrsDaver6 and I are off to BME in early Sept. One way is the A320 the other A319.

 

[JohnM]

What was row 1 like on the A320? MrsDaver6 and I are off to BME in early Sept. One way is the A320 the other A319.

Perfectly fine. Certainly not unusually squeezy.

 

[JohnM]

Then action stations!



The inside.



Video:

Then it was time to head back to BME.



And a sensational day came to a fitting close. Sunset from Cable Beach Club Sunset Bar.

 

[Daver6]

Then action stations!

View attachment 459849View attachment 459850

The inside.

View attachment 459851

Video:

Then it was time to head back to BME.

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And a sensational day came to a fitting close. Sunset from Cable Beach Club Sunset Bar.

You need to adjust your video privacy settings. Any gen X'er should be able to help you

 

[JohnM]

You need to adjust your video privacy settings. Any gen X'er should be able to help you

View attachment 459954

It seems that the video editor took it upon itself to change the video from 'Public' to 'Private' after I used it to clip out audio and shorten it slightly.

 

[Daver6]

It seems that the video editor took it upon itself to change the video from 'Public' to 'Private' after I used it to clip out audio and shorten it slightly.

It's amazing how helpful and useful gen X'ers are

 

[VPS]

Serious question. How would somebody that can’t eat fish cope on those tours and some of the cruises you have done

 

[JohnM]

It's amazing how helpful and useful gen X'ers are

As the author of the post, I of course couldn’t see that the video showed as a black blob to others - until informed by a kind young fella who delights in looking out for me.

 

[JohnM]

Serious question. How would somebody that can’t eat fish cope on those tours and some of the cruises you have done

Just as easily as, say, a vegetarian utilises other options. The Horizontal Falls lunch, which made a thing of fresh local barra and was simplified for efficiency, had several nice salads.

 

[JohnM]

After dinner at the famed Matso’s, straight across the road from our accommodation, and the inevitable pearl shop crawl the next morning, we transferred to Cable Beach Club Resort in the afternoon.

The heavy blue line shows the tour route, including flights. Total distance driven was about 2700km.

View attachment 459565

There was some variation to the schematic route shown previously for the Broome-Beagle Bay-Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm-Horizontal Falls component of the trip.

The first day was full-on with a 0545 departure by coach to Beagle Bay, then on to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for breakfast and pearl tour, followed by a short retracing to the Lombadina airstrip for the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures’ floatplane flight to Horizontal Falls. Lunch on the floating platform was followed by a scenic boat ride in Cyclone Creek and several passes through Horizontal Falls, before the floatplane flight back to Broome following a couple of orbits over Horizontal Falls.

View attachment 459566View attachment 459567

First, the mother-of-pearl church at Beagle Bay.

View attachment 459568View attachment 459569View attachment 459570View attachment 459571

Then to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. The pearl extracted from the demonstration shell was assessed as being worth $980.

View attachment 459572View attachment 459573

PJM had a clearer photo of the $980 pearl extracted from the demonstration shell (in my hands):

 

[JohnM]

Next morning we departed Broome and headed to Derby before joining the (sealed) W end of the Gibb River Road to the turnoff S to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek before arriving in Fitzroy Crossing for the night.



The so-called ‘Prison Boab’ near Derby. It’s doubtful that it was used as a prison; more likely just a store.



Nothing much else of note at Derby. Moving on to Windjana Gorge, part of a 375myo Devonian reef system. It’s inhabited by freshwater crocodiles.



Moving on to Tunnel Creek. A scramble over rocks to enter the tunnel.



The day ended with the run into Fitzroy Crossing for the overnight stop.

 

[JohnM]

The next day would take us from Fitzroy Crossing to culturally-significant Mimbi Caves where a local guide took us through. As with Windjana Gorge, the caves are also part of the ancient Devonian Reef system that straddles the area near Fitzroy Crossing.

A lunch stop at Halls Creek followed before we pressed on to World Heritage listed Purnululu National Park, location of the iconic and famed Bungle Bungle range. The 50-odd clicks from the highway to the lodge near the Bungles is rough, taking almost two hours (with one viewpoint stop).

On the way in I was sitting in the cab, so could hear radio chatter. We encountered someone towing out a Prado. What a mission that would be!

Listening on the two-way it seemed that they had broken a front drive shaft. When another fourby going our way queried why they didn’t just put it in 2WD, it took a bit of explanation by the towing people to explain that a Prado is AWD, so not amenable to such a solution. He took a bit to get the drift before apologising profusely. The towing people were not offended and appreciated that he was trying to be helpful. I’ve never struck that before, but something to think about in relation to a Prado.

The iconic ‘beehive’ formations of the Bungle Bungle are not visible from the W side; it only once flown over or driving to the E side that they become visible.



Out and back to the 4WD coach. Starlink-equipped. Capacity is 26 pax; this Kimberley tour was limited to 20, determined by the accommodation, notably at Outback Spirit’s own lodge at Mitchell Falls.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Fantastic video and snaps @JohnM
My Pilot nephew and his +1 did similar WA trip by road from Cairns recently - and raved about their Horizontal Falls flight.
My brother met them in Broome - drove from Mackay in his trusty ute, but was too late for a booking - still on his bucket list.

 

[JohnM]

Heading into the Bungle Bungle.



Savannah Lodge accommodation. Jointly owned by Outback Spirit with Aviair, the latter being a 51% shareholder.