Ponant Kimberley Cruise – Day 4 - King George River and Falls

THURSDAY 25 APRIL – Day 4

PONANT LE LAPEROUSE – KING GEORGE RIVER

Todays photo is one I have taken - it may not show the falls at their best (I have another 27 to share with you for that!) however it shows how close the zodiacs were getting (we did get wet and it was awesome!), and puts the scale of the falls into perspective.

Today we were up nice and early thanks to a booked wake up call that came at 12.15am instead of 5.15am which was a bit of a shock, but we went back to sleep. As soon as we left Darwin the ship changed to Broome time for consistency across the whole cruise

One of the crew officiated a dawn service that was simple but nice. We were up on Deck 4 for 5.45am and thought we had missed sunrise as it was so light – but then it never really got that dark even overnight – and then all of a sudden up she popped. Tom read a few poems and said a few words, a couple of guests on board who had family members with war stories in their heritage spoke a few words, we sang the National Anthem and the Last Post was played, live by the ship’s musician.

Then it was time to hit the gym and burn off some of yesterdays food intake LOL. There are 2 treadmills and three bike style machines and literally a couple of 2kg hand weights, a 3kg weighted medicine ball and some yoga mats. We thought, with the demographic on board, that the gym would be poorly patronised, but the machines were full once we were on them, and a couple went away as they got there a few minutes after us. There was a guided stretching class at 8am on the sundeck which we chose to skip today, but after a solid half hour workout we were ready for a shower and breakfast. The casual dining on Deck 3 – Nemo – offered tea/coffee/juice and a few pastry style snacks and fruit, and toast for the light eaters/early risers however today we chose Nautilus – the a la carte dining option on Deck 4. There is a menu of choices of egg options (Benedict/poached and more) plus a daily egg special, bagels, sweet and savoury pancakes and waffles etc. We had the Eggs Benedict (me with smoked salmon of course) and then went to the buffet for a second course of fresh fruit and cheeses (there was also snags and eggs, muesli and cereal, yoghurt, smoothie shots that changed flavour daily, toast and pastries and sweet options as well as smoked salmon / kippers and cold cuts) and fresh porridge. I was a very good girl until the last day and did NOT indulge in the chocolate croissants and other sweet breakfast pastries. However, I did do a “double daily” smoked salmon (ensuring I had it for breakfast and lunch from the buffets) and nuts/cheeses each day too.

The coffee was not too bad for a cruise ship, the choice of teas is fabulous and the juices taste fresh squeezed. Out waiter is Wayan and from Bali – he spends 6 months on the ship working to send money home and 6 months in Bali working as a tour guide. We also were looked after Gary who became our favourite during the cruise. From the first time he served us we were Miss Sarah and Sir Stephen. We did however soon realise that even coffee you ordered was not really barista…. The ship has Nespresso pod machines in all the service areas, as well as smaller ones in our stateroom.

After breakfast we headed back to the room and steamed some clothes to be wrinkle free for the Gala Dinner tonight (my clothes steamer is the best Xmas gift I’ve ever been given as a traveller – legal to travel with and allowed on ships, where an iron in the room is not), then headed to the Theatre on Deck 3 for the expedition briefing – it’s a compulsory attendance and where we find out what colour group we are allocated to (we were red) which then lets you know what time you leave the ship each day for your Zodiac excursions. These briefings happened every night at 6.30pm. Began with a short educational talk on something we had seen that day, a few of the pictures taken by the ship’s photographer during the day, and then a briefing on what was happening tomorrow and detail/question time on what preparations were needed for each excursion. These were excellent without exception, and basically everyone on the whole ship attended every day.

EXPEDITION TEAM

Notes from the compulsory briefing and introduction including advice and safety items:

The team on this cruise is 15 - a combination of people from all over th, world with different passions around marine and land based naturalist studies. All are University qualified, most with Masters degrees.

Tides in the Kimberley (12.6m range in Derby) are the biggest in the world so the logistics of excursions day by day requires planning. Flexibility of itinerary is key to understanding. Warning – we are in croc country so we only swim in the ship pool and stay away from waters edge when requested.

Taking photos or rock art is fine – but they are not to be posted on social media – only traditional owners are allowed to tell the stories of the art. If we post on socials, we are seen to be telling stories that way, which are not our stories to tell. Burial site photography is forbidden. Some walks are challenging and the longest is up to 5km. Heat is an issue so you should always be taking full bottles of water (provided in the room). There are water stations by the bar areas on ship to refill.

Expedition team members reserve the right to tell you if you are not allowed on a specific trip due to physical constraints on the safety of you and those travelling with you. This is interesting when it comes to people with physical challenges, or who are in wheelchairs. There is the potential for ALL people to be on the zodiacs exploring – in some cases wheelchairs can be tethered to anchor points in the zodiacs so that you can participate in a zodiac cruise excursion, however you cannot participate in an excursion that requires a landing as you cannot safely get in and out of the zodiac as its bumping up and down and at times need to wade out of knee-deep water. Having said that, at all times the decision to do the trip for a person with limited physical abilities is the decision on the day made between the expedition leader and the Captain as weather conditions change daily, and safety is paramount in all decisions about all excursions for everyone.

Evening briefings at 6.30pm daily in the Theatre on Deck 3 will recap what was done that day and cover what happens the next day. All activities are included in the fare except helicopter. Although expedition/zodiac groups are assigned, there is flexibility to change until the expedition briefing tonight. There are two different zodiac types on the ship – they are multi compartmented so in case of damage the zodiacs can get back to ship – same designs as navy seal zodiacs - so safe as can be. One design has a centre console where the driver stands so if you are unsteady or have a bad back you can sit down and hang on to it for extra stability and a less bumpy ride. A safety boat also goes out on each excursion with an expedition leader, the ship doctor or nurse, and usually another team member and/or photographer and videographer. Some days we would get ship crew on the zodiacs with us if there was space for them – I love that the staff get to experience this too – especially since many of them are from overseas.

EDIT – the safety boat was put to use one day as one of the zodiacs seemed to have issues on the way home with all compartments slowly deflating – the guests bottoms (we sit on the edge) were getting closer and closer to the waterline, so they were all transferred to the safety boat (including the driver) and the faulty zodiac was towed back to the ship by the safety boat.

EDIT – the crew changes slightly cruise to cruise depending on their role/contract, so when we left Darwin some of the crew who had done excursions with us were on our flight, and then connecting to flights back to France.

All excursions are scouted before guests go out to discuss local conditions on the day. If you are an extra-large person and the special zodiac life vests do not fit you can simply advise the crew and they can source another option. If this is you, ask for a crew life jacket – they are bigger and better ????

There are hosted naturalist dinners on board – groups of 4 can book to have dinner with a naturalist any night except Gala Night – you don’t get to choose which one of the team, but an interesting night of conversation is guaranteed.

After the safety briefing, we were signed off and given our group stickers and life vests – ours for the cruise duration. Then there was a second briefing for those just doing the helicopter ride to Mitchell Falls.

Next was a 1-hour presentation on the Kimberley – wildlife, climate, geology, marine aspects, aboriginal art introduction – a really good overall presentation as a taster of what is to come over the next 9 days.

HOT TIP FOR DAY TWO – Expedition clothing.

Expedition clothing was a big thing for us to decide on for this cruise. In the zodiac some of us wore legionnaire hats, some had baseball caps, some had wide-brim hats with or without cords – and they all stayed on our heads. Short story – wear a hat and wear a comfortable one that fits you. Cords are great, of just hang onto it. The open water crossings are a bit windy, but once you are in the reefs, rivers and gorges, its very calm and smooth and the breeze drops right off. The Kimberley is hot, but there is a breeze on the water, so don’t be scared to wear lightweight long pants and long sleeve shirt to stop sunburn. It’s a zodiac on an expedition cruise – you will get wet at times but it cools you down. Footwear was the other predicament. Wet landings you can wear crocs with ankle straps, reef sandals, or anything really that can get wet. When you are ashore some walks will be short and you can do them in your wet shoes, some walks are longer and over rocky paths so you will need to pop your sensible shoes in your backpack and change them when you are ashore. Each trip will have a briefing the night before – ATTEND IT and your questions will be answered. If I gave clothing advice now, this is soft adventure, and no hikes (except one) are difficult or long. One pair of wet shoes essential (cheap reef shoes / crocs can work – don’t need to purchase $200 brand name custom wet sandals). One pair of trainers/joggers for the walks that require them. You do not need full serious hiking shoes, but if you have them, they work but are just heavier to carry. Once you are ashore there is a marquee/tent set up at most stops and you can hang your lifejacket and leave your wet shoes or anything you don’t want to carry. Most walks are flat and relatively easy however the paths are natural, so could be sandy, could be rocky, the ground is uneven so not suitable for walking frames etc but some people who were a little unsteady used walking sticks and were perfectly fine. Not much harder than a bushwalk through your local national park.

Then it was lunch time – again casual dining on Deck 3 Nemo was just perfect – a seafood extravaganza was a treat with king prawns, oysters, fresh crab and mussels, it looked sensational. There was also a salad bar and cold cuts / cheese for something lighter. Wine was offered but declined – we still had too much to do this afternoon and too much time to spend in the sun.

There are water coolers in the lounge where you can fill your water bottles any time you like – we bought insulated bottles with us but Ponant also supplied us a metal reusable drink bottle each in your rooms. Ours worked well – filled them at breakfast and the water was still cold after lunch. We will test the Ponant ones later in the cruise. The service levels on board are such that when we asked where we could fill the bottles, Gary just took the bottles from us and filled them, then brought them back to our table ????

ZODIAC EXCURSION – King George Gorge and River

Today we were in the first group to go exploring. Down on to the pontoon and stepping across to be seated on the edge of the zodiac. It was a 20min run across the open water in winds that reached about 20 knots so a little bit choppy, and we got more than a little bit wet – but it was refreshing as it was so hot!

Once we were in the mouth of the river into the gorge, it was much calmer and we ambled along making numerous stops along the way for our driver Jade to educate us on what we were seeing. Sandstone coloured by the iron ore, black streaks on the rock of cyanobacteria, the tell tale nest of sticks of the osprey. The photos do no justice to the scale of what we saw – the cliff faces of the gorge were about 80m high and they seemed to go on and on forever. They were highlighted against the clearest of blue skies with not a cloud in sight. The beauty of being in the zodiacs was being able to get up close and personal with what we were looking at – rock formations including the guillotine, freshwater waterfalls, and at the end of the river where we met the stunning twin waterfalls we went right up to the rock face of the small one to be basically behind the waterfall and being doused in spray – the larger of the falls was running way to fast to get that close but we copped a full face of spray which was fresh and cooling. Even though it was a fresh water waterfall, the spray was salty as it was hitting the surface of the tidal ocean waters of the gorge. The waterfalls are the highest single drop falls in the whole Kimberley region at approx. 80m.

It’s a fine line to find a balance – the photos will not do the scenery justice, but it’s a different perspective around every corner, so take a few happy snaps, make sure to include a selfie or two, then put the camera down and just soak it all in.

Birdlife – we saw wedgetail eagles, osprey, kestrels and the kicker was seeing a saltwater crocodile sunbathing on the side of the gorge on our way back to the Le Laperouse. Our guide was great – she knew the answers to all our questions, told us enough to be interested without waffling on to be boring – she had a great sense of humour and we had a really good time with our group of 8 on the boat.

Today’s impressive Ponant moment- even though there are professional photographers and videographers on the water with you there is NO pressure to have to buy photo packs at the end – the driver of your Zodiac will take a happy snap of you with the twin waterfalls in the background, AND during the cruise the expedition crew give free talks on how to get the most out of your phone camera and your SLR camera so that your pics from this cruise will be the best they can be. Nothing technical in the iPhone class, just how to use the phone features that you may not have been aware were there.

HOT TIP TWO FOR DAY TWO

Cruising this part of the world at this time of year is perfect – the wet season is behind us, there is water in the falls, and its another month until all the other cruise ships come here and the waters get busy with multiple ships stopping in the same places at the same time during peak season.

AFTERNOON TEA CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA

Seems like there may be a little catering treat each day- today from 4pm it was the pastrycook’s chance to show off – mini ANZAC cookies to commemorate the day, chocolate truffles and brownies, and chocolate mousse and muffins too – and if that was too much chocolates some little club sandwiches.

All with a glass of champagne of course ????

GALA DINNER

Tonight was Gala Dinner night in the Nautilus Restaurant. The pre dinner event was on Deck 3 Pool Deck with an open bar, waiters serving finger food, and the Captain came down to officially welcome us and introduce his officers. Once that was done, we went upstairs and ended up at a table with 4 other people who were great fun. We enjoyed a 3-course fixed menu with choice of wines. The red was nice, the Sancerre offered was a bit sweet for me (we could taste before the main pour) so I opted for the Sav Blanc which was lovely. It was a cold pea and mint soup on almond milk starter (in a nice little shot glass), some beautifully cooked steak wrapped in filo pastry lined with a minced mushroom filling served with green beans, dessert was a lovely chocolate pudding. Tea and Coffee (or just more wine) came served with a tray of petit fours – a piece of Madeliene, a drop of chocolate with nuts on top, and a raspberry marshmallow which was surprisingly good – it looked sickly sweet but the tart flavour of the raspberry came thru and balanced perfectly.

The Captain’s table had their dinner served by a procession of waiters all with the plates under shining silver domes that were removed simultaneously with great fanfare and a round of applause.

BLUE EYE

After dinner it was time to investigate the last place on the ship we had yet to explore, the Blue Eye cocktail/jazz bar. A gorgeous intimate venue with a real wow factor. Descending the dark staircase backlit in a subtle blue light, you step into a fishbowl ???? The only flat surface in the place is the bar and the floor. The walls are all curved, the wall panelling and windows (yes – you can see into the sea as we are below water level) the walls are all curved. The white timber décor is meant to remind you of the skeleton of a whale to make you really feel like you are in an aquatic wonderland. The chairs are super comfortable – just need to be careful if you are sitting under the staircase that you do not doink your head as you stand up – those curved walls get you! We enjoyed a quiet Baileys on ice with our dinner companions Tabitha and Greg, Julie and Roger.

By the time we finished up there and got back to the room and sorted out it was after 11pm when we went to bed – very late for these old travellers!

The program for tomorrow was waiting on our bed for us so I added it to my phone calendar and was very pleased to see a sleep in – our red group is out tomorrow for our wet landing and Aboriginal Art cave visit at 11am. Then I realised that if I used my Ponant app and just kept scrolling down, it was all there – its not in time order of everything happening that day, but rather by event category, and then after all that you get to the restaurant/spa/lounge opening hours for that day. The boutique was a surprise – it took me until the last day to have a time when I was on board that it was open – it opened for only and hour or so each day, and it was not until the last day that I discovered it DID sell essentials like Band-Aids, deodorant and basic toiletries etc…. they are just all hidden out the back and you have to ask for them.

By Sarah Fenton

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