Ponant Kimberley Cruise - Day 5 – Vansittart Bay and Jar Island

FRIDAY 26 APRIL- Day 5

PONANT LE LAPEROUSE – VANSITTART BAY AND JAR ISLAND

So nice to have a little sleep in today. We spoke to our cabin attendant MC about our squeaky bed – the edge near the window squeaks and groans as you get on and off it, and it was fixed in a jiffy - no one minds issues if they are dealt with well - thankyou Ponant.

Breakfast we had in the main dining room again – egg special of the day was scrambles and smoked salmon with onion on a bagel which was really nice. Finished off with some fresh fruit and nuts, yummy cheese and chorizo plus a couple of shot glasses of freshly blended red fruit juices.

We have some time to spare this morning before our trip ashore so are enjoying the comforts of the Observation Lounge on the aft of Deck 6 – comfortable chairs, a quiet atmosphere and nice and cool inside. It may be early but its warm outside that is for sure. There is a good selection of books both fact and fiction in multiple languages, Jenga and a few board games to choose from, but most people are here to just read, catch up on the news on their iPads and some people (like me) have pulled out the laptops to catch up on work.

Jar Island contains ancient rock art galleries depicting the Gwion Gwion style unique to this region. Neglected and unknown to early European researchers of aboriginal culture in this region in favour of the more dramatic Wandjina art, Gwion Gwion art has in recent years gained world prominence. It is generally thought that this art may extend back to over 30,000 years before our time and represents the first wave of seagoing colonisers of the Australian continent. These are the oldest detailed depiction of human figures in the world.  

The zodiac ride today was a wet landing. I wore reef shoes and took a towel from the ship with me, and when ashore stood on the towel to dry my feet off a little and then popped on shoes and trainers. So glad I did. The walk was over sand and some flat sandstone areas initially, but the second gallery was a bit more climbing and having sturdy shoes was worth it. The life jackets, wet reef shoes and our towels could all be left at the Ponant tent/marquee set up on the shore so no need to lug it all around. The grasses were a little spikey and jagged into your ankles, so whether you wore reef sandals for the walking (as some people did who had better quality ones than mine) and whether you had on long pants or shorts, we all got spiked in the ankles ????

While you are in the open the ocean breeze was a lifesaver, but as soon as you were in the caves (more like alcoves with rock overhangs) that blocked the breeze the heat was intense and you can feel the sweat literally dripping out of you. People who were slow and unsteady on their feet were fine today – there were crew staff everywhere at all the points in the path that were tricky to negotiate to literally hold your hand if you needed it negotiating some of the larger boulders that we had to climb over.

The paintings that we saw today have been dated to be at least 17,000 years old but we don’t know now much older than that they could be, as they are painted in ochre (a stone) onto stone (sandstone) so with no carbon content they cannot be chemically dated. And dating the ochre and the stone tells us how long they have been there, not when they were used for painting. What was coastline and an island landing today was, 17,000 years ago, inland and many kilometres from the shore, so the paintings found here today compared to the ones further inland on the island are representative of a very different time and lifestyle. The guides who gave our talks today were excellent in not just their knowledge, but the way they shared it, particularly the BFG (Kyle – must have been close to 6’7” at least – he was literally head and shoulders above everyone on board and almost ducked under the ships doorways – his nickname means the Big Friendly Guide ????

Something that the guides were at pains to point out was that they were whitefellas who have had the privilege to learn from elders as well as their own studies about the messages and stories the paintings share, and that they have permission to share those with us. We, as whitefellas, do NOT have permission to post these images on social media as that implies that they are our stories we are sharing, when they are not, and we do not have permission to share them.

Ponant certainly handle guest safety and enjoyment well. There were crew everywhere including helping with the loading and unloading of passengers on the zodiacs – they even had a step stool placed in the water to climb up on to help you get into the zodiac for the return trip to the ship.

Special of the Day today for lunch was Barramundi and tomato salsa which was amazing, and a salad of quinoa, pomegranate, watermelon and red grape plus tomato and feta – just yum. The obligatory few cheeses and crackers to finish and then it was in the rules for today to finish with something tasty so we sampled the mango and lemon sorbet, and chocolate ice cream. Even coming from the freezer on the deck, the heat is hard to work with and they were still very soft and almost melting as they went into your bowl. May have to sample them again tomorrow to see if they taste as good again as they were today ????

It’s a busy afternoon back on board. Steve is chasing down the TV Stations we may be able to receive on the TV in the room, as Manly play this afternoon (he ended up streaming it using the ship’s wifi and watching on the iPad as although there are TV stations, we could not find a channel that was a guide to know what was coming up). I am in the Theatre for a 2pm screening of a documentary called The Riddle of the Bradshaws (2002) – This story of the Bradshaw Rock Paintings, or Gwion Gwion as they are known to the Aboriginal traditional owners, unfolds in the vast and beautiful Kimberley region of Australia’s far north west. The Bradshaws are possibly the oldest known cave paintings of humans in the world. They have been studied and attempts made to be deciphered as to their meanings, but we are a different race from a different era so trying to interpret a foreign language. Our guides today even admitted that they have seen deterioration over time in the art that they take us to see (weathering and physical damage etc) but they continue to take us almost as a “sacrificial site” visit – to show and educate us at these small sites, and thus protecting the thousands of other sites that we are not granted access to so that they may remain undisturbed and pristine for thousands more years to come.

iPHONE PHOTOGARPHY CLASS

What a great idea to have people on the ship teach you how to use your phone camera properly. Learned how to edit Live photos to choose your main image from the selection of still frames, to adjust the exposure for waterfall photography etc. From screen lock a swipe to the R will open the camera. Once you are in portrait mode you can use the f button to adjust the degree of blurriness in the background. Learned how to turn on the grids and level bar to help with composition and getting the shot straight

Special afternoon tea today was Pavlova – beautifully decorated and served to us by the chef.

Was going to try and get to stretch class but by the time the photography was finished and I indulged in the pavlova, it was too late… oh well there is always tomorrow.

This afternoon we also spoke with the Reception Manager – we had an issue with the bed squeaking and creaking on Steve ‘s side…. which they cannot fix as the bed is one that converts to a sofa as we are in an interconnecting room and its design lacks the extra supporting legs underneath. They have one vacant stateroom on Deck 6 which is the same category as ours, so are going to move us there tomorrow. Nice one! No one cares about problems if they can be fixed this easily.

I had a chat today to the lady from the Sydney Ponant office who is on board this cruise (Dagmar) about the ship and the clients on board. The Explorer series ships are all the same. Deck 3 staterooms have the metal wall balcony so in some destinations the rooms can feel a little dark. Deck 4 has staterooms the same as Steve and I are in (the next step up from the metal balconies) Deck 5 where we are has basically all the staterooms as interconnecting, so we don’t have the sofa as that is where the sliding door opens (as per the provided stateroom pictures on our app, and note that the dividing walls between cabins on the balconies can be opened) The next level up are suites and then prestige and owner’s suites. These are more aft and twice the size of our room. Some people are very fussy as to the direction their bed points in the room, as to whether their head or the feet are pointing in the direction of travel (forward) but Ponant has both types in their staterooms so you can choose your cabin to suit. We chatted a lot about the types of people on board. Older and retired means that the itinerary does not need to be jam packed as relaxation is just as much a part of the trip for them as discovery. There are always a good percentage of people on board who choose this cruise, even though it is expedition, and they may not be able to handle the zodiacs for the excursions. Anyone who is immobile, in a wheelchair, on a walker and cannot be guaranteed get in and out of the zodiac, so cannot go ashore as a general rule. They often cannot leave the vessel so see nothing of what is ashore which to me seemed the whole point of the trip. However, according to Dagmar, these folk tend to be more well-travelled (when they were younger and more able bodied) and now they enjoy all the enrichment lectures and presentations, they book the dinner with the naturalists for more education/conversation that is stimulating, and then during the day they enjoy the service, staff, food and the fact that they can rest and relax and enjoy the holiday in that regard. Non-use of the zodiacs does not mean they get any discount on the cruise – they just enjoy the small size of the vessel and the ease of getting around on it, and the personalised attention.

On this cruise there was also a good smattering of people around my age and we found some lovely people to hang out with. There were a few younger couples and solo travellers also.

Ponant have a new vessel on its way – the Paspaley Pearl – even smaller, no zodiacs – just a ship which is super small and can get into everywhere that even this one cannot. You can go out fishing on it then eat your catch for dinner. It has about 20 cabins only so very intimate. Functional looking on the outside but still the Ponant luxury finish inside, but Aussie themed dress code (so more casual) and dining (less French) – only sails Kimberley/Indonesia/PNG expedition itineraries.

HOT TIP FOR DAY 3

Make sure you attend the talks on board. The expedition team are young and energetic and make things fun. Just because this is a luxury cruise its not posh and stuffy. There was a recap of todays activities before a briefing for tomorrow and some of the photos from the day were shown and beautifully photo shopped – I quite liked when Danni was talking about sand and touched on hermit crabs she added the faces of the expedition team to the crabs! And the ship doctor was ashore (so as to be on hand in case required) and was our “croc on the beach” holding up his croc shoes like rabbit ears. Just because you are learning does not mean you are bored. The subject matter of some talks appeals more than others (I skipped the nautical navigation talk as the one on tides/moon and how they work bamboozled me enough!) but they are all great.

 

By Sarah Fenton

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