Ponant Kimberley Cruise - Day 10 - Collier Bay
WEDNESDAY 1 MAY - Collier Bay / Talbot Bay / Horizontal Falls
Travelling further east the landscape of Collier Bay has been shaped by massive tidal movements, and is renown for being a photographer’s paradise. It has a tidal range in excess of 14m near the Yule entrance which is one of the largest in the world. The massive daily movement to water creates a unique phenomenon that occurs nowhere else in the world. Nestled in the centre of the bay is Montgomery Reef, the world’s largest inshore reef system. As the tide falls a raging torrent of water cascades off the top of the reef, creating turbulent “rivers” and mini waterfalls. At the southern end of the bay, Talbot Bay is home to the world’s only “Horizontal Falls” described by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the greatest wonders of the natural world”. Many rock art galleries are hidden in the caves and grottos of this ancient landscape.
We had an easy morning today. Off to the gym for a half hour stint on the treadmill, then breakfast on the outdoor deck of Nautilus (omelette with asparagus and parmesan was the special of the day) with some fruit smoothie shots, then stretch class with Ilaria at 8am in the theatre, showers then on deck by 9am to watch as the ship sailed through the Buccaneer Archipelago to her anchor point beyond Slug Island for the day. Phew! And its not even 11am! Time for a coffee in the Observation Lounge on Deck 6 with its panoramic window views (and air conditioning!!) ????
We stood up here out on deck for a while with binoculars watching the birds as we sailed into the Archipelago – it was stunning with all the rocky outcrops of islands surrounding us, and we dropped anchor right in the middle of it all. This morning was a 2-hour zodiac cruise past the Horizontal Falls which were still a gentle enough current that we could get quite close and not be rocked about, and as they say, look through time. In this region the 5 distinct layers of sandstone of different hardness (think a sponge cake with 3 layers of cake divided with 2 layers of cream) have been moved over the millions of years to be layered vertically. Then with the passage of time, wind and water, the soft layers erode away and you are left with a series of vertically layered rock formations with gullies, creeks and gorges in between. What is left is the cake, the cream is all gone. The first entrance into the Horizontal Falls is one type of sandstone (Hard) and that leads to a small bay (where the cream used to be) and then the narrow entry of the Falls is hard sandstone that predates the first entrance walls by millions of years – literally looking back through time. I cannot explain it any better, but at the recap of the day that was held in the theatre later in the day, Fran explained in beautifully in pictures (a sponge cake, a map of the layers of stone with their names, and a map of the bay and falls viewed from above). She tipped the stone diagram on its side and laid it over the map, and all the rocky ridges that we saw were the hard sandstone types (cake) and all the water that we see now is where the soft sandstone used to be (the cream).
We then carried further on into Talbot Bay with Zach, our guide today. We spotted a few different types of birds, including a corella that looked a bit lost and sick, herons, brummy kites, it was a bit hot in the day for any rock wallabies, but towards the end we DID see another croc hiding in the mangroves, a smaller one maybe about 2 meters long and not as strong/solid/scary looking as the one we saw in the water the other day.
Back on board for lunch, and then (finally!) made it to the ship swimming pool for a float around. It was the perfect refreshing temperature, and swimming against the water jet was quite cool. Its absolutely powerful enough to do “laps” against and swim hard for exercise if you wanted to.
Then time to don the long pants and shirt again to go out in the hot afternoon sun to see the Horizontal Falls again with the tide flowing in the opposite direction. However, what we did not know until our guide got us there, was that we were on a neep tide, not a Spring Tide, and the water was a smooth as a mirror. Not a ripple. A far cry from what you see on the promotional videos. But without doing extensive research into this trip, you would not know that in advance. Spring Tides to see the falls at their best are required. Close to the end of the wet season to see waterfalls at their best. Mid / late winter to see the whale migration. Mid-winter for milder less humid weather. Nature truly has something to offer in each season and you cannot get it all in one cruise. Darwin to Broom direction only does the technical stop at Ashmore Reef as this is a French flagged ship that has to leave our waters once every 30 days to comply to Maritime Law, so we don’t have time to see the WW2 plane wreck in Swift Bay, so travel in Broome to Darwin to see the plane, but miss the wildlife on the reef. Swings and roundabouts and totally dependent on your interests and what you want to see.
Either way, whatever the season or the site, every zodiac excursion has been a feast for the senses and the soul.
After the daily recap and briefing for tomorrow, we had arranged with Dagmar to see the Prestige and Owners suite, and she encouraged us to bring along a “few friends” (just not 20!) so we took Michael (our solo ship-mate from NZ) Tabatha and Greg, Roz and Ali as we know them well enough and thought they would appreciate the sticky beak. The suites were lovely. Not necessarily more glamorous or luxurious than the regular suites, but far larger, and the owners has the big wrap around deck with hot tub. Also, there are better amenities like binoculars for your use, butler service, a bathtub with a view out the full-size window that took up the whole wall (that would be a treat!), a second toilet in the Owners’ Suite etc…
We had a really rowdy dinner (oops!) with our room inspection crew, with lots of wine and laughter. Best night yet. A good menu – Steve had salt and pepper calamari and lamb rump, I had tomato/bocconcini/pesto and fresh basil salad followed by mackerel, all of which was fabulous. Dessert as usually was fabulous – a meringue “flotant” on passionfruit and a choc mint creation which was heaven on a plate.
After dinner, Kyle our BFG gave a fabulous talk on the stars, using a wicked laser pointer to indicate what he was talking about. More than just navigation by the Southern Cross and pointer stars, it was how you can use stars to tell rain is coming (they twinkle) and how the aboriginals used the shape and orientation of the stars to determine the seasons / weather / navigate and so when to do their mosaic burns etc to manage the land. I wish I could record these talks, or retain more, but there is just so much – back in the real world I will just have to settle for the tid-bits I remember, what I have written down, and know that my understanding and appreciation of the big wide world out there is growing exponentially the more I listen to.