The Kimberley

Australia is synonymous with superlatives. Words like vast, wild and rugged trip off the tongue. But the Kimberley, with its turquoise water and rust-red rock formations, is like nothing else I’ve seen on the continent. Steep-sided gorges sprout forests of green. Waterfalls pour over cliffs into swimming holes. Crocodiles bask in the tangled roots of a mangrove forest and Brahminy kites wheel overhead.

I knew about the Kimberley from travel documentaries and from first hearing the name ‘Bungle Bungles’ on the soap, Neighbours. And yet, in more than three decades of travelling to the country, this remote northwest corner was an area of Australia I’d never quite managed to get to. It was beyond the reach of my backpacker budget and during other visits my timing was out. 

In the wet season (see section on weather) many roads are impassable, leaving a short window of opportunity for overland exploration. Even in the dry season independent travellers need to be confident four-wheel drivers and have watertight back up plans.

As with many of the world’s most untouched places, the best – and sometimes the only way to explore –  is by ship. With its watery inlets, extraordinary reef system, mangroves and fiery sunsets the region is made for water-borne exploration and I jumped at the chance to join an expedition cruise. 

Our week-long itinerary was full of ‘wet landings’ which meant leaving our expedition vessel in a RIB (rigid inflatable, or Zodiac) and alighting at a landing place from where we could head off on guided walks. A couple of times we disembarked for walks along bone-white sand beaches, but mostly we’d step out on a flattish area of rock or shingle inside a magnificent canyon.

Wildlife and geology are interpreted by experts, including marine biologists. 

At times we’d sightsee only from Zodiacs – creeping through pin-drop-quiet gorges, nudging our way through mangrove-fringed estuaries or zipping across horizontal waterfalls.

This is crocodile country which means no sea swimming – or paddling. But it’s fun to watch ‘salties’ lazing on the sandy fringes of a mangrove thicket or emerging from the surf. Ships anchor in protected bays where passengers can admire spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

The striped sandstone domes of the Bungle Bungles are found in Purnululu National Park, where First Nations people have lived for millennia. White Australians didn’t spot these weathered karst cones until the mid-1980s – an indication of just how remote and impenetrable the region is. The park was UNESCO-listed in 2003.

No wonder the Kimberley is known as the final frontier. We didn’t see a single other boat, road or person for several days. Prepare to be amazed.