The Magical Kimberley Coast Part 1 - The King George River

After exploring Darwin for a couple of days, I was picked up from my hotel by a chauffeur and driven in a limousine to the small ship on which I was to spend the next ten days travelling along the Kimberley coast. This was just the start of the excellent service provided by the ship. 

At that time the ship was called the ‘Oceanic Discoverer’. It is now called the ‘Coral Discoverer’ and has been completely refurbished, but even then in 2013 it more than matched the big ocean liners in terms of its comfort, food and service. This is an Australian-owned ship; the company is now called CoralExpeditions and has four ships, which travel along the Great Barrier Reef, across Cape York and Arnhem Land and along the Kimberley Coast, as well as to places like New Guinea, the Spice Islands and Indonesia.

I have now sailed on Queen Mary 2, three different Royal Carribean ships, two different Celebrity ships, and the Dawn Princess, but none of them could ever match the kind of experience we had on the Oceanic Discoverer on our voyage along the Kimberley Coast. They are too big! The Oceanic Discoverer only had around sixty passengers, so as you can imagine, it was a much more intimate, more personal experience. And we were able to travel much closer to the coastline. On board there was a kind of small ferry or tender boat called an Xplorer, which held every passenger and took us up rivers and across to some of the islands along the coast. As well there were three Zodiacs for those wishing to get even closer to cliff faces and so on. (I could not go on the Zodiacs because water may have splashed into my ears.)  

Moreover we had two guest experts on board, one of whom was an expert on sea turtles and runs the Sea Turtle Foundation, and had a fantastic sense of humour. The other had a doctorate in ecology and had been researching our endangered species in northern Australia, including spending time in consultation with Aboriginal groups in the different regions. Both made our voyage all the more meaningful, informative and fun. Every day we had fascinating sessions with them on board the ship. In addition they accompanied us on all our excursions, adding stories, pointing out things we otherwise many not have observed. The rest of the staff were all excellent too, and looked after every need extremely well. 

The first place we explored after crossing a big bay was the King George River, a spectacular introduction to the coastline that even David Attenborough has described as the most beautiful place in the world. It is rugged kind of beauty, with rich red rocks formations that are so old they contain no fossils. It is said that the rocks in our ‘Top End’ are the oldest rocks in the world. This red contrasted with the bright blue skies and bright azure blue of the water as well as the green of the trees and golden yellow of the sands. 

My photos show a glimpse of the ship as it was then, the Xplorer and some sights along the King George River. But wait until you see the magnificent sunrises and sunsets up there! 

The dining room. At night it was silver service with white starched table cloths. All the meals were not only delicious but also very healthy too.

Out on one of the decks.When this photo was taken the ship was still anchored in Darwin.

The Xplorer was lowered to one of the decks, where we were able to board it. 

Entering the King George River.

Along the river there were tall cliffs on each side. 

Some of the incredible rock formations created by erosion.

We saw incredible reflections in the still river water. The great colour in the two long grey parts you see here was created by bacteria  exposed to big waterfalls. We were there in the middle of the Dry Season so the water only flowed a little. 

Closer up to one of the waterfalls. Apparently water really cascades down in the Wet Season. 

Our Zodiacs went right under the waterfall! The passengers had quite a shower!