As I sit here back in my home in Melbourne, it is 42 degrees Celsius (about 108 degrees Fahrenheit) outside! What a day! Sitting at my computer with the ceiling fan on full pelt is one of the few things I can do in this heat. (I do have a ducted evaporative cooling system, but it is of no use in this kind of heat because you have to open all the windows. All you succeed in doing is making the house very humid.) There are bushfires across the state, but so far none are threatening townships.
In my last post about the Kimberley Coast, I forgot to mention our amazing time exploring one of the creeks at night, looking for crocodiles. We were out of sight of the ship, which meant we also were out of its light, and right in the middle of ‘nowhere’. For a few minutes the person in charge of our Xplorer turned out its lights so we were able to see the canopy of stars that sits above the Earth, usually invisible with all the city lights. It was the most stunning sight you can imagine - countless dots of light covered the night sky. For the first time since I was a child, I could easily see the well-known constellations - such as the ‘Saucepan’ and the Southern Cross and its Pointers, as well as the Milky Way in all its glory.
Anyhow, the next day we visited the huge coral reef known as Montgomery Reef. Because of the massive tidal changes, at high tide this coral reef is completely invisible. As the waters drop, it becomes visible. But it appears that the reef is magically rising up out of the water. Now this is not a reef with pretty coloured. interestingly shaped corals - it just looks rocky and brown. Sea birds land on it and start eating some of the rich food on its surface. What really struck you was the speed at which the water rushes off it - it’s extraordinary, making many almost horizontal ’waterfalls’. The water around there is very clear and we saw some sea snakes and sea turtles swimming around the reef, though unfortunately they swam so quickly away from our Xplorer I could not capture their photos.
The following day we explored Cyclone Creek, which had the most fascinating geology. The rich red rock formations, the mangroves and the reflections in the water along the various valleys were just beautiful to see. I have included some of the photos I took there. But what this region is famous for is the Horizontal Falls. I will talk about that in my next post.
The first five photos were taken at Montgomery Reef. The remainder trace our journey down Cyclone Creek.
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