Kimberley Expedition: Australia's Wild Northwest

So many corals! The entire "rock" looking piece in the background is made of various exposed corals.

Alex, our Zodiac driver slowed a bit so we could listen to the birds and silence in the background. The "stillness" matched the amount of respect I feel being allowed to come in and witness these beautiful places.

Once again the quiet stillness was incredible. This place is very special  to the original land owners. We were only here by granted permission.

The tides present in the layers on the rocks and movement of water are massive. This creates horizontal waterfalls and a large movement of water. Imagine Losing or gaining 7 meters of water in 6 hours.

An early morning trip to the Mermaid Tree which was named after the HMC- Her Majesty's Charter

We had passionfruit drinks on the beach and watched the sunset. Today was the first time we set foot in the sand & it was glorious!

Sunrise here is surreal. Turning the Zodiac engines off, watching the reflections and listening to birds is one of my favorite experiences here.

So many crocs! They're moving slow this time of year since it's Winter. However, we were able to see several sunning themselves in the mud. Their mouths are open to help regulate temperature.

Thor's Hammer is freestanding, REALLY OLD ROCK. We also saw many layers in the sandstone due to a couple factors including black streaks from cyanobacteria.

In order to continue our journey, we had to travel outside of Australia to Ashmore Reef (Indonesia). Required for ships built outside of Australia. This policy also exists in the U.S. We spent a day at sea and turned right back around at lunch time. During this trip we saw many sea birds including multiple types of boobies and two juveniles that had accidentally landed on the deck.

We took two zodiac trips today- the first one to cathedral caves (pictured above). Tani sang for us and demonstratesd how beautifully the caves carried sound. We also spotted many tiny monjon tracks. Later, we got our first sight of Wandjina rock art which is estimated to be around 4,000 years old- this is actually the most current rock art we saw. The first people pay respects by completing a ceremony before standing before the Wandjina and rubbing it's eyes. (There are indents in the rock from so many visitors.) Wandjina does not have a mouth because that would make it too powerful- it could produce so much rain and turn into flooding.

In the morning, we went on a walk through a remote island and listened for bird calls. We saw citrus ants and smelled mild sulfur which was produced by rotting debris in a nearby freshwater stream. This WWII aircraft lies here after it wrecked. All survived the crash. On this island, there was also a resident crocodile. We saw it's large slide mark in the sand. Later, we went on a longer hike that involved scrambling through loose rock to get to much older (12,000) Gwion Gwion rock art.

Can you imagine this waterfall in the wet season!? It stands at 30 meters. Rumors say that because of the force, there are likely many diamonds forming at the bottom. We slowly made our way up the mouth of the river, spotted a yellow sea snake, crocodile, mullet fish, and many birds. We took turns getting dunked under the falls and returned back to the ship at full speed which helped us dry off. :)