The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

Cruise Luxury special

The King George Falls in full flow; historians put

the Bradshaw cave drawings at more than

30,000 years old; impromptu swimming is

discouraged, but there will be a chance for a dip

100 miles

Montgomery

Reef

KIMBERLEY

Broome

Talb ot

Bay

1

Wyndham

of the world means it is going

to take you a long time to get

here, of course, but it is at least

straightforward from the UK

now, with the restart of the

non-stop Qantas route to

Perth, a two-and-a-half hour

domestic flight from Broome.

I’m on the seven-day

Kimberley Snapshot tour from

Broome to Wyndham. It ticks

off the Kimberley’s big hitters,

including King George Falls,

described by Craig Howson,

the owner of True North, as

quality food and cocktails

every night in one of the

planet’s last true wildernesses.

In seven days we encounter,

at comfortable-ish distance,

more crocodiles, crystals and

ancient rock art than evidence

of modern man.

Where else can you stand

on a beach that has not been

visited by humans for — quite

possibly — thousands of years,

after a breakfast of eggs

benedict, eaten while

watching the sunrise over

cliffs of red sandstone that

are 1.8 billion years old?

The Kimberley, in the far

northwest of Australia, is

bigger than Germany but has

a (human) population of just

36,000, nearly half of whom

are Aboriginal people. Only a

fraction of that number live

beyond the capital, Broome,

where the azure ocean meets

the rusty outback landscape.

Among the boats that sail to

the Kimberley, True North is

a rarity in that it’s nimble

enough to navigate the inlets

and rivers dictated by the

seasons; the deep gorges,

canyons, reefs and the epic

Kimberley tides. At 11 metres

they are Australia’s largest,

creating phenomena such as

the Horizontal Falls in Talbot

Bay. This turns out to be fun

for a spot of whitewater riding

in one of True North’s six croc-

proof tenders.

T

humbing through

the leather-bound

welcome briefing

in my cabin, it

becomes apparent

that seasickness

on True North is the least of

my concerns.

“Please do not feed the

wildlife” is the fifth bullet

point on the safety page about

saltwater crocodiles. “We do

not want them associating

humans with food.” This

comes after instructions to

“please immediately” move

away from the water’s edge as

soon as you disembark a

tender during the daily shore

excursions. No impromptu

swimming, either, which is

tough, as this remotest bit of

Australia has some of its

loveliest, emptiest beaches.

True North, my home for

the week, with 18 cabins, 22

crew and a no-shoes policy, is

more like a megayacht than a

cruise ship, complete with a

chopper on the top deck.

It offers a truly magical

combination: at least the

illusion of shelter from

nature’s cruellest conditions

and critters, with restaurant-

“Australia’s Niagara”.

Although when I’m there in

dry season, it’s little more than

a trickle. Still, the rocks are

spectacular, as is the sheer

scale of the Hunter River and

the Prince Regent River.

Day one and we enjoy a

safe saltwater swim, our first

and last, during an 8.30am

stop at Silica Beach. The

clue’s in the name; the sand

is blinding, and squeaks

between your toes.

I manage a dip most other

days, though, in billabongs

we hike to, after zipping on

the tenders through narrow,

milky green creeks lined with

mangroves. True North offers

activities on each day of your

cruise and you can pick and

choose how energetic you

want to be.

One of the most special

hikes is rated ten out of ten

in difficulty. It’s more of an

intensely sweaty bouldering

exercise, I discover, which

leads to a hidden pool dotted

with butterflies. Here we

throw off our shorts and jump

off the rocks to cool off under

Jackson Falls.

The actual Jackson,

Howson’s son, and also a

member of the crew, is on the

walk. The Kimberley may have

been explored and named by

Europeans such as Admiral

Phillip Parker King in the early

19th century, but the maps

weren’t up to much, and

Howson charted a lot of the

area himself, by trial and

error. He discovered this

waterfall in 1994, off the

Hunter River, and named it

after his son.

On the hike back we stop

to search for gems among

the boulders, scrabbling

among rocks and shells.

This is mining country. The

Kimberley has diamonds, iron

ore, zinc, nickel, lead, oil, and

The vessel’s luxury

is not the gold taps kind,

but laid-back Aussie

hospitality. The young,

tanned crew don’t bat an

eyelid when preparing an

elaborate lunchtime barbecue

for 35 guests, chairs folded out

for us under an awning, freshly

caught fish expertly gutted,

tinnies ready-cooled. They’re

not even fazed when the

barbecue is cooked on the

edge of a waterfall-filled

freshwater pool, accessible

only by helicopter. We — and

the food — are flown in over

rivers and canyons, so we can

have a cooling dip in the

middle of absolutely nowhere.

The remoteness of this part

AEROTURE/TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA; NPL/ ALAMY; NICK RAINS/GETTY IMAGES

NORTHERN

SOUL

Swimming in billabongs

and hunting for ancient

rock art are two of the joys

of a cruise along Australia’s

remote Kimberley coast.

Just steer clear of the

crocs, says Laura Whateley

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