It has been quite a day for the start of our nine day Kimberley cruise with a combination of light plane, helicopter and tender to get to our boat “Odyssey” which was moored at Prince Frederick Harbour to commence our cruise from Mitchell Plateau to Broome.
We were picked up by a taxi from our accommodation, “Broome Beach Resort”, at nine o’clock and taken to the airport to catch the light plane to Mitchell Plateau. The Odyssey company were very well organised with the transportation of its twenty passengers. Some left by light plane at eight thirty, we left at ten o’clock and another group left at eleven o;clock. The flight from Broome took two hours and we had excellent views over the Kimberley coast and inland areas.
Two helicopters picked us up at the very remote Mitchell Plateau and took us on a twenty-five minute flight landing at a beach in Prince Frederick Harbour. During our helicopter flight we flew low over Mitchell Falls which were flowing well after recent rains.
It was very exciting to see the “Odyssey” waiting for us in the sheltered harbour. It took no time for the crew to pick us up from the beach in their tender, “Homer” and transport us to the “Odyssey”. Each couple was given a personal induction to life on board the boat. Henk and I are in lower deck and Mum, Cathy and Harry are on the top deck. Mum is sharing her cabin with a very pleasant woman called Sue.
We motored further south for a short while taking in the stunning sandstone cliffs with their reds, oranges, pinks and yellows amongst black cyanbacterial staining. The water was turquoise and this was a wonderful contrast to the warm coloured cliffs.
After having lunch of fresh fish which was caught by the previous boat passengers we set off for approximately one hour and anchored close to a beach. The crew took us ashore where we spent a very pleasant hour and a half watching the sun set over the water whilst enjoying drinks and nibbles. A short distance from the beach was a low hanging rock which had outstanding Aboriginal artwork.
When we returned to the boat we continued to meet the other occupants of the cruise. The average age is between sixty and seventy.
Dinner was a casual affair of tasty curry with some passengers eating inside and we joined others outside on the fresco deck at the back of the boat.
The crew decided the water was getting a bit choppy so they moved the boat into Hunter River as a calmer harbour for the night.
It was an excellent start to our adventure.
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