Wednesday 1st June 2011
The ever changing face of the Kimberley coast continues to amaze us. Today we visited Langgi Beach and Montgomery Reef. We are now in the high tide area of the Kimberley – with up to 9 metre tides.
The Oceanic Discoverer motored all night and anchored early in the morning. We are still observing eastern time as this gives us better access to tides and sunlight.
Langgi Beach is an important area for the local Aboriginal people – their history and stories are just intriguing. The area around Langgi Beach has been carved by very high tides and wind. This has left stunning rock formations and at Langgi Beach, we had a beach walk among the statues carved by the tides and wind.
Oceanic Discoverer then motored for several hours to Montgomery Reef. Here we were treated to an amazing site as the reef gradually appeared in front of us as the tide dropped. For two hours we were able to watch cascades empting into the ocean and an amazing reef that dries at low tide. We had a chance to don our reef shoes, land on the reef capping and take a reef walk to view the many species of coral and sea animals. Jan was able to take some great photos and even found the “brittle star”, a five legged species that looks like an octopus).
At night we again had drinks at sunset followed by a roast buffet - quickly piling on the weight!!! Before bed we boarded our flat bottom boat for a bit of croc spotting – a time to see these reptiles feeding among the mudflats.
Thursday 2nd June 2011
I know I seem to mention food a lot but we did all swear off morning and afternoon teas. However this morning the freshly made pikelets, jam and cream were just toooo much for us weak willed individuals.
After motoring through the night Oceanic Discoverer landed at Raft Point. For the more adventurous it was a two hour walk to the top of one of the islands to see a collection of Wandjina art work. We, on the other hand opted for a cruise of Steep Island and Bird Rock. The coastal features in this area were very similar to the sandstone pillars of our first two days.
We are currently motoring up to Talbot Bay. This afternoon Xplorer, our flat bottom boat will take us up Talbot Creek to see its twisted and folded rock formations.
As we motor along we are treated to a number of talks from our resident scientists – Jamie and Mike. Each night we recap over dinks, have food and tonight it is quiz night – we are canvassing the crowd to enlist the brighter ones to our table.
Tomorrow we are off to the horizontal waterfalls!!!!!!!
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