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The Flying Caravan
Float plane out to the fallsWoke up on Sunday to finally no rain falling (stopped round about 6am !) Great news with the puddles in the campground quickly drying up. Unfortunately the the corner of the pop-top roof did end up leaking during the night but the poly sheet & toilet paper plugs did soak up some of the wet.
Prior to leaving we heard from our next door neighbours at the campground & the cleaner, that all side roads & gorges on the Gibb River Road were closed due to the large amount of rain that had fallen over the past 36 hours. Apparently it wasn't the water crossings that were the major issue, but more the fact that some of the side roads were washed out due to the unexpected & unseasonal downpour. We were very lucky that we'd been through the road before the rain had hit.
Our pick up for our overnight trip for the Horizontal Waterfalls was due to arrive at 11am. We had already arranged with the owners at the campground to leave the 4WD round the back of their property beside their van, where they would keep an eye on it for a small charge of $5,
which was an ideal arrangement whilst we were away.
The minivan took us directly to Derby airport, along with another couple Gabe & Gail who were also going to be doing the overnight trip to the waterfall. The airport was miniscule - very small terminal building - and we were shown directly to our sea plane (a Cessna Caravan - referred to later as the "Flying Caravan") & pilot who would transport us out to the Falls. At first we thought we'd be going to some jetty to be taken out to a plane in a bay, but the sea plane could actually take off on a regular tarmac runway as it had wheels embedded in its floats that could be used.
After a smooth take off, we flew at a height of around 1000 ft, due to the low cloud still hanging around, all the way out to the Falls with the plane relying on line of sight & fine weather - no navigation aids, auto pilot or night flying equipment (not that you would have wanted to do a sea landing at night !)
En route we had good views of the mudflats & mangroves around Derby
and King Sound and also further north of some of the bays & islands out to sea. Before landing the pilot did 2 very tight circles overhead (which made all of us feel a bit giddy as the horizon disappeared momentarily) of the Horizontal Falls, where we got some good shots of the two narrow gaps where the water gushes through & creates the effect of Horizontal Waterfalls due to the huge tides in the area (11m or so). The north coast of the Kimberley around Derby & the Falls have some of the largest tides anywhere in the world.
Once the plane was down on the sea, we taxied into a pontoon where the houseboat 'Barra Shack" and the catamaran "Kimberley Kat" where moored & which would be providing our accommodation overnight. I had been thinking that perhaps we would have to disembark from the plane onto a dinghy, but with the pontoon the plane could get right alongside so you just had to make it down a couple of steps & onto the pontoon.
After being showed our cabins for the night, we were then taken straight out to go through the Falls with Mick, one
of the crew. The Zodiac boat being used was extremely fast & powerful with 2 x 200 hp, big Yamaha engines on the bag (running on AvGas), which once we soon came to appreciate !
The first gap was the wider of the two gaps (maybe 25m or so wide) and the volume & power of the water gushing through was phenomenal. It was very visible once there that there was at least a 2m or so difference in the height of the water on one side vs the other side of the gap. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to have fallen in !! Once through there were lots of whirlpools & eddies in the water which looked a bit like a huge boiling pot of soup.
Next we took a look at the narrower gap (probably only 10m or so wide). Mick was unsure whether we would go through this one or not and woulf make a call once he saw how it was flowing. Apparently the company policy was to take clients through the "wide" gap - but no obligation on the "narrow" gap due to the higher risk. We were lucky with Mick declaring it a "go" when
we got over there. Again we had a good look at the Falls here prior to going through, which were a lot more vicious & turbulent compared to the first gap. Lots of bumping as we went through with the boat in the air (& the prop out of the water) at least once. The scarier part however was getting back through it - since it was against the current & "uphill" - and we were told to hold on very tight as the boat took a power run back through, timed to co-incide with a lower point in the surge cycle. It was a relief once we were safely back through that one. Once we'd gone through the wider gap again, we had some "extreme playtime" where we did some hooning (fast & late turns, Shotover Jet sytle). When we got back to the pontoon, my hands & legs were sore from holding on so tightly !!
Saw the sea plane take off back to Derby with 3 day guests who had come out early in the morning. Apparently an earlier sea plane had also taken 8 overnight guests back - they'd actually spent 2 nights out there
as the rain on Saturday had closed down flights & prevented them getting back.
Whilst on the pontoon watching the sea plane leave, one of the other crew, Nathan, showed us some tawny nurse sharks (Sleeper Sharks - 2.5m to 3m long) and a big groper, which he was trying entice up to the surface to show us. The groper was huge but had a hard time getting up to the surface due to the Sleeper Sharks mingling around. Nathan explained the sharks were known as Sleeper Sharks as their eyes were very wide apart and therefore they had fairly poor vision. It was fascinating to watch them coming up & being able to smell the fish bait but very rarely actually grabbing it, since they couldn't really see it. They were not the brightest of sharks.
Next onto lunch - beautiful food - fresh fish (mangrove jacks) and salad sitting a top the Barra Shack houseboat. It was very peaceful and serene. No-one else there other than the competitor company's boat (about 500m away) and a 60ft charter yacht.
In the afternoon we were taken out on an eco-tour on the "Party Barge" boat that was also
part of the facilities at the pontoon. This was a lot more sedate than the Falls powerboat, with a covered canopy & leather seats. The whole area round the Falls was a maze of creeks & bays. We headed off round some of the bays and up a couple of the creeks to have a look round. Quite a few birds - kingfishers, in particular; fish on the surface of the water; a rock wallaby up high on a ledge and then to our excitement, 2 small saltwater crocs !! The crocs were very curious and not in the least bit scared of us. One was probably around 2.5m and the other probably around 2m. Watching them swimming was interesting - very powerful & at one point, one of them stopped dead and had its head out the water & its body vertical (in effect standing up out of the water). whilst swimming along they would have their legs straddled wide and just glidded along using, what seemed, largely their tale for propulsion.
After a while we moved away from them and found a spot where we could do some line fishing. We hadn't been there longer than perhaps 10
mins or so, when one of the crocs came over to see us again & see what was going on. This forced us into moving to a different spot.
The fishing wasn't too successful with a lot of bait being taken off the lines with either no fish caught or the fish that were caught too small to keep. However a variety did come up - trevally, mangrove jack, finger mark perch and estuary cod. Very peaceful & quiet. I found the water through the bays & creeks a bit odd as there was no sea swell or waves due to the land formation - just a hell of a lot of very visible current & tide on the surface due to the large tidal range.
The day finished off with a home-cooked dinner : pumpkin soup, then chicken curry & rice (and some wine we had brought - WA Maragaret River "Cow Bombie" Cab Merlot).
Great night's sleep in our cabin on the Kimberley Cat - even a small fan to keep us cool at night (note to self : get a 12V fan for next trip !!) Once up, we found rain drizzle had started again
Our cabin accomodation on the Kimberley Cat
Magnificent luxury compared to the leaky 4WD from the night before ! and was expected to close in, worsening on Tuesday & getting really bad on Wednesday. We were told that a plane was coming in at 7:45am, bringing in 5 new guests, and that we had to be ready to leave at 8am as soon as it arrived so they could fly us out safely. In the meantime we had a scrumptious cooked breakfast made for us and did a short trip to an island nearby in Talbot Bay, unofficially named by the boat crew as "Slug Island". En route it started raining quite heavily with a lot of very dark clouds heading in from the sea up the bay.
No sign of the plane at all - overdue by about an hour - when eventually a call came through to let us know the pilot had tried to come through but had been forced to turn back due to the very low cloud over some of the hills. We were told it could be a long wait & they'd need to see what happened with the weather the rest of the day !! This was not bad news at all - I was very happy staying longer as the crew
were fantastic - very friendly - and we had been exceedingly well looked after.
Chilled out in the morning with Gail & Gabe and the crew in the morning - munching homemade banana cake & ginger crunch - whilst it poured outside. Then a scrummy lunch of homemade rolls, shepherds pie and salad.
Around about lunchtime the rain finally cleared and the clouds lifted off the hills. Then a phone call to let us know the float plane was on its way to get us again and should be there shortly. Grant was a bit gutted about this as we were all just about set to go off on another fishing trip again !!
It was good, however, to see the sea plane arrive and know that we weren't going to be stuck there for the next couple of days (especially due to our flights to Perth on Wed & then Scotland on Thurs !!)
No incoming passengers arrived with Jethro on the sea plane - I think with the weather forecast it had been wisely decided that this was a bad idea !!! However a lot of supplies & AvGas arrived for the boats and a well deserved
Fast boat for Horiztonal Falls trip
You had to hold on tight & stradlle the seats !! slab of beer for the 4 crew.
Great sea plane ride back to Derby - smaller & slower plane from last time (a "Beaver") which only could take 5 passengers or so plus the pilot. Again flew low just below the clouds at around 1000ft. Saw an island in the bay with turtle tracks on the beach which was pretty cool.
Back in Derby after an hour or so's flight and then straight back to the caravan park to pick up the 4WD and drive onto Broome for the last couple of nights of the trip. Saw a mud-caked 4WD that had survived getting out from one of the stations along the Gibb River Road. Apparently they had waited there for a couple of days with the heavy rain to see if the weather improved, but then after seeing the forecast for more rain in the next couple of days (with today being the best one), decided to make their way back in a convoy of 7 other cars. Apparently all got through but sounded like getting along the station road back onto the Gibb had been quite a challenge for them and the bloke also mentioned that
Horizontal Falls
Very noticeable difference in height of water it had been raining hard up the eastern end of the road too and that was supposed to be a lot worse. He joked they had changed their holiday plans & were now heading straight down the middle of WA to the southern end of the state !
All in all was a brilliant tour, great value & well worth it. Very personal tour with very friendly crew - just us and Gabe & Gail (lovely couple from Melbourne) being the only overnight guests.
Amazing place in the middle of nowhere, with an adventure even getting there before you do anything else !! Highly recommend - would love to go back again one day !
Distance travelled : 223km (2.5 hours)
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