L’Austral sails into the Buccaneer Archipelago at 6am this morning. Last night’s huge moon is still up, but quickly being outshone by the rising sun, with another hot day on the menu – 27 degrees in the morning, and 37 degrees by the afternoon.
Our ultimate target today is Horizontal Falls in Talbot Bay. Horizontal Falls are another natural tidal phenomenon caused by breaks in the McLarty Range, which are approximately 300m apart.
There are three activities on offer today – a zodiac tour, an optional fast boat tour through the falls, and a scenic helicopter flight over the falls. It is possible to do all three, but I’ve elected to do another helicopter flight, and a zodiac cruise around the gorges.
The zodiac tour is in the morning, and pays off with the sighting of some rare endemic wildlife in Talbot Bay – a Kimberley Rock Monitor (related to the Komodo dragons I’m heading to Indonesia to see) and a white-quilled rock pigeon. The pigeon is a timid bird that is usually camera shy. I miss the focus on the bird in flight, but the white quills refer to the white feathers that are only seen when the bird is in flight. It is well-named as a rock pigeon, as it is beautifully disguised among the boulders in this little gorge.
We also see a “Kimberley Rose”, and someone’s expensive yacht equipped with its own helicopter.
The falls themselves are a disappointment – a typical tourist trap. The surrounding area is beautiful however, and the helicopter well worth it for the pontoon take off and landing and the 10 minute scenic views of the mangroves and Slug Island. This is a somewhat shakey video at times but provides a good idea of what the helicopter flight is like.
It is clouding over by the time L’Austral is ready to leave the area, which provides another sunset worth watching.
