THE KIMBERLEY

By Rob Maughan

The evolution of the Kimberley is billions of years old. Man has inhabited the Kimberley for some 65,000 thousand years. My first experience of the Kimberley was as an 8 year old. With an HG Holden Ute and a few basic camping essentials we headed on a north western trip. It was the 70’s and the Kimberley was still very raw, we were farmers from Merredin and life was pretty simple, so an adventure like this was pretty exciting for me. We travelled through the Pilbara, camping along the way. The roads were ROUGH. I remember one day we did 4 tyres which for me as a youngster just added to the adventure. Even as an 8 year old, the Pilbara was beautiful to me.

We finally got to Broome, staying at Cable Beach Caravan Park, I recall watching on in disbelief as the park owner attached his backhoe to a patron’s caravan before dragging it through the park and dumping it out the front of the park because the rent was overdue. If that wasn’t humiliating enough there were 20 kids watching on. Mum loved Broome and Cable Beach, but it was a definitely a
different vibe to the South West. From there we travelled up the Gibb River Road, free camping along the way until finally arriving in Kununurra. It was hot(!) but thankfully there were plenty of swimming holes to cool off in. You really don’t get the beauty of this place until you take a glimpse at your first Kimberley sunset. We worked our way up through the Ord River system, China Wall, Wolfe Creek Crater, Geiki Gorge (now known as Danggu Gorge) and every afternoon like a kind of ritual we would stop to watch the sunset and a mesmerising beauty unfold. As the sun sets the magnificent landscape seems to come alive in a magical, almost surreal kind of way. I didn’t know it then and probably couldn’t have comprehended either, the love I would eventually develop for this very special place on earth.

I didn’t return to the Kimberley until I was 20 years old. I drove into Broome super excited. I was staying at a local backpackers and decided to check out the night life. I went to a club called Swindlers, the beer was cold and the music was loud. I recall two bouncers, one from Swindlers, the other from the Roebuck Bay Hotel and they had a grudge to settle, toe to toe and it was on, the whole pub erupted into a bar brawl, like something out of Blazing Saddles. The brawl was over in a few minutes, and all the guys were back up at the bar, lips bloodied, eyes blackened, laughing like they were having the time of their lives – I have to confess one of the coolest things I had seen. This was the Kimberley – the people are fantastic, they’re laid back and sincere. They will welcome you into their homes even when they barely know you. It’s an unwritten rule that you help someone in need. That’s Kimberley hospitality. Later, I ended up living in Broome for a couple of years and I continued to return to the Kimberley over the years, often as a judge for the Housing Industry Association. My most epic and memorable trip to the Kimberley however was in 2021 on a True North Adventure Cruise – Coast and Coral, taking in the Rowley Shoals and Kimberley.

I remember entering the lagoon of Clerk Reef at the Rowley’s via the main passage (the only channel capable of taking such a massive vessel), the water was the most amazing blues and greens you could imagine and so crystal clear it felt like you could somehow touch the bottom of the ocean. An avid diver in my youth I decided to take the refresher dive inside the lagoon. As I entered
the water I was gob smacked by the visibility, 50 meters at the shoals is common. The colours of the tropical fish are spectacular, giant clams the size of a car bonnet, stunning coral reefs teeming with life. That afternoon we ventured out on a tender boat for a spell of fishing. It wasn’t too long before we caught some sizable fish. We hooked a good-sized Sailfish, it breeched twice running out a large quantity of line. After 20 minutes of tussling with this majestic creature and some life memorable photographs we released it back to its home. The skipper of the tender, Justin, had a massive smile on his face while the rest of us had complete looks of disbelief. It was an incredible experience, one I will definitely take to my grave.

The lagoon diving was amazing so for the next couple of days my focus was diving, we dove along massive fault lines with 50m drop offs, it was exciting and intimidating at the same time. You really didn’t know what you would encounter next, when you looked out into the ocean it was the darkest of dark blue, each time returning to the boat having experienced something new. I have dived in
lots of amazing places, all I can say is if you’re a diver and haven’t gotten there, you must include the Rowley Shoals on your bucket list.

From the Rowley’s we steamed overnight until we arrived at the Horizontal Water Falls. We boarded tenders and headed to the falls – a natural phenomenon where the ocean is trapped inside a large area and can’t escape as quick as the tide is dropping or visa versa, which creates a natural waterfall effect. It doesn’t sound that amazing until you have experience passing through it on a small vessel, it’s quite exhilarating.

We then travelled to Cockatoo Island, Alan & Eileen Bonds resort of the 80’s – quite an amazing place with a lot of history. Once utilised by pearling luggers of the 1800’s, a radar station during WWII and later Iron Ore mines. Swimming in the infinity pool overlooking the Buccaneer Archipelago with a beer in hand is heaven. Again, steaming overnight, we arrived the following day at Montgomery Reef.

Sir David Attenborough described it as one of the natural wonders of the world – 400 square kilometres of reef that is exposed when the tide is at its lowest, as the tide retracts the reef appears to be lifted out of the water, fish getting trapped in the process giving the opportunity for wildlife including crocodiles to take full advantage. It’s beautiful to take it in via a small vessel and truly
unbelievable from the vantage point of the True North helicopter where you can see the water cascading over the entire reef. There is something quite unique and mystical about this particular part of the Kimberley. The High Cliffy Islands only 1km long and 300 meters wide, were once home to the Yawijibaya people, a physically superior race some as tall as 7ft who lived there for 7,000 years. They suddenly vanished around the 1930’s.

We travelled through the Hunter River, Prince Regent River but my favourite is Porous Creek – a massive gorge carved out by thousands of years of erosion. True North tethered all the tenders together in the late afternoon and it was like a massive light show as the sun set across this ancient place as very 5 minutes the light changed, dramatically effecting the colours around us.
This was one of the most incredible sunset experiences I have personally encountered, especially with this prehistoric gorge as the backdrop.

I have been around Australia twice, travelled extensively through Europe, the Balkins and parts of the Middle East. I was just recently in Turkey looking at an amazing archaeological site dating back to 3,500 BC – pretty crazy right? Sure the antiquities of the world are spectacular, I wouldn’t
explore all these wonderful places if they weren’t, but nothing I’ve seen beats the natural beauty of the Kimberley.
Of all my Kimberley experiences taking it in from the coast aboard True North was without doubt the most incredible. Aside from the breathtaking sites, the True North team are based in Broome and that Kimberley hospitality I talked about is their ethos. There is almost one crew member for every two guests and two onboard chefs so they make sure you are really looked after, nothing is too much trouble. I remember I was on board with owner Craig Howson and his family, a lady from the UK wanted to camp out in the wilderness, Craig says no problem, they packed some food, swags and wood into the helicopter and fulfilled her wish without question. As a hardened Aussie adventurer like myself, I took my chances with the onboard bar and aircon.. LOL. To give you an idea how luxurious this vessel is, they have 3 desalination plants creating 1500ltrs of fresh water per hour, no scrimping on 2 minute showers, even the vessel gets a bath every few days. The experience aboard True North is first class in every way with each every day incorporating a new set of excursions keeping the adventure, literally an adventure.

I hope my adventure has inspired you to discover this very special part of the world and don’t forget to mention my name when you call to book your own True North adventure.
See you in the Kimberley!
(Oh and if you want to build a custom home I can help you with that too).

Rob Maughan
Maughan Building Co.