If you want to explore Australia's wild and beautiful Kimberley region in perfect luxury, navigate your way to this dedicated cruise ship. By Paul Rodger
There's no room for complacency when you're stalking an animal higher up the food chain. Not when that animal is big and toothy, not when you are poking around in its habitat, and certainly not when that habitat is as primal a place as the Kimberley. That's why, on this excursion down a mangrove-lined estuary, all hands remain firmly within our small tinnie.
The outboard motor chugs noisily as we head further and further inland, leaving behind the open waters of the ocean. But with the motor switched off, there is deafening silence, broken only by the 'plop, plop' of fish breaking the water's surface and the occasional squawk of a bird emanating from the tangled brush. It could be one of any number of birds we have spotted the last couple of days. An egret perhaps? A corella? A brahminy kite? Maybe even a kingfisher, easily identifiable by its beautiful iridescent feathers.
It doesn't really matter. There's a bigger game afoot here: 'spot the croc'. We scan the estuary for a pair of assassin eyes lurking just above the surface, or anything that looks vaguely like a scaly tail on one of the muddy banks. But our eyes deceive us. Every broken branch bobbing in the water is a cunning decoy and there's silent disappointment when someone shouts prematurely, "There's one!"
The prospect of becoming a canapé to a croc lends a frisson of excitement to all of our tinnie excursions, and we've had a few recently. Only a couple of days ago, we swam in the clear waters of remote Silica Beach while guides kept a watch from an elevated rock "just in case" a croc intruder slipped into the shallows.
Finally, we spot one. An enormous salty has flopped itself on the bank of the estuary with a catfish snack wedged between its jaws. We manage to creep up close before it scampers away to enjoy its meal undisturbed, its webbed feet leaving large indents in the mud.
Our sightseeing excursion is a success. With the croc off to enjoy its lunch, we decide to power up the motor and head back for ours.
"Shoes off, please!" says Nitty, our cruise director, as we clamber out of the tinnie and onto the True North, our floating hotel for a week of cruising the Kimberley. There aren't many rules onboard the sleek 50m cruise ship but going barefoot is one of them. Nitty says it helps to create an informal feel. No doubt it keeps the ship's carpets looking squeaky clean too.
Forget the hulking passenger liners you see in the brochures, a journey aboard the True North is cruising as it should be - luxurious, intimate and stress-free. And with approximately one staff member for every three guests onboard, there's always someone to wait on you if that's your fancy. The True North can accommodate up to 36 guests and has six tender vessels on board for daily excursions. Each of the cabins features décor befitting a top-notch hotel and comes complete with en-suite facilities, entertainment systems and satellite phones. The pricier cabins even feature king-size beds.
The ship has oodles of style, but it's not lacking for substance either. On a visit to check out the ship's bridge, Captain Brad reveals the True North has been specifically designed to allow access to shallow river systems. The Kimberley has one of the biggest tidal flows in the world, so a purpose-built ship means we can hug the coast and explore its myriad inlets and bays.
Brad tells me the draft (the amount of the boat underneath the water line) is a relatively meagre 2.3m. "As long as I've got 10cm under the keel, I know I can squeeze it over the sandbanks," he says. Sounds a bit like cutting it fine to me, but the True North is packed with so much high-tech gear, it looks like it could sprout 'go-go-gadget' wheels if only Brad pressed the right button.
In the dining room, I'm joined by other guests sans shoes who've spent their morning fishing for barramundi in some of the other tinnies. Lunch today is tiger prawn tempura with a soba noodle salad, but the fish caught on this morning's excursion will be prepared for us by the two onboard chefs and served up for dinner.
It's mid-way through the trip and by now the guests are well versed with the routine: excursions during the day, followed by cocktail hour in the lounge (no heels in sight, of course), a delicious dinner and then presentations about the following day's activities by Nitty and helicopter pilot Rainor.
The True North is the only adventure-based cruise ship operating in the Kimberley with its own chopper and Rainor's flights offer views of the Kimberley that just can't be appreciated from ship's deck. Over the course of the week, we fly over shallow reef systems, pearl farms, and marine life such as dugongs, turtles and whales. When Rainor decides to leave the azure ocean behind altogether, it's to show us the golden spinifex plains, uplifted mountains and craggy gorges that make up so much of the Kimberley region.
Some sights are nothing short of sublime. On a day trip to visit two isolated waterholes at Melaleuca Falls, Rainor nurses the chopper down into an enormous gorge before landing on the closest thing to flat ground he can find. While the rest of the group busy themselves preparing a picnic, I head to the larger of the two waterholes where, for 10 minutes, I have the place deliciously to myself. It's not often you can drink the water you're swimming in but I take a couple of gulps - just because I can!
The prospect of an afternoon chopper flight and some more tinnie adventures keeps the dining room buzzing during lunch. But Captain Brad has something special to show us first. It's one of the highlights on the itinerary - the chance to get up close with the waterfall at Kings Cascades. Brad demonstrates the True North's prowess by piloting the boat to within inches of the tumbling waterfall. Guests gather on the bow for a photo opportunity but shriek when the water hits the deck and splashes everywhere.
Like the rest of the Kimberley, Kings Cascades offers a lesson in colours. Gloriously green hanging ferns, grasses and shrubs contrast with the red cliff-face and the white cascading water.
But something once went horribly wrong here.
Back in 1987, a 24-year-old American tourist working aboard a ship touring the Top End took a swim here that proved to be the worst decision of her life. A 4m croc took her in full view of the ship's captain, who was powerless to stop the attack. Beautiful it may be, but the Kimberley can be a dangerous place if you don't keep your wits about you.
The following day, it's time for me and the True North to go our separate ways.
I can't remember the last time I ended a trip with a chopper flight off the back of a boat, but it's something I could easily get used to.
Rainor lifts off and we head in the direction of an isolated airstrip, from which we'll catch a connecting flight to Darwin. Pressing my nose against the chopper's perspex window, I see my last croc down in the muddy shallows. Or was it a broken branch?
As the chopper builds up speed, I guess I'll never know.
Experience the Kimberley aboard True North with NRMA Travel
NRMA Members receive an onboard credit of $250 per cabin if they book and pay their deposit by 31st December.
Open Road November/December 2009
4WD
