The John Feikema Family

The geography in Talbot Bay was very unusual. In most of the regions of the Kimberley the layers of rock were always oriented horizontally. Here they tilted as much as 80%. This was caused when the Indian and Australian plates pushed against one another.

Talbot Bay is also home to the Horizontal Falls, was a blast. We took a quick tour of the area first thing in the morning and saw the pinched rapids (the proper description of the Horizontal Falls). It was near the end of the Ebb tide so it was fairly calm. The effect is caused by gaps in the vertically aligned part of the McLarty range (>80 degree incline) with 11M tide fluctuations. Note the changes in the water flow and the water level on the side walls as the photos progess.

As the tide changes from Ebb to Flood and back, water in the bays equalizes with the ocean. Trillions of gallons of water will surge through two gaps, one 25M the other 12M wide, in a couple of hour period causing a 5-6 meter drop from one side of the gap to the other. The current is very impressive. After our zodiac tour, as the tidal flow increased, we went on a high speed boat through the gap. They compensate for the immense force of the water with 1200 horsepower of outboard motors (4 @300HP each) to ensure that we don’t hit the gap walls.

Today we visited Mitchell Falls via helicopter. On the short zodiac ride to the beach for pick-up, the driver was hilariously whistling The Ride of the Valkyrie and evoked memories of Apocalypse Now. The open air helicopters were a fun way to see the country and meant we could skip a bus ride, since they came to us.

For our departure, they landed right on the beach. When we returned (as you can see in the final photo) the beach was 90% gone due to the tide and they landed right next to the trees. They were so close to the trees, I kept thinking giant weed-whacker.

Initially I thought that the lack of a door next to me would mean that I would have unlimited photographic opportunities. While there were many, holding your arms out a window going 100 MPH (not to mention a bulky camera) requred more concentration and effort than I anticipated.

The end objective of Mitchell Falls did not disappoint anyone on our trip who ventured there. Hopefully these images capture some of what we saw.

Welcome to Plan B (and Plan C). Plan B was to visit the Berkeley River since we didn’t hit Jaco island. High winds scrapped Plan B and invoked Plan C – we hopped up to the King George River (and falls) for an extra day. It was really our first day experiencing the amazing sandstone cliffs and breathtaking vistas. This is a view of the King George Falls. We spent two days here and in the surrounding area.

Sunscreen was not optional given the harsh rays. In fact we were encouraged to wear long sleeves when possible despite the heat.

Here are some of my favorite views.

After a long day we are back at the Silver Discoverer

We arrived in Darwin, a town of about 150,000 people. It is primarily a port town. It is the capital of the Northern Territory which is >500,000 Sq.Mi. and home to less than 250,000 people. While it is about 18% of Australia’s land mass, it is only 1% of its population. We boarded the Silver Discoverer for an Expedition Cruise, basically the same formula as our Galapagos trip last year.

We were supposed to go snorkeling at Jaco island in East Timor but unfortunately, a prior cruise ran their ship aground on a reef in the bay causing damage to the reef and prompting an East Timor decision to suspend anchoring in the bay. We still went to East Timor which puzzled many of us. Why were we “wasting” a day or almost two at sea? The reason was Cabotage.

Cabotage – noun

1. the right to operate sea, air, or other transport services within a particular territory.
   • restriction of the operation of sea, air, or other transport services within or into a particular country to that country’s own transport services.

Turns out that Cabotage is also the reason that most cruise ships to Alaska stop in Vancouver at the beginning or end of Alaska cruises. Many (most?) cruise ships, regardless of ownership are Bahamian registered due to tax advantages. However this means that in many countries (e.g. US and Australia) the cruise can not start and end exclusively in one country.