AFR Life & Leisure: Destination Downsizing

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Destination downsizing Smaller boats have an advantage in the waters of the Kimberley coast.

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t’s no coincidence that Tourism Australia chose footage of Western Australia’s vast Kimberley region, from the big­budget movie, Australia, to showcase the grandeur and spectacle of our magnificent landscape.

Unlike the central Australian pair, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, where tourists have travelled for more than half a century, appreciable numbers of visitors to the Kimberley have only been arriving for barely half that period. Perhaps as a result of its remoteness, a harsh climate and poor infrastructure, Australia’s north­west remained in a

Destination downsizing discovered by adventure cruisers and remote fishing charter operators.

The panoramic Mitchell Falls, Raft Point and the mystical Montgomery Reef were perfectly suited to the blockbuster cinematography of Baz Luhrmann’s almost­ epic. Love the movie or not, the ancient golden­hued Kimberley landscape held its own where mere mortal players may have failed.

Lately, however, it’s been the furore over oil and gas exploration that has highlight the region and local tourism businesses are fearful that unfettered development will

the Kimberley. One of the most experienced adventure cruise operators in the region is North Star Cruises (NSC), which was launched by local fisherman and pearler, Craig Howson, in 1987 with a few ad hoc fishing and diving charters for mates. Nowadays Howson operates the vessel many refer to as the benchmark for Kimberley adventure cruising. The $12 million, 50­metre vessel True North II was built by Fremantle shipyard, Austal, in 2004 and has just 18 luxury cabins and staterooms.

Such boutique cruise boats are the perfect means of

local knowledge is the key. Of course, exquisite cuisine, diligent crew and expert guides complete the picture.

Skipper Brad Benbow even knows a secluded beach where you can go for a swim while the crew keep a watch for any reptilian interlopers.

NSC’s premium offering is its 13­night Kimberley Ultimate cruise that plies the waters between Broome and Wyndham. “This is our strongest product,” says Howson. “This is where we gained our reputation and it’s still No. 1 with many.”

But NSC is not alone in the Kimberley. No fewer than a

among the primordial sandstone cliffs, watched over by mute wandjina (Aboriginal rock art) sentinels as their aluminium spawn head upstream along the Roe, Hunter and Prince Regent rivers in search of giant barramundi or mangrove jack. Smaller craft such as the Kimberley Quest and the Great Escape are joined by larger ships such as the Oceanic Discoverer and the lavish­by­comparison Orion. Prices, however, are not small and rates of about $1000 a person per day are common.

Treacherous 10­metre tides

big ships will never operate here. Local skippers and guides lead excursion boats through narrow gorges, secluded waterways or even, as with the True North, via Bell Jetranger helicopter to your own private, spring­fed freshwater pool.

Besides pulling in monstrous barramundi, highlights include a thrilling tender ride through the horizontal falls of Talbot Bay, where the tide runs so strong the water gushes out as in the scene from The Dambusters.

RODERICK EIME

The writer travelled as a guest of North