Exploring the Berkley River – The Kimberley

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Australian, Berkley River, boab tree, dead trees, nature, pandanas palm, photography, The Kimberley, travel, trees, waterhole

Large Boab Tree

Again the men went fishing so a boat load of us went exploring along the Berkley River. We’d seen very few Boab trees so this huge one made up somewhat for that :)then another waterhole this time with pandanas palms and a few large waterlilies. We motored past mangroves and spied a croc nearby, and beaches with stark dead trees. We stopped at the river mouth where the Berkley River Lodge perches overlooking the whole area and walked along that white sandy beach before heading back for our last night on the ‘Diversity’. More shots below

Pandanas Waterhole

Sentinals in the Sand

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Waterlily Swimming Hole – The Kimberley

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Australian, Berkley River, flower, nature, photography, pool, rocks, swimming hole, The Kimberley, travel, waterlilies

The Waterlilies covered nearly the whole surface of this pool

This swimming hole was a real surprise with hundreds if not thousands of waterlilies in the top pools. A detail shot from the same area, below.

Surviving, Just

The Berkley River – The Kimberley

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Australian, Berkeley River, cliffs, nature, photography, The Kimberley, travel, view, water

The Berkley River

Our last big river of the Kimberley, the Berkley River travels for 10 or more miles deep into the land. High cliffs on either side as we cruised upstream. As with the King George River we could cruise right to the end, but whereas there the river ended in high twin waterfalls, here the cliffs fell away and we had low rocks that we could scramble over and onto the land itself. See below.

Rivers End – or Beginning?

The River Went Forever

Sculptured Rock – The Kimberley

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arches, Australian, beach rocks, erosion, headland, nature, photography, rocks, sculpture, texture, The Kimberley, travel

Landscape of Wind and Storm

Still on Royalty Island beach, these highly eroded rocks were part of the small headland.

Headland Arch

Royalty Island Beach – The Kimberley

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Australian, lines, morning, nature, ocean, photography, Royalty Island, sunrise, The Kimberley, travel, vines, water

Vines Across the Sand

Off to Royalty Islands beach at sunrise. A long sandy beach, small dunes, rugged wind and wave carved rocky headlands, mangroves – this beach had it all.

Sunrise from the Beach

Sunrise Over Royalty Island – The Kimberley

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Australian, colour, dawn, day break, morning, nature, pastel dawn, photography, Royalty Island, sunrise, The Kimberley, travel, view

Royalty Island Dawn

Our tenth morning and our last day on board in the true Kimberley.

Reflected Glow of Sunrise

More Beaches – The Kimberley

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Australian, beach, nature, panorama, photography, shell, The Kimberley, travel, view, water

Just One of Many Shells

Up anchor and moving down the coast to the Berkley River. Heavy seas caused us to pull into a quiet bay to wait till evening when the wind was forecast to drop. We explored two more beaches the first had a lagoon behind the sandy beach which is the panorama below and the second had many shells of all sizes, most were still whole shells. The most large shells I have seen in one place anywhere. Sadly we didn’t spend long here as the tide was dropping quickly.

Lagoon Panorama

Hidden Swimming Holes – The Kimberley

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Australian, cliffs, photography, reflections, The Kimberley, travel, view, water, waterhole

Morning Reflections in the Waterhole

The men went fishing so a few of us went exploring by dinghy. These waterholes were up a short side creek. After clambering up a cliff-face we found the above deep reflecting waterhole and looking back we could see the others still at the lower waterhole with the King George River in the background – see below

From the Reflection Waterhole Across toward the River

Sunrise on the Ninth Day – The Kimberley

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Australian, cliffs, colour, King George River, morning, morning light, photography, The Kimberley, travel, water

Golden Light

Leaving the King George Falls we cruised back between the high cliffs with the low angle of the sun creating the glorious golden colours in the rocks that the Kimberley is renown for.

Detail Shots Along the Cliffs – The Kimberley

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Australian, carved rock, cliff, details, King George River, nature, photography, rock face, The Kimberley, travel, trees

Wind and Water Carved Cliffs

After an amazing morning – beach, twin falls and waterhole swim we had a fairly quiet afternoon. Most threw a line in from the dinghies but I was more interested in capturing some of the details in the cliffs and some of the tenacious trees growing virtually in nothing but rock.

Pink and Mauve Underbelly

Tree Root into Thin Air

Tenacious