Lap around Australia...Horizontal Falls

Horizontal Falls Trip

The Horizontal Falls had been on Barb's bucket list for a couple of years. It was high on the list for our 2015 trip to the Kimberley, but we ran out of time and never made it this far. Back in Maleny when Jess visited us at Easter 2017 and we were heavily into the planning for our lap around Australia trip, she asked me what was top of my bucket list for the trip. I told her that the Horizontal Falls was an amazing adventure experience that I'd love to do, adding that being realistic we might not be able to do it because of cost, though. Jess looked it up on Google. She obviously thought it looked amazing too. As she was leaving for Tassie again she casually mentioned to Barb "Check your bank statement". When we did .... there was a deposit from Jess labelled " Horizontal Falls". We just cried .... what a beautiful gift!

Fast forward to now. Here we are in Derby. With Jess. We are about to fulfil a dream of going to the Horizontal Falls!!

For those of you who don't know what the Horizontal Falls are (or in fact where the heck they are!): they are located on the west coast of Australia in the Kimberley and are near Talbot Bay part of the Buccaneer Archipelago. They consist of tidal waters gushing at high speed and with great turbulence through two successive narrow gaps between cliffs. The shape of the land is such that the tide rises (and falls) much faster than the gaps can let water through, and the maelstrom ensues. The only way to get there is by boat or seaplane, and either way costs a lot of money - unless you are like my sister Jan and Nick who went there in their own boat a few years ago.

To say we were excited is an understatement! We were picked up by bus from where we were staying at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park, and while we waited in the pergola area a white peacock strutted by. Random? I hope that means good luck.

When we got to the airport at Derby (it's a fair way out of town because of the surrounding mud flats) all the passengers had to stand on a large set of scales with our day packs to see what weight everyone was. We had to tell them our weight when booking as there are strict limits .... and clearly no cheating! We were given a safety talk by our young pilot Ben who then loaded us into the fourteen seat single engine seaplane. We took off and were soon climbing over Derby.

 The views were superb from the plane. The mudflats took on a whole artistic look from the air with dendritic tentacles coming off the rivers and creeks. Barb was so thrilled she even forgot to be scared. That is until we actually got to the Horizontal Falls and were flying low over the ridge top and then dropping down into the calm waters of Talbot Bay to where the floating houseboats were moored. Then she was scared!

Ben handed us over to the boat crew who looked after us for the rest of the day. We were given a cold drink and then allowed to change into swimming gear for our shark encounter. One of the young men was feeding the sharks with fish while those brave enough could swim in a metal cage right beside this and view the tawny nurse sharks through goggles underwater. Jess and Barb got in while John took photos. They were thrilled! John was in a place of safety. Phew!

We had morning tea afterwards and then had another safety talk before going on the boat to see the Horizontal Falls for the first time. We got to the first gap just not long after the turn of the tide, so it wasn't running particularly fast, but our driver made it an exciting experience by driving his very powerful boat  (four 300 HP engines) and doing what could best be described as burn-outs or donuts on the water. It was FUN! We were all smiles and hair flying everywhere. Then we went to the second gap in the cliffs which are about half the width, so causing the water to flow very, very strongly ..... we zoomed through this also several times seeming to go very close to the sheer cliff sides. Exhilarating!

Adrenaline pumping .... we went back to the platform to calm down and refresh and then went out again on the boat to have a look at another bay called Cyclone Bay (they were killing time until the tide had progressed to make the falls still more interesting). It's a very sheltered harbour where they keep all the boats through the wet season when cyclones might threaten. It's also where the staff live. Thirteen days on, three days off, rotating shifts. Our driver took the boat right up creeks into the mangroves (looking for crocs) and also to see some of the amazing geology of the area dating back 1,800 million years.

We were then taken back to have lunch which was being cooked for us by the chef. A beautiful barramundi and salad lunch (they cooked steak for John). It was gorgeous just sitting on the deck watching the helicopters and seaplanes take off from the pontoons surrounding the houseboats. You can actually stay overnight on these houseboats (for a price ... maybe next time) (not unless we win the lottery - it is expensive!)

 

After lunch we went out again on the boat. By this time the tide was really pumping!! We went through the first gap and it was very rough and tumbling in the water, like being inside a washing machine. You wouldn't know? We feel we do, so there! Thank goodness for those powerful engines and our very skilled driver! When we got to the smaller gap he deemed it too dangerous to attempt to pass through. There was a big drop on the other side of around two metres or more. Instead we sat just off it with our engines gunning to experience the thrill without the danger.

We took off from the bay and it was a little bumpy before we actually climbed into the air. Our pilot circled the bay so we could see a large French cruise ship anchored there and then did two passes over the falls so the passengers on both sides of the plane got a good view from the air. We then headed out over the Buccaneer Archipelago for the very scenic flight home. We landed so smoothly that there was no need to be frightened. What an amazing day!