Strong tides and winds slow the last leg of our journey from Broome to Darwin on the Reef Prince. We arrive in port an hour late for our mandatory COVID tests. Jayden cooks the golden trevally the fishermen caught and serves it with chips for lunch. A nurse arrives on board at 1pm to begin... Continue Reading →
Going balmy
We are surrounded by the ocean on our last full day on the Reef Prince, so we decide to sleep in until 6.30am and skip the sunrise. A lazy day follows, filled with food, snoozing and slide shows. I feel the most relaxed I have in years. The food excesses are outlined on the activities... Continue Reading →
Bulk fun to the max
We wake in a beautiful bay on Day 9 of our Kimberley cruise aboard the Reef Prince and I race onto the back deck to catch another sunrise. Then it’s time for an early continental breakfast before we don swimsuits for a dip under King George Falls. We take turns sitting on the front of... Continue Reading →
So many mysteries
Day 8 of our Reef Prince cruise in the Kimberley is a scorcher as we explore the wreck of a WW2 plane at Vansittart Bay (below) and a cove filled with indigenous art. I am swathed in my burkha-like head-to-toe outfit of long black skirt, fisherman’s shirt and hat that leaves only my eyes and... Continue Reading →
Crystal beaches & skipping medals
We wake a little groggy after our partying on the Reef Prince the night before and totter out onto the deck in search of a sunrise, but the cliffs are too high for us to glimpse the pink streaks on the horizon. Our first excursion begins at 6.30am along the beautiful Hunter River, which is... Continue Reading →
The brolgas are dancing
I’ve been having trouble sleeping during our Kimberley cruise - I’m not used to sharing a bed and my ageing body prefers a softer mattress. I wake at around 4.30am, unable to drift off again because my hip is hurting from a combination of firm mattress, middle-age, not enough stretching and trying not to flump... Continue Reading →
Snubbed & soaked
Day Five of our cruise on the Reef Prince begins with a pretty sunrise as we sip coffee on the front deck. Fellow passenger Paulo shows me a few yoga stretches, as we’re feeling tight in the lower back from all the time spent sitting in tenders and on plastic chairs. I stretch a little... Continue Reading →
Landing a big one
The days no longer have their original names, they are numbered instead. It’s Day Four of our cruise on the Reef Prince, but it could be Day 40, it seems so blissfully long ago that we left Sydney. The real world recedes as we cruise along the Kimberley coast. It’s an exciting morning for DD,... Continue Reading →
The eighth wonder
Blimey its hot in the Kimberley in June, fortunately the air is still cool when we wake in the mornings before 6am to watch the sun rise. We're blitzed by the beauty of the second sunrise of our cruise and take endless photos. After an early breakfast we arrive at Montgomery Reef - described by... Continue Reading →
Hooning through the Horizontal Falls
We hit the ground running on Day Two of our cruise on the Reef Prince. The boat heads for one of the Kimberley’s bucket list destinations: the Horizontal Falls. They’re called the Horizontal Falls because of the fast-moving tidal current that squeezes through two narrow gorges of the McLarty Range, pushing the water into rapid-like... Continue Reading →