Aug 13, 2014
Sailing through the night, we left Augustus Island and made way for the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago. At 3am the boys dropped our anchor at Macleay Islands, where we woke and were greeted by another beautiful vista.
Spikey Spinifex fringed the dark red cliffs above a beach of round, pale pink rocks. We have walked on this beach several times, these rocks, as with every rock in the Kimberley, are absolutely stunning. This is a geologists dream come true. The story of time is told in the rocks… Slate grey rocks, where the 10-11 metre tide moves then gives way to a lapping aqua sea, is actually labelled as the Indian Ocean on our C-MAP. The Kimberley ruins you for any other colourful scenery. I don’t believe anything else will compare.
Curt chose a very pleasant location for Whale Song to anchor for lunch on the north-western side of Irvine Island.
Making our way through the Buccaneer Archipelago, we had several humpback whale sightings and as well, luxuriated in the close-up views of Irvine Island for our lunchtime stop with tarragon salmon and lettuce wraps and then we spent the afternoon travelling along the rocky, northern side of Bedford Island. Smoke billowed upwards and south-eastward from a bush-fire, perhaps near Cone Bay, enveloping at least 2700 of our field of view. The sunset shall be smoky and hazy.
This ancient land resonates from a time before time. The geology unfolds before you as you pass each island, each possessing their own unique, uplifting story. Similar but different, each island has its’ own signature. Rock cliff-faces or rounded vegetated ‘hills’, beaches or rocky outcrops and jagged versus curved silhouettes. Mangroves cluster in selected bays on selected islands – all the same but slightly different. The same rocks can be seen linking different islands, such as Croc Rock (our name) on Lord Island, is similar basalt to Flake Rock (also our name), which is also similar to parts of the base of Dampiers Mon and the black basalt of Godsmark Island. You can plot the compressing and uplifting of the geological events across the archipelago. Sandstone and basalt are the features of this region, some areas aged to 1900 million years old. We glide between islands where dinosaurs perhaps once danced under the Pandanus palms, in the waters where their reptilian cousins, the crocodiles, still successfully inhabit. This is old land and an old seaway. Between islands deep trenches are scoured with the strong, concentrated tidal flow, really interesting to navigate and follow whales through. It is a great privilege to travel such special territory.
The glowing rustic tones of Bedford Islands in the lengthening afternoon sun. I can imagine a dinosaur waltzing along the cliff-top…
Anchoring between Lord Island and Byron Island at sunset, we reflect on the beauty of the rocks in this ancient place and are grateful for the pleasure these old rocks bring.
Tallying my photos, I believe I have probably taken close to 10,000 photos of gorgeous, mineral leached Kimberley rocks in the last 20 years… Volume is not important, it just drowns computers and hard-drives, I do understand this… But each one is beautiful, Curt can hear me say!
Mich
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