Day 35 09/07/2013 Day 1 of our Kimberley Cruise: Broome to the Hunter River, (the one in the Kimberley, not Newcastle!), via light plane and helicopter.
We felt quite excited this morning, and consequently woke early.
We were picked up from our hotel at 8.30am, along with Jim and Hazel, who were also on our cruise. After being transferred to the airport we met our pilot, Jonathan, who gave us a safety briefing for our 6-seat plane which we boarded and then took off at 9.15am. Our flying time to the Mitchell Plateau airstrip was around two hours. We had excellent flying conditions with good views. We even managed to catch a glimpse, and a few photos, of the Horizontal Waterfalls. It was noisy inside the plane so we wore headsets all the time. We could hear the pilot, but couldn't speak back as our headsets were the variety without microphones!
Once landed at the airstrip on the Mitchell Plateau, there was a helicopter waiting to take us to our boat, the Kimberley Quest II, which was anchored in the Hunter River. This helicopter had been going back and forth between the boat and the airstrip all morning ferrying the passengers who had just completed their cruise, to the airstrip for the flight back to Broome. (They had cruised from Broome to the Hunter River, we are doing the reverse).
The chopper ride took about 30 mins and once again we flew over the Mitchell Falls.
It was great fun landing on top of the boat, and once on board we met the very friendly crew, (Ben the Captain; Louis and Matt who drive the tenders and do lots of other stuff too; Kim and Katrina, our 'hostesses' and Rhys our 'star' chef who was this year's winner of Professional Master-chef), as well as other guests who had flown in on the flight before ours. We watched the chopper take off with departing guests, ready to pick up more new arrivals. For one of the departures, I went out with Matt in the tender, to watch the helicopter take-off and to take some photos. There were two more return trips before everyone was on board. In the meantime we were shown to our very spacious and well-appointed cabin, which has a large viewing window and a port-hole in the ensuite, so that you can watch the world, or in this case, the water, go by as you shower! After settling in, we had lunch and a tour of the boat. To pass the time until all guests were on board, Dave and I decided to avail ourselves of the spa, situated on the forward deck, and we were quickly brought a glass of Moët to enjoy while we were cooling off. Wonderful!
Once everyone was aboard we had a formal safety briefing. We also made introductions and hopefully we will know everyone's names by this evening. There are 15 passengers. Seven couples, more or less the same age as us, and one young British travel journalist, Sarah.......who is on a junket!!! (Sarah.......if you're reading this, I am only teasing.....it was great having you on board with us). There was also Wayne.....the 'helicopter pilot' as we all affectionately decided to call him!!!
Normally the Kimberley Quest II doesn't have an on-board helicopter, but the previous cruise guests had chartered both the boat and the helicopter, and it was too costly for the helicopter to fly all the way back to Broome, so it is coming back with us and will be available for optional flights.
We were given the option of some fishing or a short scenic cruise in the tender, until sunset. Dave and I decided to try fishing! We have never fished before but it was good fun! Learning to cast a line was tricky at first, but we soon got the hang of it and didn't cause too many 'birds' nests'! We were using lures rather than bait, so that made things easier. Unfortunately, even though we could tell that there were lots of fish around, no-one, not even the expert fishermen, caught anything!
Back aboard the boat, we quickly freshened-up and then we all gathered on the rear deck where we had a complimentary glass of bubbly and some nibbles before dinner. This gave us time to chat to other guests and get to know them a little better. We are all Australian, (except Sarah, of course, who, besides being a journalist, has a degree in astrophysics), most coming from the Eastern states, a few from WA. So in addition to us and Jim and Hazel, our cruise companions are; Rhonda and Steve; Mary and Glynn......who also have a Tvan!.........Terry and Anne; Arthur and Margaret; Richard and Wendy. We sat around the large dining table at the stern of the boat and were served a delicious meal while the boat cruised from the Hunter River to the Roe River where we anchored for the night.
Before everyone retired to bed we discussed options for tomorrow's activities. Bird watching/fishing is on offer from 6am, before breakfast!