Arnhem Land and Kimberley Coast Cruise

Day 1 - Arrive Darwin, Embark Ship

Be met at Darwin airport and transfer to your expedition ship. This evening, get to know your fellow guests as you enjoy a Welcome Dinner and briefing with your Expedition Team. Set sail as you learn how Arnhem Land was named after a Dutch ship of the same name, which explored this coastline in 1623.

Accommodation: Seventeen Nights, MS Caledonian Sky

Meals: Dinner

Day 2 - Cobourg Peninsula, Victoria Settlement, Caiman Creek

This morning visit Port Essington, an inlet on the Cobourg Peninsula. Arrive in Garig Gunak Barlu National Park to see pristine beaches, lush rainforests, mangrove swamps and coral reefs. Follow the Port Essington coastline to Victoria Settlement, a British outpost established in 1838 to strengthen their claim over the north of Australia. Your guide will lead a captivating walk through the settlement, recounting the hardship the troopers faced in such a harsh environment. Later, choose between an exploration of the Victoria Settlement hospital camp, complete with stunning views over the Arafura Sea, or embark on a fascinating walk through the Eastern Paperbark Wetland. After lunch, board a Zodiac with your Expedition Team to cruise along Caiman Creek.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 3 - Wessel Islands, Hole in the Wall

Arrive at the Wessel Islands and join your Expedition Team aboard the ship’s Zodiacs to traverse the Hole in the Wall, a cleft in the rock which passes through the island chain from north to south. Learn how these islands were an important site for the Macassan trepang (sea cucumber) traders who visited the Arnhem Land coast between the 16th and early 20th centuries. Signs of pre-European contact between the Indigenous peoples of the area and these fishing fleets from Sulawesi are evident in the language, stories, art, tools and cuisine of the Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land. Interestingly, the Yolngu are the only Indigenous Australians to have a word for money, ‘rupiah’ which is also the currency in Indonesia. There are also depictions of prau, the sailing ships of the Macassan, in rock art which as been dated to the 15th century. In return for access to trepang fishing areas, the Yolngu received goods such as cloth, tobacco, rice and metal tools including knives. The Macassans continued visiting up until 1907.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 4 - Gove Peninsula, Yirrkala

Arrive at the Gove Peninsula, a place where the first British contact with the Yolngu came about in 1803 as Matthew Flinders made his circumnavigation of Australia. Flinders also sighted the massive fleet of Macassan fishing ships, holding some 1,000 fishermen, off present-day Nhulunbuy. This must have been a startling discovery for the explorer, given the British settlement in Sydney Cove numbered little more than 6,000 people.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 5 - Galwin’ku, Elcho Island

Your Indigenous art experience continues today at Galwin’ku, located at the southern tip of Elcho Island, where you will be greeted with a traditional ceremony. Visit Indigenous-owned art centres to witness the creation of stunning pieces of local craft including bark paintings, woven pandanus baskets, carvings and shell jewellery. Return to your ship for a delicious dinner.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 6 - Warruwi, Goulburn Islands

While in the Goulburn Islands you may choose to visit a local arts centre, tour the island and stop to take in the natural landscapes, or listen to stories of local life and harvesting of sea cucumbers.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 7 - Tiwi Islands: Bathurst Island

Enjoy a locally guided tour through the community of Nguiu. Spend time with the locals while they work on their weaving and painting, enjoying some damper and billy tea as you watch. Visit the Patakijiyali Museum to see traditional art that depicts Tiwi Dreamtime stories. Then, enjoy a demonstration of totem dances and a smoking ceremony. Later, enjoy a Zodiac cruise through the intricate creek systems of Melville Island (subject to weather and tidal conditions).

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 8 - Darwin

Arrive back in Darwin and spend the day at leisure, or relax on board as you prepare to explore the Kimberley Coast.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 9 - At sea

Get acquainted with your expedition ship as you enjoy informative lectures from your Expedition Team on board while spending a day at sea en route to the spectacular Kimberley Coast. Learn about the fascinating ecology of Australia’s most remote coastline, one that is dominated by some of the most dramatic tidal conditions on Earth. Hear stories of the rich World War II history and get prepared to discover ancient Indigenous culture that dates back for tens of thousands of years. Take time to relax as you feel the pleasant pristine air of the Timor Sea fill your lungs and then take advantage of the Open Bridge policy for the chance to make acquaintances with your ship’s Captain. After dinner tonight, make your way to the Lounge for the evening entertainment.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 10 - Koolama Bay, King George River and Falls

Wake up this morning on the Kimberley Coast as your ship cruises into Koolama Bay. Once known as Cape Ruilhieres, hear how this spectacular harbour was renamed following the Japanese bombing of the MV Koolama in 1942, while carrying 91 passengers, 89 crew and a cargo of war supplies destined for the Australian Army at Wyndham. Arrive at King George River and board your ship’s fleet of Zodiacs with an Expedition Team member. Meander through the gorge system, travelling 12 kilometres upstream to discover hidden mangrove-fringed coves and 100-metre-high red-cliffs.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 11 - Vansittart Bay, Jar Island

Join your Expedition Team to take an informative walk across salt flats at Vansittart Bay to view the wreckage of a US Air Force C-53 which crash landed on the beach during World War II. The C-53 is a modified civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner, an aircraft used extensively during World War II by the Allies. Later, visit Jar Island and see examples of the Kimberley’s mysterious Gwion Gwion (formerly Bradshaw) paintings, dating back some 20,000 years. These stylised figures give impressions of movement, depicting people involved in ritual dancing, complete with elaborate clothing including tassels hanging from the arms and waist. The style of these paintings are very distinctive.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 12 - Bigge Island

Discover Bigge Island today, off the coast of the Kimberley, approximately six kilometres from the mainland. In caves throughout the island, see examples of first contact art depicting European tall ships dating from the 15th to 18th century. Learn how the mysterious Wandjina figures are unique to the Kimberley, to the Wunambal, the Wandjina is the supreme Creator and a symbol of fertility and rain who comes to the Kimberley every wet season to bring life. This belief in a single Creator or God is unique to the Kimberley. Many of the Wandjina art sites are still repainted each year as a tradition which reconnects the Wunambal to their Creator. Having been repainted annually for the past 5,000 years, this is thought to be the oldest continuous sacred painting tradition on the planet.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 13 - Prince Frederick Harbour, Hunter River, Mitchell Falls

Arrive at Prince Frederick Harbour, home to soaring red cliffs and mangroves. With its extreme tides and pristine ecosystems, there is an incredible range of wildlife to discover here including saltwater crocodiles, mudskippers and a plethora of bird species including kingfishers, egrets, herons and the majestic white-bellied sea eagles. Board a Zodiac with your Expedition Team to explore the Hunter River, then visit Naturalist Island where an optional helicopter flight to Mitchell Falls departs (own expense, guests are advised to pre-register interest).

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 14 - Careening Bay, Prince Regent Reserve

Visit Careening Bay, the home of the historic Mermaid Boab Tree, where in 1820 Lieutenant Phillip Parker King used the area’s massive tides to beach his damaged ship, the HMC Mermaid to repair a leak in the ship’s hull. One of King’s crew members carved the ship’s name in a Boab Tree that overlooks the bay, and today you have the chance to see for yourself a living piece of Australian colonial history. Continue on to explore Prince Regent Nature Reserve, a protected area that is only accessible by boat and is recognised as a national biodiversity hotspot. Spend time in the picturesque area of Hanover Bay and perhps visit St George Basin by Zodiac to see saltwater crocodiles and numerous marine creatures if tidal conditions permit.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 15 - Montgomery Reef, Doubtful Bay, Raft Point

Cruise through Doubtful Bay, an amazing location for whale watching during the season. Later, travel ashore at Raft Point to visit an ancient Wandjina rock art site, gaining a unique perspective from a local Indigenous guide (when available). The Wandjina is known as a living art tradition as these stunning figures are ritually repainted, however scientific estimates show that the original depictions date as far back as 5,000 years. These figures, identified as having a distinctive plate-like face with no mouth, are said to show a powerful creator being.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 16 - Talbot Bay, Horizontal Falls

Cruise through to Talbot Bay, known for its massive 12-metre tides that create an amazing spectacle, the incredible Horizontal Falls. David Attenborough described these impressive tides as “one the greatest natural wonders of the world.” Later, take a Zodiac cruise through Cyclone Creek to see dramatic folding in the rock formations and keep an eye out for native birdlife and saltwater crocodiles.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 17 - Buccaneer Archipelago, Adele Island

Arrive in the spectacular Buccaneer Archipelago, home to more than 800 islands. Cruise to Adele Island and board your ship’s Zodiacs with your Expedition Team to explore this remote and isolated island. The island is classified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area for sea birds and waders and is an important habitat for breeding frigatebirds, brown boobies, cormorants and Australian pelicans. The island is surrounded by Adele Reef which is home to soft and hard corals and a large variety of marine life including reef sharks and stingrays. Savour a Farewell Dinner this evening with new-found friends as you sail towards the historic pearling town of Broome.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 18 - Disembark Ship, Depart Broome

After breakfast on board this morning, the time has come to bid farewell to your wonderful crew as you disembark your ship for the last time. Enjoy a short Broome orientation tour before being transferred to Broome airport later this afternoon.

Accommodation:

Meals: Breakfast