Broome- Horizontal Falls and a Shiver of Sharks.
Dearest Intrepid Reader,
We were up a 0400hrs this morning to be out the front of the caravan park to catch the bus. We were taken to the hangar at the airport for our tour to the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, The Horizontal Falls.
They were given this title by Sir David Attenborough when he visited them in 1996.
We boarded our seaplane with our pilot Dean just as the sun peaked over the horizon for the one hour flight out to Talbot Bay.
We sat just behind Dean on the way out with our life jackets firmly secured.
When we arrived in Talbot Bay we could see the pontoon, there was a couple of huge houseboats for overnight guests. The Jet boats for going through the falls and four other seaplanes.
Our first activity was the feeding of the male Tawny Nurse Sharks. We were all invited to enter the water to interact with the sharks, however the only participant was the MOTH. He was down to his swimming shorts before anyone else got down the steps. He was not going to miss out.
He had reached over to touch one before Sam our tour guide advised this was not a good idea due to their 250 to 300 razor sharp teeth. Luckily they do not have good eyesight, so this breach of the rules did not end badly. The Shiver of Sharks were so hoping for some food, as the only person in the shark tank the MOTH was able to share our amongst them all the 300 grams of barramundi that is allocated to each feeding session. It’s only a small amount so they still have to hunt for there food and not loose there predatory skills.
We were then served a beautiful hot and cold breakfast !
Then it was time to board the jet boats.
Daisy Queen of the Horizontal Falls was our Skipper! She is the queen, as her jet boat has 4 x 300 horsepower motors. That’s a lot of power and she know exactly what to do with all of it.
We headed into Cyclone Creek. This is a very protected creek area and it is where they tow the pontoon and leave it for the wet season so it is safe from bad weather, particularly cyclones.
However it is a fascinating and ancient place all of its own.
The very steep Wharton sandstone cliffs have insane angles of 45 degrees.
All of the Kimberley was made over 1.6 billion years ago due to tectonic plate movement.
Then we headed over to the Horizontal Falls. It is called Garaanngaddin by First Nations People’s. We had an incoming tide.
The Mclarty Ranges where they ane found, are comprised of two ridges running parallel 300 metres apart.
The first opening is approximately 20metres wide and the second about 7 metres. Given these narrow gaps compared to massive tidal movements in the area ( up to 10 or 11 metres) the water cannot get through the gap quick enough. This push’s the water up the sides of the narrow cliffs and creates the waterfall effect. There is nowhere else like this in the world.
We were very lucky to be right in the front of the jet boat.
It certainly is an adrenaline rush shooting through the narrow gap surrounded by white water also moving fast and going uphill or down hill depending on the tidal flow.
We took a very scenic route back to Broome on the seaplane and flew over:
The Buccaneer Archipelago
Cape Leveque Light House.
Cone Bay
The Graveyard
Cygnet Bay
It was a magnificent experience to enjoy a wonder, forged by nature. We were looked after so well and the whole team were full of energy and knowledge about the incredible place that they live and work.
Until next time !
MOTH and LOL
