2017 Kimberley expedition
IN 2017 CORAL Expeditions and the AGS will celebrate the 30th anniversary of AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC’s first ‘Wilderness Couple’ with four Kimberley Coast expeditions led by Mike.
In 1987 Dick Smith chose Mike and his wife, Susan, to spend 12 months living off the land in the Kimberley, and in 1998 Mike began leading Aurora’s Kimberley expeditions, bringing with him his knowledge and adventurous spirit.
From the moment you step aboard Coral Expeditions I, the excitement will be palpable. Engines will thrum as you depart for the aquamarine waters of the Indian Ocean. Stretching to the north-west, an intricate maze of coral reefs, rocky islands and mangrove-fringed rivers forms one of Australia’s most exotic wilderness areas. You will enter a maritime frontier explored by Macassan fishermen, Arab, Chinese and Dutch traders and European explorers. It’s a dynamic realm of 11m tides, which create standing waves and giant whirlpools or expose kilometres of mudflats. The massive tide’s ebb and flow will dictate your movements, and your inquisitiveness may lead you in unexpected directions.
Coral Expeditions I has a shallow draught, allowing access to areas larger ships can’t reach. Using Zodiacs and an excursion boat, you’ll visit sites accessible only by sea. Lacepede Islands offer nesting boobies and frigates. Montgomery Reef is a true wonder, where waterfalls topple into channels filled with turtles, rays and sharks.
You may be welcomed ashore by black-necked storks, stoic boab trees or the beautiful Kimberley rose. Protected by vast tracts of bull spinifex and broken ‘hard rock’ country, the coast can be a harsh place, slow to reveal its treasures. AG’s original Kimberley adventurer and his team will share their experiences of their favourite places, such as the powerful sculpture garden of Langgi, Raft Point’s Wanjina galleries and secret waterholes. It will be a journey you’ll never forget.
Expedition Highlights
- Navigate white water and standing waves through the powerful Horizontal Falls
- Wanjina figures and ‘first-contact’ paintings by the Wunambal people
- Pockets of emerald rainforests, mangroves and soaring red cliffs
- Opportunity to visit Mike and Susan’s Kunmunya camp
- Montgomery Reef’s powerful outgoing tides
- King George Falls’ spectacular cascade, the Kimberley’s highest single-drop waterfall
EXPEDITION LEADER
Mike Cusack is co-author of Our Year in the Wilderness, the inspirational account of 12 months in the Kimberley. Mike also spent many years as a Parks Victoria ranger.
2017 EXPEDITION DATES (11 days)
Darwin to Broome: 2–12 Jun or 23 Jun–3 Jul. Broome to Darwin: 12–22 Jun or 3–13 Jul.
COST: 11 days from A$7990pp
BOOKINGS: Call 1800 079 545 or visit: www.coralexpeditions.com.au
