Cruising the Kimberley: Berkeley River – Part One

The Berkeley River, situated on the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, is the eastern most part of the Kimberley, one of the oldest and largest wilderness landscapes in the world. 

Our first peek at the Kimberley as we had approached at first light and sunrise had been a magical introduction and left us excited with anticipation for what we would find further in. As we entered the river, flat, wide and lined with mangroves, with the iconic chunky red cliffs looming, we both felt that we were in an incredibly special place. We spent two days anchored in the lower part of the river, just soaking up the scenery and the fact that we were finally here. Matt spent several hours lying in his hammock, just staring at the cliffs with his binoculars. ‘The scenery remains the same, but the colours change hour by hour’ was his profound assessment.

We took the tinny downstream to First Creek for our first exploration on land. Not minutes into the trip, we saw a crocodile swimming in the water on the other side of the river. He was a big one! It was a good reminder for us that we were now well into croc country. Time to be croc aware. At First Creek, we tied up to the rocks lining the small amphitheatre at the end of the creek and clambered up to the rock ledge. What an incredibly beautiful view back down the creek; the aqua water, lined with green trees and those remarkable red cliffs surrounding the sides.

We walked back to where the waterfall would have been, but it wasn’t running this late into the dry season. We could see the large swimming hole that the guidebook described, but it was more of a puddle. There were a few small, clear, shallow pools that we had a quick dip in. Not a swim, per se, more of a plunge, but refreshing nonetheless.

On our way back to the boat, we stopped off to say Hi to Dave and Michelle who had anchored Luna Sea near the mouth of the river in preparation for leaving the following day. We went back to Luna Sea for drinks later that day, and as we were speeding down the river, we turned a corner when suddenly we both gasped. The tide had gone out, and laying there on a newly exposed sandbank was an absolutely humungous croc. Thick and wide, he was at least the length of our little tinny. We grinned at each other, even as a shiver ran through me, now that was a croc!! Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera with us, but there were to be plenty more.

Expressing our awe and wonderment about the river to Dave and Michelle, they told us that we hadn’t even seen the best bit yet. Not giving anything away, they just told us that it got more amazing upstream and to take our time. You’ll be the only boat up there, they added. Our stay having extended longer than intended, we waved goodbye and hopped into our tender in the dark. Very carefully and on high alert, we drove back to Cool Change, highly aware of the prehistoric monsters lurking in the river. Not something I’d want to do too often!

The following day we moved a little further upstream and went ashore to explore again; first to Pauls Creek and then to Casuarina Creek. Pauls Creek involved a short climb up some steep rocks, but a rope that a thoughtful yachtie put there proved very helpful. Once up the top, we followed a trail of rock cairns for a while until we dropped down into a little billabong with a large clearing, a waterfall and a swimming hole. It was a lovely, peaceful place. We wallowed in the small pools and luxuriated under the waterfall.

Casuarina Creek, with the little island in front of the waterfall, is an iconic feature of the Kimberley. We tendered in, gasping in wonder as the creek widened to reveal the sheer cliffs framing the edge of the bowl that the waterfall flowed over. The waterfall was only a trickle, but as Matt edged the tinny right underneath it, you could just imagine the awesome power it must hold in the wet season, cascading down all the way across the cliffs.

We found the spot to leave our tinny, tied it onto the rope and scrambled up the rock scree. Following the track marked by rock cairns we wound our way around until we were directly above the falls. The view from up the top, looking down at the creek was spectacular.

As we stopped along the way to take photos, we watched three dolphins swim into the creek, around the island and back out again. They paused a few times, and there was some violent thrashing in the water as they caught fish. It was incredible to watch.

We wandered along the creek bed at the top, clambering up and over rocks of all different sizes to check the rocky overhangs for the Aboriginal art that was supposed to be easy to find. Eventually we found a couple of pictures in a small cave. Finally, success! Although we searched for ages, and again on a subsequent occasion, they were all we found. I’m not sure if there are others.

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There were lots of small rock pools that had some clear water in them, so we enjoyed a refreshing dip to cool off. On our way back down the creek bed, Matt stopped in front of me. Putting his finger to his lips, he beckoned me over and pointed to the middle of one of the larger waterholes. There, sunning himself on a rock was a little freshwater croc. Matt took some photos and we watched him for a while.

That night we looked up to see a sky bursting with stars that were amazingly bright. Because the night was so still, the blanket of stars was reflected in the water below, creating a magical starry landscape all around us.

Neither of us being naturally early risers, we didn’t ordinarily see that many sunrises, but with the time zone change moving into Western Australia, our body clocks tended to wake us up at sunrise and we fell into a rhythm of going to bed not long after sundown and rising with the sun. One morning we were up and as we watched the sunrise it was an incredible glowing red colour, with its light reflecting on the still water of the river. I christened it ‘red carpet to the sun.’

By this time we had spent three full days immersing ourselves in the incredible scenery of the Berkeley River. We both felt that we were somewhere truly special. Little did we know that the best really was yet to come, and that we were about to undertake a very special journey, one of the highlights of our entire trip.

I’ll leave that for Berkeley River – Part 2.

Experiences are infinitely more memorable than stuff.

Andrea Reiser