14 NIGHT Absolute Kimberley Experience broome/wyndham

Guests on MV Diversity II are collected at approximately 3.00pm from either their accommodation venue or a location organised if they wish to wander in the Broome shopping precinct prior to departure. If departing from Wyndham, you will be collected from Kununurra Airport and transported by coach to join Diversity II waiting peacefully at the Wyndham Jetty. Once aboard you will be shown your cabin, a tour of the vessel and taken through a safety induction by your captain.  Settle back and enjoy a cold drink along with trays of appetizers with your fellow intrepid traveling companions, while your skipper departs the jetty and steams out of Cambridge Gulf to travel overnight to Revelly Island at the mouth of the Berkeley River.

The Berkeley River is one of the many ochre tinted sandstone walled rivers on offer throughout the Kimberley.  You will travel between the sheer cliff grandeur carved out over thousands of years. Look out for the amazing birds of prey nesting hundreds of feet about you and enjoy the rivers unique beauty as we wind our way to our favourite spot to drop anchor. In our purpose built tenders, we spend the day exploring the multitude of waterfalls, swimming holes and ancient escarpments this amazing river has to offer. For the fishing enthusiasts, today is your first chance to bag a barramundi.

After an overnight steam you will awaken to the majestic King George River. Be humbled by the sheer power of the twin falls at the very end of this stunning river, these waterfalls are the highest recorded falls in Western Australia.  To enjoy them at the height of their awesome intensity it is best to book your trip in the earlier period of the charter season when the ""wet"" has dumped an average of two metres of rain to create the sheer noise and power that will leave you with memories to last forever. For the intrepid adventurers it is well worth the trek to the top for a breathtaking vista of the river and immensity of this truly ancient landscape. Once at the top you can enjoy a well deserved swim in one of the cool upper safe fresh water swimming holes, your crew will be on hand to assist you on your trek. It should be noted that this trek is fairly strenuous.

After leaving the awesome King George, Diversity II will steam into Vansittart Bay to view the first of the famous Bradshaw Paintings, named after Joseph Bradshaw who was the first European to record these incredible rock paintings some of which have been dated at over 17,000 years old, and thought in some cases to predate the Wandijina figures. With tide permitting, you will also have the opportunity to view the remains of a WW11; DC3 aircraft that crashed after running out of fuel just short of Truscott Airbase. The remains of this aircraft are reasonably intact and make for great conversation. After leaving Vansittart Bay Diversity II will steam to the Mitchell River, here you can either have our crew organise a helicopter flight* to take in an aerial view of the Mitchell River and the truly breathtaking Mitchell falls, or you can try your luck at catching the elusive ‘barramundi'. A picnic lunch or afternoon tea will be held at the top of this trek with the opportunity to relax in a cool freshwater swimming hole before climbing back down to the tenders and either relaxing on board Diversity II swinging gently on her anchor or taking a further opportunity to fish.

From the Mitchell River we will head south to Bigge Island and exploring a deserted beach to find rare Aboriginal paintings depicting the ‘first fleet' and a few ‘old timers' keeping guard over these extraordinary paintings and Bigge Island. From here we move through the Bonaparte Archipelago, until we reach York Sound and the Hunter River with its entrance guarded by a rock formation many folk think resembles the Egyptian Sphinx or an Indians Head. We think our guests may have used the sight created from a couple of ‘chardies' in these descriptions but will leave it up to you to decide. With the tide permitting, we leave the boat and explore the wonders of this river and the tumultuous waterfall at its end. Along the way you may like to drop a net for delicious mud crabs for dinner or another chance at that ‘barra'.

From the Hunter River, Diversity II continues moving south slowly passing Coronation Island and Careening Bay the site of the Boab tree where Australia's best but least known mariner Phillip Parker King careened his ship the Mermaid in 1820 to enable repairs before discovering the fabulous King Cascades in the Prince Regent River. Diversity II will drop anchor in this huge river and explore the area just as Phillip Parker King did all those years ago. Taking a walk along a freshwater rivers edge you will be able to spot a variety of water birds unique to the area, or leave the river edge you will climb a path leading you to a freshwater pool to view another beautiful waterfall and take a refreshing swim in the safe water hole it empties into. Back on board Diversity II will as the tides allow it; make her way up to the majesty of the Kings Cascade and into a photographers paradise.

We will continue south and with time permitting view the spiritual site of Langgi and the Petrified Warriors, a natural formation of carved sandstone pillars created from centuries of tidal movement. From here we move on to Doubtful Bay, where after a scenic trek view the awesome sight of a gallery of Aboriginal art that tells the visual story of an ancient race of water people that lived in the area approximately 1000 years and then disappeared without a trace. Doubtful Bay offers a myriad of activities from walks through a tropical rain forest, relaxing in freshwater pools, viewing another of the Kimberley stunning waterfalls or trying your luck for either tasty mud crabs or a fish for dinner.

Just a short steam from Raft Point is a reef system called Montgomery Reef named after Phillip Parker Kings surgeon on the vessel, the Mermaid. We will drop anchor in a channel carved out of the reef by tidal activity over millions of years and watch the wonder of this huge reef platform rising out of the ocean with the water cascading into the channel. Diversity II's tenders will take you to explore the channels and run offs, you will have the opportunity to spot dugongs and turtles, on the outer side of the reef during their migratory season whales cruise the Kimberley Coast with their young looking for food and enjoying the warm waters.

From Montgomery Reef and Doubtful Bay we continue on into Talbot Bay to witness the power of the Horizontal Falls and one of the operating pearl farms which produces some of the world renowned quality pearls. When back in Broome there are many places to admire or even purchase one of the Kimberley region pearls.

After leaving Talbot Bay, Diversity II heads past the Iron Islands through the Koolan Island channel where you can view one of the highest concentrates of iron in the world. Across from the mine site is a swimming hole developed by the mine decades ago called Croc Creek, here we will drop anchor so that you can explore the area and take a refreshing dip.

From here while you are enjoying your last Kimberley sunset on deck with good company, good food and your favourite liquid indulgence, Diversity II will steam overnight into Broome to have you disembarking the next morning in time to catch connecting flights or to enable you to book into any reserved accommodation you may have organised, prior to your Diversity Charters adventure.

All itineraries are determined by tides and weather and are subject to variation where deemed appropriate by our skipper. Diversity Charters can arrange a fly in or fly out holiday to suit your needs if numbers allow and aircraft availability.

*Scenic Helicopter flights available on request at an additional cost.

Diversity Charters support Catch and Release Fishing and Fishing for our future.