Orion Expedition Cruise - Darwin to Broome

By Jean-Paul Kyrillos
VP/Publisher Food & Wine Magazine

On a recent trip Down Under I kept a journal of my travels through this extraordinary region of the Kimberley. Enjoy...

Wednesday, April 18th
We had a lovely day in Sydney. The Four Seasons has magnificent views of the Opera House. Dinner/Bbq at the Park Hyatt, outside and with nightime views of city, Harbour bridge and Opera House was incredible. Off to airport for a 5 hour flight (w/connection) to Darwin (top of Australia). The 5 day cruise from Darwin to Broome I am told will be spectacular.

Thursday, April 19th
We embarked on our expedition from Darwin. Darwin is Australia's closest city to the equator and the gateway to the top end.

Friday, April 20th
After sailing across the Timor sea, we anchored in Vansittart Bay. From there we took the Zodiacs to Jar Island. The 20 minute hike took us to what is termed Bradshaw art. This Aboriginal art is thought to be at least 17,000 years old. The art is symmetrical, mystical and quite beautiful. Some think it may be as much as 50,000 years old. They have no idea who painted it. Pretty amazing!

Saturday, April 21st
Today was a world class day. The sunrise was beautiful as we sailed into Walmsley Bay in Western Australia. This is the heart of the Kimberly. It is in the middle of nowhere and is some of the most remote and inaccessible country in Australia. Our boat, the Orion, is an expedition vessel. The beauty of it is that we don't dock, we anchor and then zodiac to shore or wherever we want to go. Each day, we get briefings on the following day's activities, as well as a recap of what we saw during the day...super educational!

After a workout and some time at the mini-pool on deck, we took zodiacs out to the beach where we boarded a helicopter. We flew over the Hunter River, Mitchell Plateau and finally the magnificent Mitchell Falls. We landed on top of the falls for a hike, look at the falls and a swim. It will be our only swim as all of the waters are crocodile and shark infested. Speaking of which, we went on a zodiac tour this afternoon. Yes, we were fortunate enough to see a 6ft croc basking in the sun. We also saw a Wedge Tailed Eagle and a Black Falcon. The huge, lush mangroves and giant rock (iron ore) formations were fantastic. This place reminds me of a water filled Grand Canyon/ Halong Bay, Vietnam/ Alaska. Really, it need not be compared as it's incomparable. We capped the day off with a couple cold Boagues (Tasmanian brew) and one of those sunsets with brilliant colors that make you snap 50 photos as the sky is ever changing. Life is good.


Sunday, April 22nd
Sunday-noon: We just got back from a 3 hour Zodiac ride exploring Montgomery Reef. After a place in Nova Scotia, this has the most extreme tidal changes in the world...over 30 ft at times. As a result, this reef which is submerged by 15-30ft of water at high tide is completely out of the water at low tide. The exposed reef is 150 sq miles. Cascading waterfalls are everywhere as the sea rushes off the reef. There's also a ton of wildlife. We saw several sharks, green sea turtles and one giant Mangrove Whip Ray. This was all from the zodiac!!!

We just got back from Raft Island. The Orion sailed about 10 miles from where we were this morning and anchored. We took a 15 minute zodiac ride to the beach. From there we took a very tough 40 minute hike to the site. It was amazing to see so many passengers in their 60's and 70's (even one with 2 hip replacements) make this hike. It was hotter than hell and the terrain was uneven and rocky. The scenery was gorgeous. We saw several Boab trees which have enormous bulbous trunks that you need to hug to please the spirits. They feel like stone, quite amazing actually. The real treat was the site of the Wagina art. It could have been in the Museum of Natural History. Only photos will do it justice. This art was "only" 900 years old and the main depiction was of their "creation ancestors" specifically Nemarali. The art on the sandstone actually glows in September just before the wet season. It's easy to understand why these tribes thought of these paintings as those of their god. They, of course, did not understand the simple scientific explanation which, incidentally, neither do I.

It was another amazing day in the Kimberly. We've met some great Aussie's on route. The food, Aussie wines, service and attention to detail on this ship are spot on. Tonight, we dine with the Captain. We're on the way to Broome now.

The Orion. We fell in love with the Phillipino servers. They were all so nice and so eager to please, from the chambermaid to the bartender to the diswashers. Since you needed to sign for each drink, they all knew our names. Tracy, the Hotel Manager was a lovely but firm woman from Zimbabwe and her husband was the chef. They both did an outstanding job. The food was excellent, varied and plentiful. The extensive Aussie wine list impressed all of us. We did our best to stay local and drank several wines from the Margaret River in Western Australia. The exploration team was super knowledgeable and thorough. Lead by a South African bloke named Robin West, his girl Yadda, Mick the marine biologist, Darren the art and bird master, and Jemma, the UK rookie all were very friendly yet professional. Daily briefings made you feel comfortable and ready about the next day's adventure. The one to one passenger to crew ratio insured that everything that you needed was there...a hand onto the boat, walking stick, water, suntan lotion, juice, snack, guide, you name it.

Monday, April 23rd
We docked in Broome on Monday morning. Broome is mostly a tourist town now with a population of 14,000 in the wet season and 4x that in the dry season (their winter). It was put on the map because of the pearling industry. Roebuck Bay is perfect for growing pearls. It's shallow, has even water temperature and force feeds the oysters nutrients through the vast tidal changes and the continental shelf. The Mother of Pearl shells are as big as a dinner plate. Now Paspaley owns the South Sea cultured pearl market. Their presence is ubiquitous as are pearls in general. The town of Broome has a pearl store on every corner.

The bay is also ideal for hovercrafts. It has little wind or congestion and is very flat. The tidal changes and mudflats make the hovercraft an ideal vehicle. We went out on one Tuesday morning. The sensation of floating was very cool and the "skidding" feeling we got on wide turns was a crowd pleaser. We "flew" out to Red Cliff where we saw the dinosaur foot prints of a young Brachiasoraus (6x an elephant). There are also footprints of protodons, t-rex and megalosoraus in the area. We also witnessed the sand bubblers whose eating practice creates perfectly round sand spheres that are all around Red Cliff and Cable Beach.

From there we went to Cable Beach. It's rated top ten in the world for its 22 kilometers of white sand beach and picture perfect azure waters. It's horseshoe shape allows you to see both a sunrise and sunset (more on that in a moment). The boys went for a swim and the Indian Ocean felt glorious. Michelle who kept outdoing herself on this trip surprised us with a stop at Matso's, a sweet microbrwery in town. The beer and label artwork are outstanding. The one hour tasting in their open and well designed and furnished restaurant was the perfect send off to Syndney. Some of our favorites were Monsoonal Blonde, Hit the Toad, Smokey Bishop, Sow's Ear and their delicious Ginger Beer.

Back to Monday, we spent a uneventful couple hours in Broome. Aside from the pearl shops, there's not a whole lot to it. It has a couple of pretty main streets and boasts the biggest outdoor cinema. It's also worth noting that most of the structures are made out of a ridged aluminum giving the place a very distinct feel. Incidentally, they claim that it is the most remote township in the world. It's 1000 miles from Darwin and even further from Perth, the two closest cities.

We rode camels along Cable Beach at Sunset. The experience was a blast. Rashid, the camel behind me was my pal for the ride. The sunset with a big sailboat sailing across in front was awesome. The camels were well behaved and not smelly or spitting, though not so comfortable to sit on. Drinks and dinner at the beach was wonderful.

Some fun Aussie words and phrases from the trip: on ya digger, back up the truck, poke, mate, she's all right...thank you to Michael for all of his wisdom on this.

Our last night was spent in Perth since we missed our connection to Sydney. We made the best of it and headed out to Subiaco, a "village" like area in Perth. Drinks, pool and an awesome (and cheap;) dinner at the Subiaco Hotel was a great way to end the trip. And what a fantastic trip it was. I shall be talking about it for many years to come and probably my whole life.

For more info on Orion Expedition Cruises visits http://www.orioncruises.com.au/.