14/8/21 Discovery One Cruise Day 7

 

 Today we’re off to Hanover Bay via Wailgwin , Bumpus & Sheep Islands .

First we needed to cruise out of our sheltered spot at Battery Point , and it was nice and calm .

Wailgwin & Bumpus Islands are very close so not much time to waste getting there . Out for the first scenic of the day , and we found lots of birds , Brown Booby’s and some Terns .These are those .

  And in flight . They are very inquisitive birds and check us out closely .

Now we head around to Wailgwin Island , just next door . Take a look at this huge lump of rock supported by 3 pillars 

And what it looks like from a different angle .

Some rocks even resemble Mickey Mouse & Goofy ( with a lot of imagination ).

 These ones look like they’re going to slide into the ocean .

Anyone fancy a game of Kimberley Jenga ??

En route we saw another whale and calf having a lovely time

Rounding another point we find Wininri Pearl Farm and all the associated buildings  - we were a bit surprised to see it .

 More cruising , more scenery .

Then the pearl strings and workers .

Another cruise boat going the other way , we have much more room to sit outside , in comparison to this one .

 Not to much longer and we’d arrived at Sheep Island , and scooted across in the tenders to go for a walk around the island .

 There’s a shell grit beach leading up to a Boab Tree and the grave of Mary Jane Pascoe , who died in 1866 aged 30 yrs . There was also a memorial plaque for PC Walter Gee who died from complications arising from a spear wound from a native in 1865 . No mention of how many aboriginals were wounded or killed though .

 The walk around the island took about 25 mins while we all explored it . There were a few Boabs , not sure what they are growing in though !!

Not the best shot , but here we are .

Here’s a update map 

From here it was a cruise to Hanover Bay for our overnight stop . It was a while away , so we had time to do things - like catch up on blogs !! More cliffs , more trees , and we were there .

 Time for another scenic through this gorge , and possibly a swim - that would be nice !

Found a very solid Sea Eagle who was very reluctant to fly .

 The swim was cancelled due to someone in the tender saying it was a bit rough - the captain heard that and thought , okay , we’ll go up the creek instead , if only we'd heard that , we would have told him otherwise !! 

  Back to the boat and a drink & dinner , then after dark , the shark show started up again - there was another hour gone , time for showers & bed . 

13/8/21 Discovery One Cruise Day 6

 

   Day 6 dawns again , the sun rose behind Raft Point and cast it’s shadow over the adjacent cliffs .

 Today we are heading to Montgomery Reef , which is in the top left corner of the photo . It is a 400 square kilometre area that comes out of the ocean , rising as far as the tide drops , creating cascades of water running into deep channels .

  As we approach we can see several other cruise boats already on site , tender boats running back & forth , up & down the channel . 

  We were anchored up & rearing to go , a couple of minutes later & we were cruising up the side of the channel beside the growing reef . Keep an eye out for the turtles head - a hint , it’s in the water .

The water pours of the top of the reef all the time that the tide is receding and rising . Birds are wandering around - it’s almost a smorgasboard for them .

 Sand bars appear & disappear with the tides as well .

Some cruises also have a helicopter with them , lucky buggers , it would have been the best view of the reef . My drone is having a holiday this trip , it wasn’t granted passage on the  boat unfortunately .

  Another cruise boat and it’s sister boat .

  We cruised around the eastern side of the reef , which gave us a view of the topside of the reef .

  Next stop was Hall Point for a scenic around the point . The rock formations are different again .

 There are the remains of 2 stone houses here , this one looks like Fred Flinstones house !

 Off again to Hope Point where the rocks get a bit darker .

Then onwards again through Wailgwin Island and Wilson Point . A whale was frolicking just around the corner , we are seeing a few more of them now . Battery Point next and into a gorge for our overnight .

 Another scenic trip into the gorge , trying to find the elusive rock wallabies up here - we have a running joke about the wallabies that nobody has seen yet .

There was a huge sea jelly , about  500mm round !!

 Boabs & Cycads grow happily up here in the Kimberley .

We had some evening guests that refused to come aboard - not that they were invited - a couple of large (3-4m long ) Tawny Nurse Sharks , and lots of smaller sharks as well - made for good entertainment offa the back deck . Could have watched them for hours .