23 Jul 2023

Discovering Indigenous Australian Experiences at Freshwater Cove

An early rise saw us up at 0500 hours for our planned adventures at Montgomery Reef, a reef system like no other on Earth, except the weather gods had a different plan with strong winds, currents and a rolling ocean. It was soon apparent we weren't going to make it from our anchorage to the 'River', an opening in the reef that forms a viewing passage for our Zodiacs. We watched with interest as another vessel in the area launched their boats in anticipation of such an adventure, but very quickly aborted their mission. 

It's during times like these Heritage Expeditions rigid flexibility kicks in, with our Expedition Leader and Captain switching up the day's activities as we steamed towards Freshwater Cove and made plans to return to Montgomery Reef later.

It was a bumpy Zodiac cruise to Freshwater Cove where Indigenous Australian Arraluli clan members, Neil and Leon, welcomed us to their land, shared fascinating stories, and shared their incredible outdoor rock art gallery explaining the ochre drawings left on the cave walls by their ancestors. We were split into walking groups - labelled Rock Wallabies and Quolls (Rock Wallabies being fast and agile while Quolls are cute, but a bit slower), for the 1-kilometre uphill walk to the art site. Along the way we enjoyed gorgeous views of Heritage Adventurer at anchor, wandered by towering termite mounds, Spinifex, flowering shrubs and trees.  Before we returned to our trusty expedition vessel we passed through the smoke of a fire smoking ceremony to leave all spirits on the land and ensured nothing bad would happen to us during our travels. 

Image (c) by C.Finch