08 Aug 2023

Montgomery Reef's Countless Cascades and the Incredible Art of Freshwater Cove

Montgomery Reef was absolutely spectacular this morning as Heritage Adventurer arrived to ideal conditions for our upcoming explorations. We all headed out in our Zodiacs around the same time because Montgomery Reef, like so much around the Kimberley coast, is tidal dependent.

We arrived in time to see the reef emerging from the water giving a great perspective of how vast this inshore reef is, and understand what it is that makes it so special. Over the course of the 2-3 hour Zodiac cruise the reef became increasingly exposed above our heads so that we were no longer looking out over it but rather up at it.

With it's countless cascades churning up the waters in the 'river' up which we travelled, it was fun to nose the bows of the Zodiacs into them and feel the power of the flows of water. The stars of the day today may well have been the Sea Turtles though. Despite the churning up of the water due to the outpouring of the tide, we had great visibility of so many turtles that we lost count as we observed them swimming including the colours and details of their shells, the shapes of their heads and the smooth movement of their flippers as they drifted. Along with the various birds feeding on the reef, mainly Egrets and Herons, we saw fish making their mad dash down the slopes of the reef as it drained into deeper waters.

Back on board we had a mid-morning buffet of pastries to enjoy with a hot cuppa' and sit by the windows or out on deck to watch for Humpback Whales on this part of the coast.

After lunch we went ashore at Freshwater Cove and met with Indigenous Australian guides who live here for about 8 months of the year, and received a traditional Welcome to Country as they shared their knowledge with us. They were friendly, chatty, and full of questions for us as well! It was a privilege to see more Wandjina-style rock art and hear it interpreted through their words, with ample opportunity to ask them questions about the art and their culture.

After our Welcome to Country ceremony we were led on a shortwalk inland, through beautiful sandstone terrain, past termite mounds, through eucalypts, acacias, palms, and a myriad other flora under the Kimberley sun,

Once atop the hill at the rock art gallery we enjoyed taking in the incredible art and the great discussions it created. It was then time for a smoke-cleansing ceremony on the beach before we shuttled back to Heritage Adventurer to enjoy some refreshments at the bar during evening recap and pre-dinner briefing.

Image (c) by: Heritage Expeditions