Get drenched by WA’s most photographed falls in this extreme region

“Who wants to get wet?” asks Nat, our guide and tender driver. “Dish it up!” replies Carolyn, a 68-year-old guest from Melbourne.

Obligingly, he deftly pokes the bow of our aluminium tender beneath a waterfall tumbling down a burnt orange sandstone escarpment. One by one, we take it in turns to sit on the front and be dunked under the gushing freshwater torrent.

A region with scope for a soaking – King George Falls.Credit: Oliver Oldroyd

It’s only 9am on our first full day of cruising in the Kimberley and already I’ve been soaked twice. We awoke this morning to find ourselves gliding up the King George River, a snaking, tranquil waterway flanked by soaring, 1.83-billion-year-old sandstone cliffs. Sitting on True North II’s forward sun deck with a mug of tea, I’m given a serene introduction to one of Australia’s most dramatic wildernesses – a Germany-plus-Tasmania-sized chunk of north-western Western Australia that’s famous for its extremes: extreme tides, extreme weather and extremely large crocs.

Rounding a bend, we get our first glimpse of one of the Kimberley’s most photographed natural wonders, King George Falls, a pair of 100-metre-high waterfalls that it’s claimed are the tallest in the state. If you were to visit the falls in August, they’d be a picturesque trickle. But we’re here in late March, at the tail end of the wet season, so they’re a thundering torrent.

While another boat watches from a safe distance, Captain Rob Bennett expertly steers our 35-metre-long, purpose-built vessel right up to the base of the right-hand falls, drenching those of us on the front deck in waves of billowing spray.

“Normally I’d put the bow right under,” he tells me later, “but there was that much water, it’d probably snap it off.”

True North II and its tenders exiting Perosus Creek.Credit: Oliver Oldroyd

The region’s falls are a headline attraction of this 10-day Kimberley Waterfalls departure from Wyndham to Broome with adventure cruise specialist True North. Not only will we see many of the Kimberley’s most famous waterfalls – including Mitchell Falls, King George Falls and King Cascade – in their prime, but we’ll also see numerous seasonal torrents that will dry up in a matter of weeks.

The falls are such an impressive drawcard, you wonder why everyone doesn’t visit at this time of year. One word: humidity. It’s off the charts. Plus, it’s hot – like 34 degrees, three-showers-a-day, time-for-another-T-shirt hot. Thankfully, the ship’s air-conditioning is up to the challenge, so the cabins and communal areas provide a welcome refuge. There are also opportunities to cool off during the day, including invigorating waterfall dunks and freshwater swims.

Visiting this early in the season has other advantages. For a start, it’s blissfully quiet. Most of the international cruise lines don’t start their Kimberley seasons until May or June, so we only see a handful of other vessels during our trip. It also means that for almost all the rock art, waterfall and swim sites we visit, we’re the only ones there. Even at Mitchell Falls, the region’s poster child four-tiered wonder, there’s not another soul around.

Two less-promoted highlights of this time of year are the sunsets and storms. Every evening we gather at the outdoor bar for pre-dinner cocktails and snacks to watch a sunset of such sky-flooding fiery magnificence, you’d swear Mother Nature had discovered Instagram filters. After dinner, the theatrics continue with spectacular lightning shows from distant storms that dance across the horizon.

Evening light on King George Creek.Credit: Oliver Oldroyd

One thing we don’t see many of are the region’s infamous saltwater crocs, which can grow to a monstrous eight metres long, and are thought to have the strongest bite of any creature that has ever existed. The reason is that the water is warm enough for them to not need to bask in the sun to heat up. However, we’re constantly reminded of their ominous presence. “Imagine you’re on a rollercoaster ride,” says Nat, the first time we get in the tender. “Hands and legs inside at all times.”

I’d love to describe a typical day on board, but there isn’t one. Each night an itinerary appears on our beds, but, in true expedition-style, it frequently changes due to tides, weather conditions or passenger preference.

One afternoon we’re trekking across a mudflat to visit the wreckage of a DC-3 that crash-landed during WWII; the next morning we’re on a sliver of beach chipping oysters off a rock then gulping them down with lemon and Tabasco.

Mobility – the ship’s helicopter at Eagle Falls.Credit: Oliver Oldroyd

In the first half of the trip there are several opportunities to visit some of the Kimberley’s numerous Indigenous rock art sites (it’s estimated there are more than 100,000), which are famous for two distinctive but very different styles of art. Gwion Gwion paintings consist of elegant, sticklike human figures, some of which are thought to be 17,000 years old (estimates vary wildly). Wandjina art is more recent, dating from around 4000 years ago, and often featuring colourful depictions of the Wandjina creation spirit, a powerful mouthless being that the local Indigenous people believe initiates the wet season.

True North has special permission from the region’s traditional owners to visit these sites on the strict condition that no photos are published. So you’ll just have to take my word for it that they are extraordinary – certainly the best examples of Indigenous rock art I’ve ever seen. Entire ceilings are crowded with dozens of brightly coloured figures, maps, animals and handprints.

Fishing is another popular activity, where we head out in the tenders in search of the region’s famed barramundi as well as Spanish mackerel, queen fish and fingermark. I have the fishing ability of a hedgehog, but thanks to Nat’s expert tuition, I manage to reel in a whopping 79.5-centimetre-long barra, which the chef transforms into a delicious yellow curry the following evening.

The tenders are also used for nature tours, where we scour the mangroves lining the rivers and estuaries for wildlife. Over the course of the trip, we see soaring ospreys and gorgeous, rust-winged brahminy kites, but the most memorable encounter is a spectacular aerial display by a pair of white-bellied sea eagles. Equally fascinating are the frenetic exploits of the riverbank’s residents, including scarlet flame-backed fiddler crabs and bizarre, sand-gobbling mudskippers.

Heading in to Silica Beach.Credit: Oliver Oldroyd

Providing an entirely different perspective on the region’s natural wonders is the on-board helicopter, which offers a range of trips, from scenic flights and sunset drinks to heli-fishing and heli-picnics. Watching from a tender as 400-square-kilometre Montgomery Reef emerges from the ocean at low tide is amazing; seeing it from a helicopter is mind-blowing.

In fact, there are only two real constants on the trip – the infectious enthusiasm of the young crew, many of whom are in their early 20s, and the extraordinarily high quality of the food. The globetrotting menu changes daily, but to give you an idea, on day eight, breakfast is homemade orange and poppyseed buttermilk pancakes, lunch is a barbecue heli-picnic featuring samphire buttered emu loin and saltbush dukkah venison, then dinner is duck a l’orange followed by Kakadu plum panna cotta. By day four, I’m forced to throw in my napkin and ask for half portions.

With the addition of True North II last year, True North Adventure Cruises now has two vessels plying the Kimberley coastline. Carrying just 20 guests and 15 crew, True North II is smaller and less luxurious than its sister ship, True North, but it offers similar itineraries with identical activities and inclusions. It’s also about 25 per cent cheaper.

And while the ship is clearly a factor on a trip like this, it’s not what you’ll remember most. My abiding memory is of impromptu beach drinks one night in Krait Bay. After enjoying a fiery purple sunset with oysters Kilpatrick and cosmopolitan cocktails, the music gets cranked up and a vivacious French guest starts up a conga line. Soon the whole boat, crew included, has joined in, laughing and dancing barefoot in the sand. It’s a joyously unscripted moment of carefree Kimberley fun.

The details

Cruise
True North II has three 10-day Kimberley Waterfall departures in 2025, starting on March 15. It costs from $17,995 a person, including all transfers, meals, soft drinks and most onboard activities. Alcohol and helicopter flights are extra. See truenorth.com.au

Fly
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia fly to Kununurra and Broome. See qantas.com; jetstar.com, virginaustralia.com

The writer was a guest of True North.