Is that a mermaid I see upon a tree ? Kimberley cruise expedition notes.

 I am still following in the steps of Phillip Parker King on this cruise. We have reached picturesque Careening Bay, part of  Prince Regent National Park in the Kimberleys.

Parker King "parked" here back in 1821, when he discovered a crack in the hull of his ship HMS Mermaid. It was, and still is, a good spot to take time out to relax and recuperate.

 King was grateful for the chance to plug his leak here, and still found time to carve the name of his ship on a handy tree. You can still see this beautifully hand-lettered piece of graffiti today.  The memory of HMS Mermaid lives on, centuries later. 

Nowadays park authorities have put in a handy boardwalk, plus background information signs by the boab.   My own opinion ?  A most attractive bay to visit in the middle of nowhere, and historically speaking, "boabsolutely brilliant"

Mysterious Montgomery reef - now you see it, now you don't.

One of the highlights of my West Australian cruise on Oceanic Discoverer. A vast reef, appearing as if by magic out of the ocean on a falling tide, is a marvellous and most unexpected sight.

I'm sitting in an inflatable landing craft, about 20 km off the Central Kimberley coast.  As far as the eye can see, there is water cascading off an endless wall of rocky coral.  Due to extreme tides in this area, the reef literally "grows" in front of my eyes as water pours off in a thousand rivulets down a multitude of crevices.

 

In a few hours when the tide comes in, there will be no trace of any reef, no coral, no rocks. Just a vast expanse of ocean. The show will be over until Nature puts on an encore with the next falling tide.

This astonishing mass of rock is the largest inshore reef in Australia, being an incredible 80km long.  It covers an area of over 270 square kilometres. By comparison, this is roughly the same area as Taipei City in Taiwan, home to over two million people... Montgomery Reef, home to zero people.

Montgomery Reef was named after Andrew Montgomery. He was ship's surgeon on HMS Mermaid, captained by explorer Phillip Parker King in 1821.
Definitely worth seeing if you can get out here. The "full Monty" is an incredible spectacle to behold.

First day at sea - is that a ghost ship off the port bow in the Kimberleys ?

It's sunset and the light is fading fast.  I'm standing on the deck of the ultra modern, hi tech Oceanic Discoverer. We have just left tropical Broome on the West Coast of Australia on a ten day cruise. Is it my imagination, or do I see a ghost ship off the port bow ?
Perhaps I had a welcome drink too many when boarding.  Yet I do recall that the famous explorer and adventurer Phillip Parker King travelled this way in 1821.  His vessel was the HMS Mermaid.  Only 18 metres in length, the brave captain and crew must have endured primitive conditions in their single masted rigged cutter.
Compare this with the OD, or Coral Discoverer as it is now known in 2015.  Equipped with every conceivable modern navigational device, it carries 72  passengers on four decks of luxury. An efficient crew of 25 are helping make our voyage as comfortable as possible.
In the next few days, we will follow in the steps of the intrepid Parker King. I'm looking forward to seeing the locations he discovered.