All on board National Geographic Orion have been waiting excitedly to view the beautiful twin falls on the King George River! We boarded Zodiacs and took a lovely early afternoon cruise along the Warton sandstone cliffs of the King George River to the falls themselves. Along the way, there were plenty of birds, reptiles, and also beautiful scenery. Once at the falls, we delighted in dunking the bow of our Zodiacs under the waterfalls, getting everyone on the bow soaking wet! This is our first foray into the Kimberley and what a wonderful way to experience these magnificent waterfalls!
7/25/2024
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National Geographic Orion
Swift Bay
We arrived at Swift Bay where most of us went on a fabulous helicopter ride over the Mitchell Plateau. The whole trip took two hours including a walk at Mitchell Falls. The little bay we started from slowly filled with water and the tide was so fast that it rose more than one meter per hour. Alternatively, our expedition team took those on a Zodiac cruise who opted to stay on the ground. When we returned, the scenery looked entirely different. After lunch we had another exciting tour, this time to a Wandjina art site. We admired a long gallery of ancestral spirits, some three meters long, as well as a variety of animals, which are significant to the local Aboriginal people. This is evidence that hunting and gathering was practiced thousands of years ago and is documented in art. The ship set off towards Darwin and we enjoyed an excellent presentation by Brad Siviour about the crocodiles we had come so close to yesterday. The day concluded with our favorite drink during cocktail hour while we witnessed another red sky sunset.