Cable Beach Caravan Park is well located to access the beach and there is a very good town bus service with a stop at the front of the Park.
Thursday we decided to go for a walk and check out the beach etc. Cable Beach is lovely and there are two very well positioned restaurants and bars to view the famous Cable Beach sunset.
Friday was our first day to hit the beach and soak up the rays. I wish I had talked a pic of us riding to the beach, I can't believe I didn't, but anyhow we had our beach chairs strapped to our backs, beach bags in the carry baskets and beach hats for helmets( I know very naughty no one wears a helmet around here). There is such a vast difference between the tides and we picked the tide when it was just past low so it was coming in, this meant that if you wanted a short walk to the water you would be moving back up the beach away from the incoming tide constantly. It is safe to swim you just have to watch out for the occasional shark, croc and stingers. They actually have a sign up when the last time anyone was stung and it was in April, so I figured what the hec and ventured for a swim. The sand is like fine white to grey silt and it clouds the water so you can't see the bottom so my swim was a short one.
Mez doing it tough on the beach.
Saturday was a big day as we had booked a tour which was to last from 5.30 pickup to 5pm drop off.
We took a while to decide to do this tour as it is very expensive but at the end of the day you can understand why it cost as the logistics and the set up throughout the tour was amazing. The tour was called the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures. They pick you up in one of those big 4x4 trucks 
and we head up a 200km stretch of road that is mostly dirt and very rough.
There is only one way up to Cape Leveque which is a stepping stone to see the Horizontal Falls. Along the way we stopped for a cuppa at Beagle Bay and we visited a church decorated with shells.
Back in the truck and off to the Cape for breakfast. This a beautiful remote part of Australia, with pristine beaches and very rugged coastline. We had a good look around and of course took a million photos.
This place has amazing rock formations and it was the site chosen to shoot the QANTAS add 'I still call Australia home' - thus the reason for the pose!!
Next stop was a small community called One Arm Point and the hatchery that is operated there. This is where you can hand feed the Barra and see unusual giant clams and other crustaceans.
This was the smaller one that I fed, they give you a shock because they watch you for a while and then pounce on the fish in your hand so quickly that you miss the shot and all you have left is the site below.
Our seaplane - haven't been on one of these before so a little apprehensive. The pilot went through the usual briefing before telling us where to sit. And yes you guessed it Mez and myself were the first two on so we were up front.
Not the most glamorous of shots but yep the co-pilot and had to wear the headphones etc and sit on top of the controls - what a view.
The takeoff.
We landed in Talbot Bay and the wonderful setup from which to see the falls. In the middle of nowhere there is a floating restaurant, accommodation and all the toys that you need to acces the falls with such as jet skies, small helicopters and the fast 500hp boats which we used to see the falls.
The people who work this station on the water, all young, work for 12 days and have 3 off or 13 days and have 2 off and they live out here when working. The falls are very dependant on the right tides and they are not operational in the wet season.
Grilled Barra lunch was first up and then we got to feed and swim with some of the locals, below.
These not so tiny creatures of the sea are called Tawny Sharks, not dangerous like the great white but all the same to me a shark is a shark.
Feeding frenzy thank god the cage wall was strong.
The water rushes through this gap they call the wide gap(very original) and drops to a lower level before passing through the narrow gap and dropping again. The pic doesn't show the different level very well but very visible when in the boat.
The narrow gap shows the different levels better. It was heaps of fun flying through these gaps and feeling the surge of powerful water pushing you about. There were also very wide whirlpools all around to be avoided.
Heading through the small gap and just about to drop to the lower level of water, so much fun.
Heading home to the sunset at Cable Beach, just getting ready for takeoff.
One last look at the falls from the air.
Flying over the archipelago as the sun goes down, just beautiful.
We both had a turn at feeding the Barra.
Now it was time for the real fun to begin and we were taken just down the road to the 'airstrip' - a dirt track, to catch the seaplane to the falls.
We flew over the Buccaneer Archipelago,thousands of uninhabited islands a spectacular site.
One of them will let you pat him.
After lunch we were taken for a look around the area by the fast boat and then off to view the falls. The falls weren't the most spectacular today as the tide was not high but all the same it was amazing to fly through the small openings in the rock faces and feel the drop to a new level of water. I was sceptical at first thinking they would be just fancy Rapids but they are different to Rapids in that the top water in Rapids is the only water moving at high speeds as with the falls all the water from the surface to the bottom moves through the opening at a rate of millions of litres per second to a lower level.
And again we scored the best seat in the boat sitting in the very front, so taking pics was the best with no one blocking your view. Again just lucky.
It was a long day but time did pass quickly as you were on the go all the time.
Broome to be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment