Berkeley River
After a few days of exploring Eric Island, we were ready to move up to the Berkeley River, which was literally only just around the corner. We wouldn’t be sad to see the back of the local sandfly population but had enjoyed the different landscapes that this little area had offered us.
The trickiest part of the Berkeley River was actually getting into it, as it has a myriad of sandbars across the entrance that change every year dependent on how much water is coming out in the wet season. We had been given some waypoints by some friends who had crossed about 4 weeks earlier and so now it was just a case of having enough water to pick our way across the bar.
With ‘On the Double’ leading the way we slowly poked our way in and at one stage had less than a metre under the keel as we weaved across the banks trying to find the deeper channels. Of course, in this part of the world the water is so dirty that it is hard to pick up any visual references as to the depth – other than where waves are breaking.
With the Berkeley Resort off to our right we finally slipped into the actual river and made anchor just inside the river mouth. Tomorrow morning Ted and Tina had some family flying in via floatplane from Kununurra and they would be landing right beside us. The exciting news was that they were also bringing us a couple of bags of goodies – spinach, lettuce. tomatoes, chocolate and red wine!
There were plenty of sandflies for company at the river mouth so once Andrew and Vicki had landed and we had helped transfer them and all the goodies to ‘On the Double’ we pulled anchor and headed upstream towards the very top of the river, to a place known as the Amphitheatre, where we would be free of the mangroves and the midges and could start exploring.
It was 12nm to our destination and the further upstream we got the higher the cliffs either side got until we were completely surrounded once more by rugged Kimberley sandstone. We arrived at the Amphitheatre, so named as it is a small inlet (200metres wide) that has a semi-circular cliff around it, but with a rock ledge that you could walk around. In and after the wet it also had a nice big waterfall for cooling off – unfortunately for us it was bone dry!
The next few days were spent exploring this end of the river and we did find a permanent spring with a small waterfall in which we could cool off. There was also some water up past where the final rock bar sat, the location where the salt water and the freshwater meet and the usual clumps of pandanus and Kimberley foliage.
But man, it was hot, in fact it was so oppressive that we would go out exploring at 6.30am and be back on the boat by 1000am. We would then hide out on the boat in the shade until about 3.30pm when we would go exploring or fishing. We were getting a full day of sunlight and thankfully we had our window shades, but the boat was still copping it, and we didn’t always get the breeze as the boat would swing with the tide in the river and so sometimes, we were side on to the breeze.
After a couple of days, we moved down around the corner to a narrower part of the gorge and there we would have shade by 1430 in afternoon and that did relieve it a little bit. It also allowed us to explore a few other areas, and we fished a couple of small gorges where we caught mangrove jack, and the other guys snagged a small barra.
Our next move was back down to Casuarina Creek, where another creek/watercourse runs off the main river with another dry waterfall (note to self – come back just after the wet!) and some good walking to find waterholes and art.
We had an adventurous day when we visited what we thought was ‘Pauls Creek’, however we actually went to a different creek and after a lot of climbing, bouldering and sweating realised there was no waterhole and returned to our dinghies. However, the tide had receded, and this creek had dried out, so Bob and Single File were sitting on the mud. There was no way we were going anywhere and so this led to a five-hour camp under a shady tree trying to escape the heat. Fortunately, there was a good breeze otherwise it would have been pretty unbearable.
As soon as the dinghies lifted fee of the mud, we pulled them in and got ready to make our escape form the creek. However, as we were departing, we got a rather nasty surprise when two crocs suddenly leapt out of the water having a bit of a wrestle literally 20metres in front of us. We were kind of snookered as the creek was only about 15metres wide, rock face on one side and mangrove on the other; and we weren’t even sure if there was enough water for us to leave.
After a quick circle on the spot, we made the decision to gun it out of the creek and so we did, but as we drew level one of the crocs was swimming alongside us, just under the water - all a little unnerving! Soon we were back in the river and heading to the boats, but our adrenalin was still pumping from those crocs!
The next day we found the real ‘Pauls Creek’ and it had a well-worn path to a lovely little waterfall and swimming hole! Doh!
The hot weather was taking its toll on all of us, especially Andrew and Vicki who had flown in from Perth and so we decided it was time to head for Darwin, a distance of about 215nm.
The Berkeley had been great, but we knew it could be even better with some flowing water and moderate temperatures, so we put in on the agenda for a return trip at some point.
Leaving the Berkeley River would be the final departure for our Kimberley trip and for this season so there were some mixed feelings, but also plenty of reflection on the amazing places, people and adventures we had had this year.
