The beauty of Winyalkin Island
With some breeze to assist, we made our way east towards Winyalkin Island, passing Wollastin Island to the north before turning in and setting anchor between Palm Island and Winyalkin Island.
Once again, we were treated to a completely different landscape – something the Kimberley is amazing for – so much variation across the area that you are always treated to a surprise when you get to a new location.
We had a quick fish and dinghy explore that afternoon and not dissimilar to Cape Pond we were treated to a maze of rock formations, waterways and wildlife with birdlife everywhere. You could easily have got lost in the area and we were constantly admiring different parts of the landscape. The area was dotted with livistonia palms as well, and they were in all sorts of places, most notably standing tall on top of the escarpments.
This area is well known for its art and we were keen to take a good look around. We were in the grip of a heatwave with temperatures nudging 40 degrees during the day and uncomfortable high twenties during the night. Yampi Sound had topped out at 41.6 degrees – which is bloody hot for the end of August!
Armed with sun protection, extra water and our usual tramping gear we headed off in search of a particular painting located at the end of a large creek. Known as the ‘Four Men in a Canoe’ it is one of the oldest paintings in the area and we were keen to find it!
We were motoring down a large creek with eyes and ears open – both for crocs and for artwork. The artwork won over and we spotted a couple of large kangaroos painted on a rock wall from the dinghy and made a note to explore them on the way home. We were heading to the end of the creek and so needed to time our run with the tide in order to get in and out.
Like all these waterways, the further down you go the more ‘croccy’ it becomes, with dark grren water that you can’t see into, the mangroves are more prevalent and an almost eerie sense of quiet. We arrived at the rock bar, which signalled end of the road and after securing the dinghies starting clambering along the side of the gorge, knowing that the painting was located somewhere a bit further upstream what was now a dry creek bed.
Bingo! We found the art – the canoe and also a really big wall of ‘Bradshaw’ or ‘Gwion Gwion’ paintings. These painting generally predate the aboriginal art and have a real African style to them. I have read a lot about them over the years so it was a real treat to see such a big gallery in the one spot.
After taking it in we continued to walk up the watercourse until we found some freshwater. We never swim in the lower pools so walked a little further until we found a deep tree lined billabong. After some to and fro we decided not to swim in it and instead sat in the shade and had some refreshments. We were entertained by the local mangrove jack who were swimming past oblivious to our presence.
We returned to the dinghies, which were still where we left them – albeit a bit higher and then set off back up the creek. We checked out the kangaroo paintings we had found, a closer inspection also revealed dugong and handprints before heading off down a small side creek. It was a tight fit and we were starting to question when suddenly a big barra swam out and right up behind the boat, just following us for about thirty seconds. There was a mad scramble to get a lure on but to no avail!
We continued on, laughing about the barra until we came to a small clearing with a big overhang and we were rewarded with a large kangaroo drawing on the roof.
It was really hot but we had one last place to explore – this one for the ‘Five men in a Canoe’ painting, which is off another side creek but further up away from the water. We were all a bit knackered but decided we should do it and we were so glad we did. Not only did we find the canoe painting, but we were treated to a walk through of a gorge area that was literally filled with art, whole walls of all different types from Bradshaw to more wandjina style. Totally amazing and around every corner were more middens and more art, all in the cool shade of a giant gorge area with views out across the water. You could easily see why this was a meeting place and it was a fantastic few hours spent before we returned home and collapsed!
Early the next morning we were keen to check out a beach around the corner at an island aptly named, Unnamed Island. We were off early in order to avoid the heat and we had mirror like conditions as we took Bob around the corner to the beach. We were rewarded with a stunning beach that was overlooked by giant sandstone outcrops, a large cave down in one corner and beautiful wide sandy beach. We carefully took a cooling swim after a climb up to the top to get some drone footage. We rated it as the best beach yet – truly magnificent.
A couple of days later we returned with Ted and Tina and spent the morning chilling, exploring and getting wet – right on the edge! There was some coral reef there as well which meant a lot of treasure on the beach with shells and fossils.
Soon it was time to leave but this area had definitely been a highlight.