King George River, Western Australia

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Oceania 2025
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Today marked the last expedition day of the Australian segment of our cruise and it was a grand one. In this case, we visited the King George River and “waterfalls.” Why the quotes? It’s because while they are the highest twin falls in Australia at 250 feet in height, we are at the end of the dry season and they are barely a trickle at this point. I’m including a picture that I borrowed from the Internet to give you a sense of just how powerful these falls can be. The source of the water is the Drysdale River which actually experiences quite a descent (709 feet over a course of 70 miles as it passes through the national park of the same name. Even without the falls, the 7.5 mile Zodiac trip from the mouth of the river at Koolama Bay to the falls was truly beautiful. As we went along, the high cliffs and sandy, mangrove strewn beaches gave way to narrower and narrower passages. The multi-layered sandstone cliffs were just amazing along with the intricate patterns of erosion in the soft stone. We even had a special treat — some of the crew were waiting with champagne in one of the Zodiacs. Quite a genteel way to enjoy nature. So now we are off to Darwin where we are going to spend 1.5 days. About half of the passengers will be leaving us here; not sure how many will be joining. From there, we are off to Indonesia!

Heading into the King George River canyon.
And yes, there are crocodiles here too. They like to hang on on the sandy, mangrove filled beaches that periodically arose between the cliffs.
It’s amazing to consider the scale of these cliffs next to the Zodiacs. Imagine the forces that created these!
The “pancaked” sandstone was really striking. It doesn’t look very stable, but apparently it is.
After about 7 miles, the river turns into a Y. Both sides theoretically have waterfalls.
This is how it looks during the rainy season (photo borrowed from the Internet)
This is how it looked when we were there. Yeah, that gray area; that’s where the water is supposed to be.
No, wait! There is water coming down-ish.
Luckily we could drown our sorrows with the champagne that the ship thoughtfully sent down the canyon to be with us.
Cheers!
We started making our way back up the canyon.
So much to look at. I just love the erosion patterns on the rock faces.
We even saw a Pacific Reef Heron. Not sure what he is eating down there, but he certainly didn’t have any competition.
This entry was posted in Australia, Cruising, Travel, West Australia
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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