Horizontal Waterfalls

Jon says: - Let me take you along with 35 people looking for the thrill ride of their lives …..

Imagine the most beautiful water littered with 1000 islands standing strong yet humble against 1000’s of years of constant hammering from the elements. Think of 100 different shades of red, these are the colours that paint the battered landscape and cliffs you will see today. Scattered amongst the rugged cliff faces are secluded beaches that call your name like a long lost friend. You are now on the coastline of the amazing Kimberleys.

8m of tidal change and for the most part the surface is calm but underneath the current roars at up to 25km/hr trying to move in and out around these islands. Then imagine a gap between two immovable cliff faces no more than 30m wide with the mighty ocean trying to pry them apart with close to 1000 l/sec roaring through that small passage. Now you are at the Horizontal Waterfalls.

Picture this, 9 tonne of “state of the art” motor vessel constructed with one goal in mind…. 4 x 350hp V8 Yamaha outboards bolted on the back and a skipper that learnt to drive in the armed forces evading enemy fire. With a lazy cruising speed of 32kts (60km/h), she drinks 212 l/hr of fuel turning over at 4200rpm. We are onboard the MV Attitude which is so new that the paint is barely dry.

We approach the waterfalls with respect and awe, marvelling at the speed and volume of water flowing into the bay behind this narrow gap. The water level drops more than 1m into the bay as the tide rises faster than the water can force its way in. Then as the boat turns to face the falls the 4 engines roar like a lion into battle as the throttle hits the stops and 1400hp is unleashed. We surge ahead and the speed quickly hits 40kts (74km/h) as we leap into the falls, we bounce, we are forced sideways by the immense turbulence, there are screams of excitement, we drop suddenly and then we are ejected out the other side, what an amazing rush. We are now hurtling into the bay at 47kts (85km/h) when the skipper turns hard into full lock and the boat leans onto its side. Port side can touch the water while starboard side is requesting permission to enter Qantas’ flight path. The hull is clawing for traction as we buck and skip across the surface sideways while the topside engine fights with the rev limiter as the prop surges in and out of the water. The three driving engines spin us around 180 degrees in the blink of an eye as we launch back into the falls. This time we jump up the falls overpowering both gravity and the turbulent wall of water, more screaming, the boat bucks as we come back down, skips sideways, shudders, the engines roar un-relentlessly as we explode back out of the falls triumphantly…..

The crew have this mischievous grin like a teenager that has just taken their dads Ferrari for a joy ride and gotten away with it as they realise they have the best job on the planet. The passengers cheer and clap with great approval as they acknowledge they have just had the thrill ride of their lives.

The remaining day trip to and from the horizontal waterfalls took us through the beautiful Bucaneer Archipelago where we got to swim and relax on beaches, one with sand whiter than white haven bay in the whitsundays, weave in and out of islands that range from rocky outcrops from the water to cliff faced giants to tree topped beauties and even past working iron ore mines. We saw dolphins but no whales this trip. As we turned for home the soft afternoon sun brought the colours to life as we passed by the many islands back to our camp at Cape Leveque. What an amazing day to remember.

Kirsty says: - Jon can write all the posts from now....

One of the many secluded beaches we saw on our trip. Some were surrounded by rock like this one, others by plants.
Silica Beach on Hidden Island - whitest, softest, finest sand I have ever seen. Allan Bonds failed resort of the 1980's used to bring guests here for a champaign breakfast. We had chocolate cake & a swim......
The Horizontal Waterfalls. There are 2 passages like this, the 2nd is only 13m wide and too dangerous to drive through. You can see the level drop off on the right hand side of the pic. Hard to see but it drops over one meter.
MV Attitude. Count them, 4 - 350hp outboards. Makes you drool just thinking about it. The boat is worth a cool $770k and made in Brisbane by Woody marine.

Whirlpool passage. The surface looks like rapids over a rocky river bed, but this is just from the huge tidal movements - no rocks in sight. Its a place of extremes, the Kimberley....