Blown apart gulf – Joseph Bonaparte Gulf

We nervously headed out the Berkely at 8pm in the dark. The moon was not expected up for another few hours and Simon fought to hold our course in the dark against the cross currents just out the river. We knew we were going to cross the worst sandbanks about 1nm out and were literally sweating on there being enough water. We breezed over in the last hour of the tide without hiccup and set a course for Darwin.

We had varied wind – some good, light and calm and sailed, motor sailed and just motored our way across the gulf. On the last night out we got hit with a particulrly nasty storm. I was on watch and when I saw lightening hitting the water up ahead I thought it was time to wake Simon up. I had already tried to get him to shorten our sail without success so when he came up and said, “Shit it’s black” I suspected we were in for trouble. We had no time to reef the main as within seconds we were hit, the wind going from calm to 45knots instantly. We heeled right over and we swung into battle stations. Si at the helm, me battening down, all the while our path being lit up by lightening bolts. The thunder was deafening, the wind was tossing us around like a rag doll and then the rain starting sheeting down. The worst was over in 30 mins and the fear receded to the back of my mind like a distant scene from a movie and with my eyes heavy we carried on Darwin bound.

We anchored the next night before Darwin waiting for Barra B to sail the last leg in company. As it turned out they were held up in another storm and we only caught sight of them heading into Darwin. Chatting on the VHF, a voice came up calling Barramanda. That’s me I thought and replied, “this is Barramanda go ahead”. I was promptly advised, “this is the Australian Navy, please change to another frequency Barramanda”. Looks like the nickname is going to well and truly stick around now, even the Navy is onto me.

Oh well, Darwin here we are! First stop the vet this afternoon for Baby T.

Berkley River – early November

We left King George early the following morning hoping to get to the Berkely with some light and favourable tide. This was now the only river not yet visited. While the entrance is littered with sand banks, the rolling swell out the front motivated us to enter on the rising tide – after sunset. We agreed on turning around if the sounder got to 2.8mtrs (leaving 60cm under the hull) but we both could feel the pull of calm water and a good nights sleep so we ploughed on bumping over the banks with the swell and finally dropping into deep water at the mouth. Phew! Now all we had to do was find an anchorage in the dark… we were both grateful for a quiet beer once we anchored. The next morning at low we had a dinghy recon to check out our exit path – we were now on falling tides and had better find a deeper exit path or we’ll be here until December!


While the Berkely was stunning, by this stage I was keen to just make it back out the river and head to the big smoke, the vet, people, shops and supplies! The creeks were mostly stagnant, more red cliffs and mangroves. Sorry… I just couldn’t summon any real excitement at being here. 14 weeks and I’m all Kimberlied out.

Pedal to metal – Eastward bound

We had not traveled thru Scott Straight on the way over as the tides were bad and let’s face it the intricate path through reefs was not enticing. Robbie showed us on the chart his rock – one he had hit on a previous trip and we thought who better to follow than someone who had up close info on where the reefs are! We were pushing hard to keep up with Barra B’s freshly cleaned props, even with a good breeze!

We stopped at Cape Bougaineville with Barra B then opted for the slower tourist route home and farewelled them on their way to the King George early the next morning. We meanwhile hot tailed it to Freshwater Bay for a final feast of monster sized oysters. A kiwi thru and thru even Simon admitted, “they think bluff oysters are big!”

We weaved back past middle rock, overnighting at Sir Graham Moore Island before catching the tide to the entrance of the King George River around the infamous Cape Londonderry. Again up at sunrise, to bed at sunset.

Murringingi – early November

Despite it being stinger season, in croc territory and having seen heaps of huge sharks – Si and Corrie thought it would be a good idea to get in the water and clean the props before heading further East. There’s a lawn growing on the side of our boat and who knows what else is under the hull. Si donned his full length thermals – top and bottom and thick wool socks before jumping in. I paced the decks on lookout with a speargun in hand. Luckily both boats were cleaned and the mad divers back aboard without mishap. It was another early morning departure as we still have a lot of miles to cover.

Crystal Beach – early November

In company with Barra B we headed to York Sound where we explored the many little coves and creeks. Upon one beach we found cliff faces filled with small caverns of crystals. Some had washed up on the beach as well and Simon picked up a few. I think this was a highlight for him as I often catch him opening his precious pouch and gazing at his little hoard of crsytals. Interestingly every one is six sided… mmm nature is an incredible force.

Si was hoping to wangle another ten bucks from my dad on the Wallabies All Blacks game and hoisted his much loved, well used NZ flag in support for his team… it was also an attempt to get a rise from our Aussie neighbours.

Rainforest Ravine – beginnng November – over 12 weeks out

We’ve now been out for over 12 weeks and haven’t yet starved to death! We are now homeward (???) bound stopping and exploring along the way. We’ve set aside an emergency starvation pack in case food stores get too low. It includes delicacies such as Spam and tinned cauliflower – I’m guessing they’ll become delicacies if your hungry enough! We’ve kept a list of supplies which now has more scribbles than ticks. Theo’s keeping and eye on the log and counting down the miles to Darwin!

Our first stop on the trip back east to Darwin was Rainforest Ravine. In the midst of all the hot red cliffs and dry landscape, up a ravine we found a lush tropical oasis with fresh water, lush ferns, dense tree canopy and zillions of birds. Desperate for a swim I jumped straight in… to the 4 inches of water that is and lay down in the cool running stream. Ahh… relief from the heat!

Boongaree Island – mid to late October

We caught up with Barra B again and headed down to Boongaree Island to explore, fish and crab. This was uncharted territory not covered in any guides. To celebrate our wedding anniversary Robbie, Corrie and Ken from Barra B joined us for dinner. They brought with them some huge alfoil wrapped gifts decorated with little foil flowers! We opened them to find a whole celery, a bag of fruit and veg and a cask of wine! After weeks and weeks with no fresh food this was a real treat – thanks guys!

Unfortunately Ken got some bad news and had to travel back to Melbourne. A few sat phone calls later a rendevous was tee’d up. A helicopter came out to one of the deserted islands to pick him up – a private charter for the cool sum of $6k... the life of the rich and famous dairy farmers! We all headed over in the Barra B boats to say farewell. There was more than one sore head after the farewell party the night before!



We went along with Barra B crabbing and I learned how to tie a crab properly – invaluable life skills. We cooked them up later and ate some straight out of the cooker – delicious. We have a box in Barra B’s freezer with our name on it and I’m thinking Dad will love them when he comes to Darwin. I also got to go and watch the fishing at night, suited up in boots and overalls to guard against the jellies that are out in force now. These days were loads of fun with something happening all the time – fishing, crabbing, dinner, beers and traveling in convoy to the next hot spot.

We cruised around Boongaree with Barra B showing us all the top fishing spots, good anchorages and reefs and shoals to avoid. Sorry no maps – this is all top secret info. With Barra Ken gone we were now finding our own way with the fishing… and not doing too badly. Unfortunately while trying to land a Barra Simon became entangled with the lure and copped a treble hook through the side of his hand. While the wound was fresh we tried to get the barb right through, me pushing down on the exit puncture with Simon trying to push to hook in. It was quite sickening and without any appropriate surgical tools we headed back to the boat to operate. I was a bit nervous at using cutters on the hook and were relieved to see Robbie and Corrie returning to Barra B. We headed straight over to find Robbie had just been stung on the hand by a box jelly fish. He pushed through the pain of his own injury and pulled out his surgical gear – engine room pliers and cutters – sterilized with metho of course. Here’s the video of the surgery – best not to be watched before eating.

All fixed up we headed back out and Simon caught another Barra. Damn – he’s now well ahead of me in the fishing comp.

We are now getting quite low on diesel and will not make it back to Darwin on current stores. To save going into West Bay for fuel, Barra B kindly offered for us to raft up and get 200ltrs of fuel from them. What a relief! About the same time our eutectic freezer packed up slowly releasing all it’s gas. With our freezer full of our bags limits of Barra, Mangrove Jack, Threadfin, Fingermark and Cod we are hoping the electric freezer can keep up the pace until we get to Darwin.

Hunter River – mid October

Well the build up to cyclone season seems to have started. The temps and humidity has gone thru the roof and clouds build up on the horizon most afternoons. Last night we had an electrical storm pass over us with torrential rain and strong winds. It lasted about an hour or so but for a few minutes all hell broke loose as the worst passed over. The wind was howling, the wind generator screaming with gusts over 40knots. Before we knew it the storm passed and we were back in bed enjoying the cool… that’s if you call 32 degrees cool at 4am??? I see this as a sign that cyclone season is arriving and are keen to start making tracks.


The Hunter River is meant to be one of the prettiest areas although unfortunately it was blowing 20knots when we entered the river shrouding the steep cliffs with smoke from hopefully distant bush fires. Simon has headed upstream for a spot of fishing, practicing all he’s learnt from Barra Ken. It’s seems his intensive training paid off as he hauled in a 106cm Barra. The fight was not without a struggle, the Barra losing his life to huge beautiful fillets in our freezer, us less one landing net and 2 holes in the inflatable dinghy and a gash in Simons foot. Si insists it was well worth it to be part of the metre club.

Prince Frederick Harbour – early to mid october

We had another good sail around to Prince Frederick Harbour conserving our precious store of fuel. En route we managed to talk to Barra B on the VHF and agreed to meet up at Naturalist Island – yeah – company! Barra Ken was keen for a spot of fishing so out we headed collecting live bait and hauling in the fish.

We couldn’t refuse the offer to follow Barra B around Prince Frederick Harbour. We were enjoying their company, having heaps of fun fishing and we were visiting places in the Kimberlies where no one else goes. Places like the Roe River described in our guide as dangerous and other uncharted creeks and bays – what a great opportunity to see this picturesque harbour. Ken also spoke of top secret fishing spots where Barramundi and crocs were prolific.



Our life became days of catching the tide from bay to creek, up before dawn chasing Barra, long hot afternoons in the sun burning our buts on the aluminium dinghy, cold beers in the afternoon with a shared meal on Thyme or Barra B. Ken or Corrie would surprise us on some trips with “lollies” – pulling out a bag of green apples or an orange each. After not seeing fresh fruit for weeks and weeks they tasted like heaven!

The fish didn’t disappoint and we hauled in Barra, Mangrove Jack, Fingermark (Tropical snapper), a real Threadfin Salmon, Cod, Javelin fish and unfortunately many cat fish. Simon got spiked by one of the cat fish and his hand painfully swelled up – it didn’t slow down his fishing though! Ken has an insatiable appetite for fishing and his skill was rubbing off on us. We’ve caught more fish – and I’m talking big fish, than we ever have in our life. I’ve now landed 5 Barra’s and while we couldn’t keep them all we have frozen our bag limits.

Barra are an elusive fish to catch and while they don’t taste as good as fingermark (ok ok – it’s just my personal opinion) once you’ve caught one you just want to see more jump out of the water on the end of your line! I’m living in the same dirty bait and mud stained clothes which no amount of scrubbing can clean, I’ve been eaten by sand flies, can clean and gut my fish and bait my hook and deliver a death blow to the head with a club within seconds of landing it… who am I??? The guys on Barra B call me BarraManda.

Here's a chance shot I managed to get of Barra Ken in action early one morning.

Coronation Island – early October

People call the Kimberlies the last frontier and I can see why – anything is possible here. I had read Brolgas can sometimes be seen on Coronation Island so we decided this would be our next stop. I pulled out the Bird book and en route read to Simon all their features, habitats and calls etc to help us in finding some. He thought it was hilarious – “shh, shh”, he said as we approached our anchorage, “I’m listening for a cacophony of staccato whooping and hooting…ha ha… as if”! As we approached the island I could see 3 tall figures walking on the beach. On closer inspection with the binos they turned out to be Brolgas of all things. I spent all afternoon stalking them around the bay from a safe distance after initially scaring off the 3 on the beach. By remaining still I even spied one playing while hunting, he was jumping up and down with wings spread and throwing what appeared to be food. It was an amazing sight… anything is possible in the Kimberlies!

Careening Bay – early October

After reading all the shipwreck and early discovery books we traded with Barra B I was keen to stop at Careening Bay where the ship ‘Mermaid’ careened to carry out repairs in the 1800’s while surveying the area. While here they carved the ships name into a Boab tree that still remains today. They must have been brave as it is still a tough place even with all our mod cons – and funnily enough heaps of the sea area is still unsurveyed today.

We are still experiencing huge tides and needed 2 lengths of rope to anchor to dinghy for a 30minute stop! Seeing a sand beach instead of mud banks and crocs, Sloop expressed more than a passing interest in going ashore and insisted that he too must see the mermaid Boab.




On the supply front all is going well although dried beans are making a frequent appearance in our meals. I’m dying to talk to my parents and let them know I’m ok but I can’t even get out on the HF radio. Theo is not doing so well having relapsed into not eating again. His coat is all rough and dull and he is little more the skin and bone. In desperation we’re going to try human laxative in small doses and see if that helps.

We’re thinking of heading around to Prince Frederick Harbour where our friends on Barra B will probably be – looking forward to the company.

St George Basin – early October

We’ve left the Prince Regent River and are now slowly heading back to Darwin. There are heaps of places we never visited on the way round and other favourites we want to return to. I tried to get some better shots of the magnificent St George Basin on the way out. The camera simply does not do this awesome scenery justice.



After our easy trip in we were lulled into a false sense of security for the passage past Strong Tide Pt and Whirlpool Pass. This time being mid run of the biggest spring tide we felt the full force. Old Thyme got up to over 10knots and kept Simon on his toes at the helm. At some points our bow was pointing nearly at right angle to our true direction of travel before being spun around to the opposite angle as were spat out of St George Basin. It was great fun – the most action I’ve seen in weeks! Hard to capture in photos – but here’s my best.

Prince Regent River – Kings Cascades - Beginning October

Despite being over half way thru our fuel, how could we come all the way to the Prince Regent River and not visit the highlight – Kings Cascades? The first day we attempted to get up stream to the falls there was not enough water to cross the sandbanks so we occupied ourselves with some gardening, rope mat making and of course Barra fishing to await the bigger tide tomorrow. Simon is becoming more successful at Barra fishing now and the freezer is starting to fill up for the wet season. Yes, that is a moustache on Simons face… his new look apparently???




The next day, again after many toilet stops we headed up to see Kings Cascades riding the big spring tide. It went without a hitch and we had just enough water to get into the basin and anchor right in front of the falls. We think there must be bad fires nearby as visibility today is really bad – which explains the haze in all the pics. Being a scorcher Simon wasted no time jumping under the falls for a cool down.

We hiked to the top for a swim in the lagoon where the water was so clean and clear. Unfortunately we could only stay for a quick stop as we needed to catch the falling tide back out to avoid being stranded the night on a sand bank. The swim in cool water made it well worthwhile!

Prince Regent River – Beginning October (8 weeks out – seen 2 boats!)

Even though Spring tides had not yet arrived we decided to brave entering the Prince Regent River and were pleasantly surprised by deep water all the way in with just a few reefs to avoid. We found a nice spot to anchor out of the current with plans of barra fishing and exploring.

The following morning bright and early we headed off in the dinghy for the 2mile trip up Camp Creek. We had heard there was fresh water pools and we were dying for a cool down. The temps here have reached new heights – everything is hot – even the soap is warm when you shower, your water bottle is like drinking tea and you could almost fry an egg on the deck! I’ve taken to drinking iced tea which I have to double stubby holder to try and keep cool as only minutes out of the fridge it tastes warm. The cats are now being cooled by a sophisticated method we call the “wet belly cool down”. We wet the skin and fur in between their hind legs under the guise of a pat– apparently the best area for cooling and then sit them somewhere shady with a breeze if possible. Seems to work so far.

After arriving at the rockbar, we quickly tied the dinghy safely – now experts with rockbars and large tides and hiked off along the creek. It was a beautiful walk alongside the creek and around beautiful freshwater lagoons. Oh, I should mention Simon caught a huge Barra just before tying up which we lost while trying to land without a net. Damn Barra!

Not happy with a swim in the low lying lagoons we trudged up past the first waterfall convinced there would be a better pool up the top. Our efforts paid off and with the thermometer saying 35.6 degrees it didn’t take much convincing to dive into the pool at the upper falls.

St George Basin – end of September

With the last good tide for a week we headed off for St George Basin– believe it or not under sail! A combination of the realization that we don’t have enough fuel to get back and now we’ve turned around we have some favourable breeze motivated us. We had a fantastic sail in no small part thanks to the current as we passed headlands with names like Whirlpool Pass and Strong Tide Passage 7 knots in the light winds was easy done.

St George Basin is an awesome sight by boat, you sail snug against dramatic red cliffs in water over 70mtres deep. Once you round the last headland, Strong Tide Passage the bay opens up with the imposing Mt Waterloo and Mt Trafalgar to the north, steep knobby red cliff islands and mangrove and sand fringed bays and coves. Even with the visibility so low on the day we came in it was an awe inspiring sight made all the more magical heeled over under full sail in Thyme.

The whole area is unsurveyed and very deep and the first day it got to the stage where 20mtrs was looking good for the night as the sun was rapidly falling. Sloop always up for a challenge looked over the guides trying to find a spot. Finally I remember a spot Barra Ken had mentioned, so we headed to the South Eastern side of St Andrews Island and finally dropped anchor between two imposing cliffs in a small quickly shoaling bay to watch the setting sun light up the country red and orange.

My photos do not do St George Basin justice. The scenery is so huge and overpowering, surrounding the boat, it was really hard to capture the enormity of it. Hopefully on the way back out visibility has cleared and I can get some better shots.

Hanover Bay – late September

We decided to head past our turn around point a little bit and spend a few days exploring Hanover Sound. The prospect of steep gorges, white beaches, clear water, good fishing and spring fed creeks was too tempting. The bay lived up to it’s reputation and was well worth the visit. While there was fresh water the terrain was a little flat and neither of us fancied sharing a swim with a croc. After seeing how far the crocs ventured up the rocks in the Mitchell I was only game to splash some water over my head.

We’ve now given up all hope of there being human life form in the Kimberlies as we’ve not yet spotted another boat! Surely in the Prince Regent River, our next stop – the hot spot of the Kimberlies we’ll see some people????

Desfonatines Island – late Septmber

We rushed past York Sound keen to get to our turn around point of the Prince Regent River knowing we could explore this area on our return trip. We spent a night a Desfontaines Island still in crystal clear water, white sand and coral.

Our fishing gear is starting to run very low so we spent the trip painting old lures with sparkley nail varnish and salvaging what hooks we could find to use.

Bigge Island – late September

Keeping on the outside islands we headed south west of Montague sound stopping at Bigge Island. Someone had mentioned there was great aboriginal rock art and some skulls in a cave – this was attracted Simon’s attention and despite a NW seabreeze blowing we stopped for a look. It was a gorgeous spot, crystal clear water, a small white sand cove surrounded by sculptured rocks leading up one side of the bay were small caves where we found the rock art.

We found the skull cave – very eerie. Si's hounding me to post photos of it but I'm not sure it would be right...

Montague Sound – late September

With time marching on and fuel dwindling we departed in the dark the following morning to catch the tide around to Montague Sound. We were a teeny bit late for the tide and after weeks in calm waters I unusually got quite queasy as we bumped and jumped through the washing machine of Cape Voltaire. I was relieved when we finally arrived at East Montalivet Island and my stomach settled down. It was so nice to be in clear blue water, offshore breezes, reef and white sand that we ended up staying 2 days.

We’ve now been out 7 weeks and could count on one hand the amount of people we’ve spoken too. Food stores are still going well – Simon just baked some of the most fluffy cheese and olive bread rolls for lunch – Golden Fingers has still got the touch! The only worry is Theo. He’s been lethargic, anti social (very out of character), he’s not been eating or drinking, nor going to the bathroom. I’m really worried as he doesn’t carry much weight and only after a few days he’s skin and bones. He had better start eating soon! I miss my family and friends a great deal, all the more as we have no communication at all. Most days reception is so poor we can’t even get the news on the HF radio… oh what I’d do for sat phone right now!

Walmsley Bay and North – “Barra B” – Mid Sepetmber

As we were coming out the river (successfully although a bit of a hike against the tide) a fishing boat we had chatted to days earlier called us up and asked if we wanted to travel with them further north from the Mitchell River. We were dead keen for some company and with a name like Barra B they must know a thing about catching Barra. We anchored in a nice bay a bit further north and Ken took us out in his big aluminium fast tender for some fishing. These guys definitely knew what they were doing – we caught more fish in 2 days under Ken’s guidance than we had in the last week! I’m still recovering from when he threw my HUGE Trevally over the side, despite Robbie and Corrie (also on Barra B) asking why I’d want to keep a dirty Trevally anyway? I guess that’s what happens once your used to Barra…. I wouldn’t know…



Robbie had us over for a huge rump and fresh veges for dinner on Barra B and we shared a few brews and tall tales. Not sure what to take for dinner I made a lentil salad – Robbie and Corrie were very amused during dinner saying, “Quick, take my photo, I’m eating lentils”! The company was great and we enjoyed a good laugh. We learnt heaps from Ken, who we’ve nick named “Barra Ken” and we were even lucky enough to watch him in action catching a gigantic Barra. Still chasing the elusive fish – here’s a pitcture of the one Simon caught, trust me, it’s not taken from the back deck of Barra B, it’s definitely not just come out of their chiller and it was honesty not just caught that day by professionals – promise. I can most definitely assure you that it was so big when I was asked to hold it, it almost took me down!

What’s that thing on Simon’s face I hear you ask. Well I’m not sure – but I hope it washes off soon!

We were sad to farewell Barra B but will hopefully catch them around in Prince Frederick Harbour for some more laughs. In the meantime we’ve scored a great book swap with Barra B and are stocked up for weeks of good reading.