Horizontal Falls and Dampier Peninsula

Our tour to the horizontal falls started with a 5am pick up to take us to the seaplane for our flight to the Falls. Landing at Talbot Bay (our first ever water landing) we were quickly whisked aboard high powered speed boats to the Falls because they were at their absolute best (according to the skipper).

It was quite exhilarating travelling through the gap as the force of the water is trying to push you back. There are 2 gaps - the one we went through was about 20 odd metres wide while the narrow gap is only 7 or 8 metres wide. Tourists are no longer permitted to traverse the narrow gap - I'm not sure if this is because of an accident several years ago, or whether it is because it is an area of cultural significance to the Aboriginals, or a combination of these things. As it was, the tour company were the only ones with permits to pass through the larger gap. There were zodiacs from a luxury cruise ship and they could only observe, not travel through.

After our several passes through the Falls, we came back for a cooked breakfast before taking another cruise around Talbot Bay. Back on the pontoon, after morning tea, there was a marine show where they feed some of the local fish - mainly tawny sharks. If you wanted you could get in the water (cage) with the sharks, but as it was quite a cool day nobody took up the offer.

Half a day gone and we were back on the seaplane for a flight over the archipelago to Cygnet Bay for a barramundi lunch and tour of the pearl farm. An extremely well run tour, very informative about how pearls are cultured and ended with opening an oyster to find the mystery pearl.

Then it was the 200km journey back to Broome, stopping off at Beagle Bay, a former mission, to have a look at the Catholic Church that had been decorated with pearl shells.
It was a long day but very enjoyable.Read more