If there is one thing you do in 澳大利亚 besides Uluru/Ayers Rock, it’s the Horizontal Falls. Located at Talbot Bay in the Kimberley region of northern Western 澳大利亚, I don’t think there is anything quite like this anywhere else. For the Kiwi’s, this is like 令人怀疑的声音, remote, hard to reach, and uniquely beautiful. Unlike Doubtful Sound, though, it’s hot, and the water is full of sharks and saltwater crocodiles, so you don’t want to fall in!
There is one tour company operating to the Horizontal Falls called Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures.
Our full day tour itinerary was:
- 5:50 am pickup at our caravan park
- Beagle Bay Community and snack
- Cape Leveque and breakfast
- One Arm Point Hatchery tour
- Seaplane to Talbot Bay
- Swimming with the sharks and fish feeding with replace trolling motor battery
- 午餐
- Horizontal Falls speedboat
- Cyclone Creek cruise
- Horizontal Falls speedboat
- Seaplane to Broome
- Bus drop off at our caravan park just before sunset
As you can see it was a full day. I think the only thing more we could have asked for was a pearl farm tour which is available on some of the full day tours instead of the hatchery tour, but the hatchery tour turned out to my much more interesting than we expected so we really have no complaints at all.
The Price
I’ll warn you, it isn’t cheap. At AUD$1080 per person for adults, this is the most expensive thing we did on our road trip by a long way. It was even more costly than our campervan hire for the entire time. However, before we made any other trip plans, this is the one thing that we decided to splurge on, and are so glad we did. Yes, it is expensive, but it is absolutely worth it. The trip is fantastic, and you are looked after so well by the team. There is nowhere else you can do anything like this. So if there is one thing you spend the extra money to do, make it this. I can’t recommend it enough!
Now, let’s get into the tour.
5:50 am Start
We were picked up right on time at 5:50 am with two other couples that were going on the same tour as us. There were already a few others on the 4WD bus and a few more we still had to pick up before heading out of Broome. The bus that picked us up is a big 4WD vehicle called Big Foot.
It is very similar to other 4WD buses, including those used as school buses in some of the more remote parts of Western 澳大利亚.
It is a vehicle that has been chosen for its ability to smooth out the rough dirt roads heading north from Broome.
Within moments of entering the dirt section of Beagle Bay-Broome Road, we appreciated the fat tyres and suspension a great deal.
Even with these features, the road is so corrugated that you are still bouncing around a bit. I imagine it would be a very rough, slow ride in a car. The car and caravan graveyard along the side of the road certainly makes me think bringing a car through here is not the best idea.
Since we left our campsite before sunrise, we got to see it rising from the bus.
The height gave us good visibility, but it was pretty harsh on the eyes with it flashing through trees.
Soon, the dirt road became a bitumen road, and before we knew it, we were at Beagle Bay.
小猎犬湾社区
We arrived in Beagle Bay Community bright and early, parking between Sacred Heart Church, also known as the Pearl Shell Church, and the only public toilet in the community.
Now, being the only public toilet in town and 24 or so people on the bus, there will be a queue.
Fortunately, between checking out the church and having some of the provided snacks and drinks, it is easy to space it out, then you aren’t standing in a line unnecessarily.
The Sacred Heart Church, also known as the Pearl Shell Church, was built in 1917 by missionaries to the region with the help of the Aboriginal community.
It got the pearl shell nickname because of the pearl shell used all through the church and its decorations.
It really is quite remarkable.
The snacks and drinks provided are a simple morning tea style snack before breakfast. Cookies and fruit to eat with tea, coffee and water to drink.
It’s not much, but enough to tide you over until your breakfast at the next stop, Cape Leveque.
莱维克角
Turning off the north-bound bitumen road, a rough dirt road brought us into Cape Leveque where we were greeted with a dirt airstrip and the Kooljaman Cafe.
The cafe seems to appear all of a sudden out of the trees, and beyond it is the ocean, bordered by vibrant red ochre cliffs and brilliant white sand beaches. Breakfast time.
The Kooljaman Cafe is owned by the Aboriginal community, with proceeds going back into the community.
It serves as a general store for the nearby campground, and as a very nice restaurant for travellers and locals.
The Horizontal Falls tour includes a scrumptious breakfast here, and I’d say it’s almost worth doing the tour just to experience the delightful food and accompanying view!
We were served what I would describe as a cafe style “Aussie big breakfast” that included baked beans, scrambled eggs, a hash brown, bacon, butter mushrooms, grilled tomato and focaccia bread.
Meanwhile, we also had access to a buffet style continental breakfast that included amazing fresh muffins, cereal, pastries, and fresh fruit.
Drinks included water, juices and regular hot drinks. However, speciality drinks were extra.
Once we finished our breakfast, we had a little bit of free time to explore the shop, purchase souvenirs if we wanted, and take in the beautiful view.
The cafe is situated at the top of one of the ochre cliffs, so the dining area has a gorgeous ocean view, and the outdoor seating provides a great spot to sit and take it all in.
Back on the bus, our driver and guide took us past the cafe and showed us the campground and the beaches before taking us down to the water where we got out and had a bit of a splash.
Make sure you take a hat, and if you can, sunglasses are worthwhile too as the sun reflecting off the sand is intense.
The view is entirely different from the water edge looking up and seeing the white sand turn into red rocks and cliffs. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.
Soon though we were back on the bus, with a cold drink in hand provided by our driver, and we are climbing back up the sandy track towards the main road and One Arm Point.
One Arm Point & Aquaculture Hatchery
One Arm Point was our next destination.
Here, as we made our way through the Ardiyaloon community to the hatchery, our driver told us a little about the history of the area and explained that it is run by the elders of the Bardi people with local laws enforced by the Aboriginal rangers.
It was fascinating to learn about.
We didn’t know what to expect from the hatchery.
It didn’t seem to us that fish hatching would be all that exciting, but to our pleasant surprise, it was fascinating.
The hatchery is divided by tanks.
Each aquarium contains different types of fish and sea life in various environments.
Our friendly and extremely knowledgeable guide took as around each aquarium, explaining to us what was in it, and what each of those things does that contributes to the biodiversity of the bay.
She explained to us how each of the sea creatures is caught or bred, why, and at what point they are returned to the ocean.
She also told us a little about why the hatchery was started and how successful they had been at breeding the trochus shell and re-introducing it to the surrounding reefs.
While the whole hatchery tour was fascinating, I’d say the highlight would have to be the archerfish.
These remarkable little fish spot potential prey outside of the water and squirt a jet of water at it to knock it in. Our guide showed us a few demonstrations of it, and these fish never missed – though the food in her demonstrations was already dead and unmoving.
Some that were there tried holding their hands over the edge of the tank and moved them around a little bit. The fish got them, even squirting one in the face!
After the hatchery tour had finished, a local craftsman was selling handmade pearl shell jewellery and sculptures, and we had some free time to browse the hatchery at our leisure.
Back on the bus, we made our way around to the One Arm Point airstrip where a pair of seaplanes were awaiting our arrival.
塔尔伯特湾
Our pilots went through safety and boarding instructions with us before we got on the seaplanes, and then loaded any bags we didn’t need on the plane into the floats. I took on my camera gear, but I wouldn’t want to carry much onto the aircraft at all.
Unless you happen to be the really tall person that gets the back seat with extra leg room (aka the exit row), there is not much space between each row.
Unfortunately for us, there happened to be one man that was taller than me on our plane, so he and his partner got that row.
The tiny space aside, the seats were comfortable, and the plane was quite nice inside.
So once we were all in and had our harnesses worked out, we took off from the airstrip.
The plane, while loud, was not so noisy that we couldn’t talk fairly comfortably, and enjoy the sights as we flew low over the hundreds of islands that make up the Buccaneer Archipelago as it stretches across King Sound.
Crossing low over the mountains to Talbot Bay was also stunning, and our pilot brought us in at such a low altitude that it seemed our shadow was getting perhaps a little bit too close!
Then we were headed over the Horizontal Falls and looped around a second time to get a good view from the air before coming in to land at Talbot Bay.
What an experience! We’ve never been in a seaplane before, let alone landed on water! It was breathtaking!
Once we had touched down our pilot brought us over to the Horizontal Falls house boats where we debarked our floating plane. We were given a quick run down on the houseboats, where things are, some safety guidelines, and an overview of the plan for the rest of the day.
Shark Feeding and Swimming with the Sharks
This was pretty cool. There are grey nurse sharks and huge batfish in Talbot Bay that are quite friendly and come to the surface for a feed along with a lot of other smaller fish.
Apparently saltwater crocodiles also come in for a feed sometimes. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any while we were there.
From what I read and hear elsewhere about the impact of feeding wild animals, it does make me wonder whether this might affect them negatively if they get too used to it, but I guess these tours are not all year round so it may not be as harmful as places where it occurs all the time.
After the sharks and fish had a feed, there is one particular shark that is quite happy to be patted, so we were invited to give him a pat in the area instructed.
Then we had 10-15 minutes of time to get into the shark cages and have a swim with the sharks which was pretty cool.
午餐
Then it was time to feed the tourists! The menu, BBQ barramundi with assorted salads. The barramundi is morish, served in huge chunks that were moist and cooked to perfection. Possibly the best that I’ve ever had!
西红柿似乎已经冷冻或部分冷冻，沙拉更受欢迎。不过，我并不感到惊讶，因为那里的温度很高，而且运送补给品的飞行时间很长，为了防止它变质，它可能至少必须保持几乎冻结。我不会让它毁了你的一天！
Onto the Falls
吃饱后，稍等片刻消化后，我们被带到快艇上，穿上救生衣就出发了。
我们的司机和向导知识渊博，并在我们前往和穿过瀑布时分享了很多有关瀑布的信息。
瀑布并不难走，但骑行令人振奋，并提供了瀑布的特写镜头。
我们来回穿过外瀑布几次，然后前往较窄的内瀑布。
我们也经过了几次，并花了几分钟让船在水咆哮过去时保持其位置。这是一个非常了不起的体验！
又穿过外瀑布几次，然后我们回到船屋喝水、茶或咖啡和一些饼干。
然后令我们惊讶的是，我们回到了快艇上，沿着风景秀丽的旋风溪巡游，这条自然保护的小溪用于风化飓风。
我们的司机希望为我们找到一条咸水鳄鱼，但不幸的是，没有人想找到。
他分享了很多关于小溪和围绕它的不寻常悬崖结构的信息，然后将我们带回水平瀑布进行另一次跑步。
他带我们穿过外瀑布，然后去了内瀑布，但不幸的是它们太浅了，无法安全通过。
所以我们回到了外瀑布，又经过了几次，然后回到了船屋。
Back to Broome
我们没多久就回来了，是时候再次登上我们的水上飞机返回布鲁姆了。
航班本身比那里的航班高，看的少。
经过一整天的兴奋之后，我们还是很累了，但即便如此，看着远处的太阳开始落山，看着荒野从我们脚下掠过还是很美的。
当我们降落在布鲁姆时，天还没亮，我们被转移到一辆小巴上。
司机正在分发体验的 DVD，不是我们当天的，而是我们所看到的。
令我们惊讶的是，DVD 是免费的！当您通常需要为这种事情付费时，这是一个非常令人惊喜的惊喜！
现在，如果您像我一样，您可能想知道 4WD 巴士和司机发生了什么事？好吧，还有第二次巡回演出是相反的。所以它从布鲁姆机场直接飞到塔尔博特湾，然后从湾到阿迪亚隆。孵化场后，他们乘坐四驱车前往比格尔湾的莱韦克角，最后与我们大约在同一时间回到布鲁姆。
我们的司机在下午 6:00 左右让我们回到了我们的房车公园，就在太阳下山之前，还有足够的时间开车去凯布尔海滩。
电缆海滩
我们决定再次前往凯布尔海滩看日落。
它和前一天晚上一样美丽，只有很少的云，并没有太大的不同。
尽管我们在那里的两个晚上有相似之处，但如果我们回去，我们仍然会再看一遍。它是如此美丽和宁静！
Broome Night Markets
在我们返回房车公园的路上，我们注意到有些事情正在发生。原来是布鲁姆夜市！
我们决定停下来看看，很高兴我们做到了。
市场就像一个社区聚会，有食品摊贩和现场音乐。
大多数人都在草地上用餐，享受着这里的气氛，真是太棒了！由于我们还没有吃晚饭，所以我们吃了点东西，并在那里度过了一段时间，体验了布鲁姆的夜生活，然后返回房车公园并睡了一个当之无愧的睡眠。
