Day 114 – Horizontal Falls – Thierings on Tour

Today was the day and we got off with no troubles, which was a huge relief as we had no wiggle room in our schedule…

We got a bus to the Lombadina airport and patiently waited for our seaplane to return. Jazzy couldn’t wait to get on and her patience paid off when she was asked to be Jack’s co-pilot! What a special treat.

It was cool flying over the water and seeing all the amazing islands and untouched nature spots as we flew over the Buccaneer Archipelago. There were a couple of clouds about and it got a bit bumpy and windy as we approached the pontoon, but our pilot and co-pilot got us there safely!

We went out for a cruise around the area, including cyclone bay, which is a protected bay from any weather events that can occur out on the water. The water was a brilliant turquoise colour with the iconic Kimberley rock formations around it.

Back on the pontoon, there were morning tea snacks ready for us, so we enjoyed these first before jumping in the water to meet the local sharks. As they are almost blind, they rely on their other senses a lot and the team use banging on the pontoon as a cue that there is a bit of food to feed them. It’s a minimal amount to ensure that they don’t become reliant on the fish as their main food source, but it was cool to see them up close and yet again, Jazzy got a special job – feeding the sharks by throwing the chunks of fish in the water. She had to do it in a short, sharp motion to ensure that it would make a big splash and cause ripples to alert the sharks of the incoming food. We were able to jump on the other side of the cage to get up close to them – pretty special stuff.

Then it was round one of going through Horizontal Falls and we certainly had a good day for it with a 9m tidal change. As the speedboat approached the falls, you really feel like you are about to go through rapids and the noise, power and whitewash is unbelievable. Jazzy was a bit confused at first as to why the falls were like this, but once we chatted about the concept of what horizontal means she loved the thrill and was glad to experience it another 5 times as we went back and forth through the falls.

Only the wide gap is passable and we learnt from a local Aboriginal owner about the sacred meaning of the falls as represented by the rainbow serpent Woongudd that is in fact the rushing tide.

The waterways between the narrow and wide gap were also churning as the pressure of the water pushed through one gap and into the other. The team explained that as the tide changes, there is 30 seconds of stillness before it goes into the other direction and the gaps adjust the opposite way, first pushing huge amounts through one gap and then as the water levels even out through the other. It is such a fascinating natural phenomenon and I’m so happy we got to tick this off our bucket list!

Impressive doesn’t seem adequate to describe the falls, but I guess it’s the closest fitting word…

Back on land everyone came back excited and enjoyed a delicious barramundi lunch. We were then extremely lucky to go on another boat ride through the falls. Even thought the tide was still going in the same direction, it had changed significantly in the hour or so that we had been on the pontoon. The first time round the wide gap was gushing water and the narrow gap, whilst not a trickle, was much calmer. This time it was the opposite and the wide gap was much calmer while the narrow gap was working hard to get all the water out…

The skills of Tommy the skipper are to be commended as he hovered the boat just at the entrance of the wide gap and the water churned all around us.

Sadly the amazing day had to come to an end, but Jazzy and I both said that we would love to come back one day with everyone and stay the night on the pontoon. What a special place!

We flew back the scenic way, doing several figure 8 loops around the falls, before seeing the many beaches, islands and natural wonders of the McLarty Ranges and Buccaneer Archipelago on our way back. This time round Jazzy and I got to enjoy the back seat with a comfy big couch and windows for days. I think Jazzy was truly exhausted by this point from all the excitement and adventures of today. What a special day for both of us!