Horizontal Falls

We booked our tour several weeks ago with Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures. We were taking the full-day tour from Broome. 

 

The 4wd tour bus picked us up from our accommodation at 05:20, along with another eight passengers. Leaving the bitumen behind, we were soon on the Cape Leveque Road heading north. The first 14 km is bitumen, followed by the next 86 km of rough dirt road with endless corrugations and a road base set like concrete but full of holes and dips hidden by soft sand. Thommo, our driver, was moving from side to side to find the best line with the least corrugations, but that was just a losing battle. He referred to the road as being "very ordinary, " but I would have used stronger words than that. Of course, these tour buses, unlike ourselves, don't bother reducing their tyre pressures because they are all running to a schedule, and we would never end up reaching our destination. I think that speed and not reducing pressure may contribute to these road conditions. The 86 km dirt section took us 1½ hours to complete.

We finally made the bitumen and stopped at Beagle Bay to view the Sacred Heart Church. German priests, who were interned there during World War I in 1914, and with the help of the local community, began building the church in 1918. Modelled on a photograph of a German country parish church, it took two years to construct and another year to decorate. Mother-of-pearl shell has been used extensively around the altar and as an inlay along the floor.

Leaving Beagle Bay, we continued north to Kooljaman Resort for a hot breakfast in their restaurant overlooking the western beach. We spent just over twenty minutes on the beach after breakfast before continuing for another 14 km to One Arm Point for a tour of the aquaculture hatchery. Here, we viewed tropical reef fish, trochus shells, and fed huge barramundi housed in holding tanks. 

We were then taken to the airport where we boarded our 14-seat seaplane for the flight to the Horizontal Falls. We faced quite a strong headwind during the journey to Talbot Bay. Our flight path took us quite low over the Buccaneer Archipelago, which consists of more than 1000 islands.

Our plane was even supplied with a co-pilot:

Aside from the wind during our flight, the weather was perfect with beautiful blue skies and a stunning view. Our pilot made a flawless landing on Talbot Bay, and we motored towards the jetty. 

This entire setup is by no means small. The main pontoon in the photo above hosts the people taking half-day, full-day, and overnight tours. The smaller vessel at the top of the picture provides accommodation for those on one of their four-day tours. After our three planes dropped everyone off who was doing the Broome tour, the pilots were off again to pick up more people from Derby, before returning later in the afternoon to transport us back to Broome. At one point, we estimate there were at least seventy people on the pontoons, and with a full-day tour costing $845 per person, it is quite staggering. 

After lunch, we boarded our boats, which resembled Zodiacs on steroids, with their three motors generating 900 hp. We explored bays and creeks before returning to the Horizontal Falls. We were taken into Cyclone Creek, with its deep anchorage, surrounded by steep hills, making it the ideal spot to moor their pontoons during the wet and cyclone seasons.

Ros also took to the air in one of the helicopters for a bird's-eye view. I declined because I'm not into flying where they forget to install the doors.

View of the 4WDs lined up along Cable Beach just before we touched down after a very enjoyable but very tiring day: