After leaving Broome we began to retrace our course back toward Darwin. The area is called the Kimberley Coast and the coastline is not well surveyed. Small fishing vessels have plied the waters for centuries but only recently and only in a very few locations have cruise ships been allowed access. Our destination was Prince Frederick Harbour, one of the few costal areas with an adequate marine survey. Our pilot was Captain Craig Brent-White, a veteran sailing these waters who actually operated one of the last pearl luggers on this coast. Early in the day we attended a lecture by the honourable captain hoping for some insight on what we might see during our sunset visit to Prince Frederick Harbour. Most of his presentation was a detailed, rather DETAILED, history of the region. While interesting, it could have been diluted considerably for our appetite. The visit itself was, however, most worthwhile and there is a photo album specific to this visit. The sun set at 5:30 PM and it was brilliant. A perfect prelude to our evening meal.
As the ship entered the harbour her speed slowed gradually from 15 knots at the entrance to 12, then 10 as she sailed between the endless small islands and rock outcroppings. The layers of red and grey rock were clearly visible on almost every formation. Dawn Princess came to a full stop only a few hundred metres from westward facing rock escarpments just as the sun’s colour began to change into the reds. The Captain, presumably our pilot, had the ship rotate ever so slowly to port (counterclockwise if you prefer) until from our vantage point we could watch the final two minutes of a beautiful sunset.
Earlier in the day we also attended the second very interesting presentation by Dan Benedict who has been acquainting us with the celestial objects in the southern sky. Today he began to prepare us for some late evening star gazing by describing some of the rarest events that have been seen and that none of us will likely ever experience. Next came the stars that we had some chance of actually seeing in tonight’s sky. Dan seems to understand that the mind can absorb only what one’s backside can endure.
Just before 9 PM about 100 or more of us joined Dan on the aft section of deck 14 to se what we could see. The sky was nearly cloudless with only a very slight low level haze created by our ship’s spray and stack emissions. At precisely 9 PM the Bridge obligingly turned out as many artificial lights near us as seemed safe and the skies came to life. For me fourth magnitude stars became easily visible. Dan pointed out the Southern Cross immediately, and in answer to latecomer’s questions about three more times. I think he managed to get almost everyone to identify Mars, Saturn and Jupiter and as many of the first magnitude stars as he could. His green laser pointer was reasonably effective when there was a little mist.
You should be able to find photos for Broome and the Kimberley coast on line. Check HERE.
ide crescent of sand stretching around the bay to Gantheaume Point which we would later visit. The tide was lower than when we arrived at 4 AM and the water’s edge was some distance from the sun bathers.
