AUSTRALIA


T


he boat, with its motor stilled, bobs gently on the ocean swell. The day is bright and gleaming, the sunshine spearing through vivid blue-green water, illuminating the wildlife that surrounds us, like actors under a spotlight. Just beside our Zodiac, a huge leatherback turtle periscopes its curious head above the surface. Below, black tip reef sharks dance by, their movements > yÕi` ÃÜ>Þ vÀom noÃi Ìo Ì>il° ÕÌ Üi h>Ûi oÕÀ iÞià wÝi` on


the reef in front of us that appears, quite bizarrely, to be rising up out of the sea, its rocks emerging, dripping with water and sequinned with huge oyster shells. As we watch, an elegant osprey swoops to pick up a stranded wÃh in iÌà Ì>lonð *iÀVhi` on Ìhi ÀoVkÃ] huge shags stretch out their wings like


cloaked magicians, and Caspian terns q monoVhÀom>ÌiV iÝVi«Ì voÀ ÌhiiÀ wiÀVi red beaks – patrol the skies for any other treasures gifted forth by the reef. I’m in the Kimberley, one of


Australia’s last great wilderness destinations, a place imbued with spine-tingling natural and human history, from frontier wars and tales of dangerous pearl diving to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and millennia-old landscapes. This 20-mile reef – which ‘rises’ out of the water when the tide recedes – is just one of the staggering natural wonders the Kimberley offers and is the latest in a long line of eye- popping sights that we’ve already witnessed on our cruise. Languishing in the far northern


reaches of Western Australia, the Kimberley is double the size of the


ª


ABOVE: Willie Creek OPPOSITE: FIRST ROW: Le Lapérouse; observatory on board Le Lapérouse SECOND ROW: Cable Beach; Lizzie Pook; Raft Point THIRD ROW: Blue Eye Lounge FOURTH ROW: Horizontal Falls; Deluxe Suite PREVIOUS PAGE: Gantheaume Point Credits: Tourism Australia/CJ Maddock, Scott Slawinski; Ponant/Christophe Dugied; Shutterstock/Janelle Lugge


82 ASPIRE DECEMBER 2022 aspiretravelclub.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128