 About the region: The Kimberley is vast, stretching from a dramatic coastline of islands, cliffs and sandy beaches facing the Indian Ocean to the west and the Timor Sea to the north, across gorges, escarpments, vast open plains, river valleys and cave systems to the arid Great Sandy Desert in the south and the Northern Territory in the east. The ancient Kimberley landscape is punctuated with astonishing gorges and waterfalls, spectacular cave systems, lush rainforest patches and abundant wildlife. It is like nowhere else on Earth.
Until relatively recently, the Kimberley was a place for only hardened pioneers and prospectors. Once the National Highway circumnavigating the country was completed, however, the Kimberley became a highlight on the travel map, and Australians as well as overseas visitors are now getting a taste of what they've been missing - and are loving it. The Kimberley region is still one of the remotest areas on earth, however, most of its roads are still unsealed, and there are fewer people per square kilometre than most other places on earth.
Just as "Big" equates to "Texas" in the United States, so in Australia, "Big" equates to The Kimberley. Everything here is super-sized. The distances are big, the gorges and canyons are larger than life, the waterfalls are more dramatic. The colours of the earth, the rocks, the ocean and the sky are all so bold and vivid, when you see photographs of them, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they have been tweaked by a computer program to exaggerate their intensity. They haven't. As anyone who has been there will attest, what you see is exactly what you get.
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| Cathedral Gorge, Bungle Bungles |
Cape Leveque |
Broome camel ride |
How To Get There:
By road from Perth, take Great Northern Highway via Meekatharra to Port Hedland. Continue north to Broome (2,238 km from Perth) and Derby 92,391 km from Perth). By road from Darwin, travel south on Stuart Highway to Katherine. At Katherine, take the Victoria Highway to Kununurra (830 km from Darwin).
Derby, Broome and Kununurra are connected by daily Greyhound Australia Coach Services.
By air: Broome and Kununurra are connected by daily flights to Perth and Darwin. Broome is also connected by daily flights to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Port Hedland and Karratha.
The Best Time To Visit:
The Kimberley is a tropical region with two very distinct seasons - The Wet and Dry. December to March is the height of the wet season - humidity is high, it rains daily and cyclones are common. The Dry season begins around April and extends through to September. The Dry season is the peak tourist season. September to November is when humidity, air and water temperatures are building up to the start of the wet.
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Natural Wonders
Natural Attractions
- Kunururra: Ord River Nature Reserve; Thompson Springs; Mirima National Park; Packsaddle Plains and Falls; Black Rock Falls; Zebra Rocks; Carr Boyd Range; Mitchell Plateau; Middle Springs; Palm Springs Reserve (27 km north-east); Parry Lagoon; Ascot-Parry's Creek Area Nature Reserves (25 km south-east); Pelican Island Nature Reserve
- Wyndham: Cambridge Gulf; Joseph Bonaparte Gulf; Mt. Bastion (Five Rivers Lookout); King River; Pentecost River; Drysdale River National Park (132 km north-west); King George River
- Broome: Roebuck Bay; Cable Beach; Beagle Bay; Lacepede Islands (120 km); Point Coulomb (70 km north)
- Dampier Peninsula: Cape Leveque; King Sound; Beagle Bay; Cape Bertholet; Marigui Promontory; Montgomery Reef; Scott and Seringapatam Reefs
- Halls Creek: Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater (2nd largest impact crater in the world, 100 km south); China Wall; Caroline Pool; Sawpit Pool; Palm Springs
- Derby: King Sound; Swan Island (King Sound) Nature Reserve (120 km north-west); Mt. Trafalgar; Tunnel Creek National Park (160 km); Windjana Gorge; Napier Range; Lennard River; Buccaneer Archipelago; Bonaparte Archipelago; Fitzroy River; Low Rocks Nature Reserve (425 km north-east); Prince Regent River (270 km north-east); Langgi Inlet sacred site
- Fitzroy Crossing: Fitzroy River; Geikie Gorge National Park
- Kalumburu: Mitchell Plateau
- Purnululu National Park: Bungle Bungle Ranges
Historic Places
- Kunururra: Durack homestead
- Broome: Pioneer rock (landing place of William Dampier (1699); Pearling luggers; Broome Historical Society Museum; Pioneer's cemetery; Japanese cemetery; Lombadina and Beagle Bay Roman Catholic Missions; Japanese World War II air raid relics; Broome cemetery; Court House (Cable Station, 1888); Wackett aircraft static display (formerly operated by Horrie Miller of MacRobertson Miller Aviation Co.)
- Beagle Bay: Beagle Bay Museum; Sacred Heart Church (with pearl shell altar, built by the Pallottine Monks and the Aboriginal people of Beagle Bay in 1917); Lombadina
- Halls Creek: former Ord River Station homestead
- Derby: Boab prison tree; Bungarun Leprosarium graveyard; Mowanjum Aboriginal Mission (established 1956-81) and Mowanjum Community (art); (8 km south of Derby); Glenroy Station & Meatworks (309 km NW of Derby)
- King Sound: Mermaid Tree
Waterfalls
- Wyndham: King George Falls
- Kununurra: Packsaddle Plains and Falls; Black Rock Falls; Droplet Falls
- Talbot Bay: Horizontal Falls
- Mitchell Plateau: Mitchell Falls; Big Mertens Falls; Little Mertens Falls; King George Falls
- Prince Regent River District: Kings Cascade; Camp Creek Falls; Cathedral Falls
- Red Cone Inlet: Ruby Falls
- Drysdale River: Eagle Falls; Bango Falls
- Gibb River: Leonard River Falls; Manning Falls; Galvans Falls
- Prince Frederick River: Hunter Falls
- Berkeley River: Casuarina Creek Falls
- Dugong Bay: Sapphire Falls
- Sale River: Sale River Falls
Misc. Attractions
- Kunururra: Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Centre; Lake Kununurra (Diversion Dam); Lake Argyle (2nd biggest storage reservoir in Australia) and Argyle Dam; Cotton Ginnery; Argyle Diamond Mine
- Wyndham: El Questro Wilderness Park
- Broome: Parda Hill Aboriginal Sacred Area; dinosaur tracks at Ganthaeume Point
- Derby: Derby wharf; Boulder Hill Aboriginal art sites (80 km north-east); Oombalai Aboriginal occupation and art site (60 km north); 'Mermaid' carved Boab tree, Careening Bay; Royal Flying Doctor base; Wharfinger's House; Jetty Tramway and Woolshed (operated 1900-57); Adele Island Lighthouse; Curtin Detention Centre
- Wildjana Gorge: Windjana Gorge Aboriginal art sites
- Kalumburu: Carson River Station Area Aboriginal rock art sites (23 km south-east of Kalumburu Mission); Derre Area Aboriginal rock art sites (includes Wandjina and Bradshaw figures, 125 km south-west of Kalumburu Mission); Paten Area Aboriginal engravings sites (40 km south-east of Kalumburu Mission)
- Drysdale River: Wandjina Aboriginal rock art
Journeys
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| Regions of Western Australia |
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