Kimberley Expedition Cruise Review 7/8

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Ashmore Reef is an uninhabited Australian external territory, located in the Indian Ocean. In fact, it’s closer to Indonesia than Australia. Silver Explorer sailed for the tiny islands late yesterday, not arriving until around midday today. A decent swell that would likely not affect a larger ship caused Explorer’s 6000 tonnes to sway from side to side and fore and aft during the overnight crossing. Fun!

The islands play an important role in Australia’s border security and that means the vast majority of the surrounding lagoons and three of the territory’s four islands are official exclusion zones and closed to visitors. An Australian Border Force vessel stood guard, its shape in menacing contrast to the azure waters.

Although I don’t fully understand Australia’s Cabotage laws, Silver Explorer was obligated to visit the reef during this voyage. While our visit satisfied the legalities, it allowed us to witness something truly special and unique that so many Australians will never see.

Ashmore Reef is home to over 150 species of bird and the uninhabited islands provide sanctuary for mating and nesting. It’s a unique ecosystem and allows the birds to thrive. We witnessed a little of the action during our 2 hour tour.

Thanks to the exclusion zones, accessing our intended destination of West Island meant the zodiacs had to follow a marked course that first took us in the opposite direction. With a high swell to contend with, the extended journey meant the guides had to be particularly careful when piloting their zodiacs through the rolling seas. The splashes of salt water once again provided a refreshing reprieve from the tropical warmth, and as we neared the island, the waters surrounding us changed from deep blue to pure turquoise.

Although landing on the island in small numbers is possible, the expedition team prefer to leave the birds and their nests undisturbed. Our visit was restricted to the zodiacs, but we were fortunate enough to get incredibly close to the shoreline. We saw an incredible array of birds, from terns and tropicbirds, to frigatebirds and the comically named boobies - that’s thanks to their style of walking on land and nothing else you might be thinking of. It was difficult not to think of Alfred Hitchcock’s, “The Birds” as they swarmed en masse above us. We were warned to not look up with mouths agape, for obvious reason, but thankfully no one on our zodiac suffered that good fortune.

The birds are not too familiar with people or zodiacs, and their curiosity saw them dive in low for a close look at these alien creatures - us.

Soon it was time to return to Explorer, and an even wetter journey home made for laughs all round.

Cabotage or not, I’m glad we were able to witness something unique and very, very special.