As dawn breaks in the Kimberley, the silence whispers in my mind and delivers a soothing melody to my soul. The gnarled branches of a boab tree are ghostly shapes against a flaming vermilion sky. Liquid sunrises, rich earthy hues, bright blue skies and glistening ocean are natural pillars of the Kimberley’s Beauty. They form a backdrop on a canvas dabbed with powdery white beaches, cliffs the colour of burnt amber and crystal-clear waterfalls gushing into deep turquoise rock pools. It’s a visual feast in a land cherished by its indigenous inhabitants long before the first white settlers made it their home.
Along with a home decorator’s chart of colours, the Kimberley’s other asset is its solitude. It has fewer people per square kilometre than just about anywhere else on earth. This great wilderness region – twice the size of Victoria – is a land of wide-open spaces that entices me to empty my mind and as I travel through it, I learn to let it fill me with tranquillity.
Spa capital
Broome is the gateway to the Kimberley. The remote town on the shores of the Indian Ocean is about 2350 kilometres from Perth, almost as far as Sydney is from Cairns.
There’s an air of romance and mystery about Broome, with its rich pearling culture, dazzling blue skies, orange-red pindan soil and gardens of ghost gums, palms, frangipani and hibiscus. Part of its exotic appeal lies in its history. It was discovered by English buccaneer William Dampier and has an exotic mix of Malay, European, Koepanger, Chinese, Japanese and Aboriginal cultures.
Watching the sunset at Cable Beach is a lasting memory of golden rays casting shadows of convoys of camels along the sand. For many years, Cable Beach Club Resort – which was built as a joint venture between Lord Alistair McAlpine and the WA state government – was the only luxury resort in town. But in the last few years, luxury tourism has boomed and there’s a swag of newer properties such as the boutique $1200-a-night Amsara Luxury Retreat, The Pearle of Cable Beach and Pinctada Cable Beach Resort & Spa.
Naturally, the accommodation boom has created a luxury spa industry. At the top of the list, Cable Beach Resort’s Chahoya Spa presents a menu of healing inspired by cultures from around the world. The spa employs a holistic approach to physical and spiritual vitality using Aveda products and the five elements of nature: infinity, air, fire, water and earth.
On the menu is a four-stage Himalayan Rejuvenation Therapy, which begins with neti (an aromatic steam inhalation for boosting the immunity system) followed by a friction massage, body steam and shirodhara (where a continuous stream of an aromatic botanical compound is trickled onto your third eye).
At Pinctada Spa, treatments are based on LI’TYA spa care, with menu options that tap into Aboriginal plant wisdom and holistic healing, such as the Aboriginal hot stone massage using stones collected from Kununurra. Another product unique to this spa is a body scrub made from crushed mother-of-pearl shells collected from Paspaley’s pearl farms.
Eco escape
130 kilometres south-west of Broome, I begin another day with a yoga class at Eco Beach Wilderness Resort in an open-air pavilion with soothing views of the Indian Ocean. Surrounded by the ocean, bush and pastoral land, Eco Beach is the realisation of a dream of Karl Plunkett and his former partner Natalie Kimpton (sadly, Kimpton lost her fight with breast cancer in 2007).
The couple set out to rebuild the original resort, which was demolished by cyclone Rosita in April 2000 and the result is an eco-friendly retreat that allows travellers to enjoy the wilderness in luxury.
Its remote location means that preserving the environment is unavoidable and measures employed include recycling waste water to water the landscaped grounds, using bathroom cosmetics made from natural products and cleaning products made from biodegradable materials.
There are luxurious eco villas and safari-style eco tents for those who love camping but prefer to do it in style. The tents are decked out with king-size beds, bedside tables, reading lamps, wardrobes and storage chests, en-suite showers and toilets.
Luxury eco escapes in the Kimberley are flourishing. This year, several new eco resorts have opened up the region’s remote areas to adventurous travellers who enjoy creature comforts.
One of the newest to open is Kuri Bay, which is in a remote coastal location, about 370km north of Broome. One of Australia’s oldest pearl farms has been transformed into an exclusive wilderness lodge where rooms have no television or telephones and guest experiences are focused on the environment.
The company also has plans to open Windayi River Camp, with eight cabins, in the eastern part of the Kimberley later this year.
150kms northwest of Wyndham, The Berkeley River’s 20 ocean view chalets are designed to have minimal impact on landscape. The luxury property opened in April this year and sits atop a coastal dune amongst native vegetation, with views of the Timor Sea. There’s a 20-metre lap pool and suites have open-air bathrooms, where you can soak under the stars in outdoor showers and bathtubs. Activities include guided coastal cruises, bush and beach treks, fishing, helicopter flights and exploring waterfalls.
Hearts and souls
Another gateway to the Kimberley, Kununurra, is country town with a pastoral vibe and a pioneering spirit. It’s a place that is home to inspiring characters. One of the main attractions is Kimberley Fine Diamonds, a jewellery showroom that sells some of the most expensive diamonds in the world. Pink Argyle diamonds can fetch more than $100,000.
Frauke Bolten-Boshammer, the owner of Kimberley Fine Diamonds, arrived in Kununurra from Germany over 30 years ago. When her husband unexpectedly passed away, friends and family expected her to return to Germany but she dug her heels in and pursued her dream of opening a diamond business in the heart of the outback.
She began selling jewellery in 1991, from her home veranda with five rings and a chain. These days, the showroom sells at least one piece of jewellery a day.
Another woman who was lured by the call of the outback is artist Nadeen Lovell, who came to the Kimberley on a three-week art tour in 1989. For Lovell, the trip turned into a love affair with the landscape and while camping in the Bungle Bungles, she felt a strong call to make the Kimberley her home. She says her 23 years of living in the Kimberley is still not enough time to appreciate all it has to offer.
Her passion for the Kimberley shines in her art and culminates in an eight-panel wall-length mural of the Bungle Bungles drawn from many visits to the wilderness. The painting is a mind-bending masterpiece that elegantly portrays the artist’s interpretation of 45 kilometres of nature into 16 metres of canvas.
Outback adventures
Driving in the Kimberley is an adventure and the Gibb River Road – which was once a stock route used to drive cattle to Wyndham – is a journey to remember. The route traverses a landscape dotted with boab trees, mountain ranges, gorges, valleys and waterfalls. It leads me to El Questro Wilderness Park, a former cattle station that offers outdoor adventures such as fishing, hiking, horse riding, cruising the Chamberlain gorge and soaking in the warm waters of Zebedee hot springs.
There’s a range of accommodation from camping and tent-like cabins at Emma Gorge Resort to air-conditioned riverside bungalows at the Station Township and the luxurious Homestead.
My favourite activity is heli-fishing. We fly over filming locations in Baz Luhrmann’s movie Australia such as Emma Gorge waterfall (a spot chosen for a romantic scene) and an out-of-the-way plain called the mud flats, where stampede, river crossing and drought scenes were filmed. Then we follow the Chamberlain River and land in a clearing.
We pile into a small motor boat and cast our lines. A large freshwater crocodile lurks a few metres away yet the fish start nibbling almost immediately. My guide hooks a 60-centimetre barramundi and reels it in carefully, poses for a photograph then kisses the fish and gently lowers it back into the river.
Not far away, at Home Valley Station, I explore the area on horseback. My horse carries me past red rocky ridges that soar towards the Cockburn Ranges and paddocks of grazing cattle. Home Valley Station is a working station with 6000 head of cattle but it’s also a tourism property offering riding and mini musters. There’s an onsite TAFE programme that trains indigenous men and women in tourism, hospitality and pastoral pursuits.
In the evening, after a meal at the Dusty Bar & Grill, I join other guests in a huddle around a camp fire listening to the haunting tones of a didgeridoo. It’s a perfect end to another day in the Kimberley.
Nature at its finest
When it comes to natural assets, the Kimberley’s jewel in the crown is World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, which has hundreds of archaeological sites, rock art sites, stone quarry sites and burial sites. The national park has a spiritual significance to its Aboriginal inhabitants, who have lived in the region for 20,000 years.
Its most striking feature is the Bungle Bungle Ranges, near-vertical cliffs and steep-sided banded beehive-like rock formations, which loom large before me as I hike pass termite mounds and clumps of wispy spinifex, climbing rock ledges and metal staircases.
A dry creek bed leads to the almost acoustically perfect Cathedral Gorge, a natural amphitheatre carved out of the sandstone dome walls where I dangle my feet in the cool water.
The most stunning view of the Bungle Bungle Ranges is from a helicopter, where the swirling patterns of the beehives are mesmerising. The beehives are a result of 20 million years of geological processes and landscape evolution and composed of extremely fragile sandstone. Dark grey bands formed by cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae) are a striking contrast to the rusty orange bands which have a protective coating of iron oxide. Looking down at it, I’m awe-struck by one of Mother Nature’s finest works.
Escape routes
Getting there
Qantas operates direct flights to Broome from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Direct flights to Perth operate daily but the other direct flights operate seasonally. For the full schedule of departure and arrival times, see qantas.com.
Virgin Blue operates direct flights to Broome from Adelaide and connecting flights from all other capital cities. See virginaustralia.com.
Skywest and Airnorth provide connections between Broome, Kununurra and Darwin in the Northern Territory. See skywest.com.au and airnorth.com.au.
Where to stay
Pinctada Cable Beach Resort & Spa, www.pinctadacablebeach.com.au
Kuri Bay, www.kuribay.com.au
The Berkeley River, www.berkeleyriver.com.au
Home Valley Station, www.homevalley.com.au
Eco Beach Wilderness Retreat, www.ecobeach.com.au
El Questro Wilderness Park, www.elquestro.com.au
Mornington Wilderness Camp has 10 safari tents with queen-sized beds, fresh linen, ensuites and minibars. All proceeds are reinvested to the conservation of the Kimberley’s wildlife, www.australianwildlife.org
The Bungle Bungles Safari Camp offers a dash of luxury for visitors there to explore World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, www.kimberleywild.com.au
Mitchell Falls Wilderness Lodge has 24 tented cabins that have ensuites with hot showers, www.kimberleywilderness.com.au
Where to spa
Chahoya Spa’s Himalayan Rejuvenation Therapy costs $245. See www.cablebeachclub.com/ChahoyaSpa
Pinctada Spa’s 60-minute Kodo Massage costs $135. See www.pinctadacablebeach.com.au
Where to shop
Kimberley Fine Diamonds, www.kimberleydiamonds.com.au
Lovell Gallery, www.lovellgallery.com.au
Diary dates
Kimberley Moon Experience (June) is an iconic celebration with entertainment on the majestic Ord River. It’s the highlight of the Argyle Diamonds Ord Valley Muster. Shinju Matsuri (August) is a nine-day festival in Broome that showcases traditional and contemporary arts, and celebrates the town’s unique culture, history and diversity.
More
See www.australiasnorthwest.com.
Christina Pfeiffer is an award-winning Sunshine Coast-based writer who loves photographing and writing about inspiring places.
