Monday 12 August 2024 – The time has come to leave Broome, which was actually just a staging post (albeit one not without interest) to the next major segment of our trip, which is a cruise. For ten days, we will be the guests of APT cruises on Le Laperouse as we explore the Kimberley coast, sailing from Broome to Darwin.

As is normal for these things, the cruise didn’t depart until the afternoon, but the hotel checkout time was 10am, so we’ve had a decent amount of the day in Broome to amuse ourselves. I popped to the nearest ATM to get a few more Australian dollars, which gave me an opportunity to see how a church is done in the cyclone-proof architectural style of the region.

This is the Broome Anglican Church; notice that the bell tower is (a) skeletal, so that wind blows through it rather than at it and (b) further reinforced with guy ropes (or more likely cables).

We had a fair bit of time in our favourite location at the Mangrove hotel, which is on the deck overlooking the mangroves and the water, and keeping an eye out for bird life.  Our Rainbow Bee Eater was, as ever, tirelessly plucking insects out of the air in missions from its normal base station, and I managed to harness my brand-new Nikon Z6iii to get some images of it in flight, which I was quite pleased with.

Also, the bird which we had originally thought was an Osprey came by again. It perched a way away beside another, and it looks like they may have had a barney, as one flew off in a marked manner.

One or other of these then flew somewhat nearer, making it worth getting a couple of shots.

It was then clear that it wasn’t an Osprey, but a Brahminy Kite, also known as the Red-backed Sea Eagle.

All this ornithologising, and a spot of lunch, took us to 2pm, when we needed to join the process of getting on to the boat.  The Mangrove hotel was being used as the gathering point, so all the (160-odd) passengers assembled in an upstairs room in the hotel, where the cruise staff were waiting to process us.

The processing was slightly complex, because everyone had to provide a completed health declaration and passports, collect a lanyard with their cabin key attached to it, and be allocated a bus to join to get to the port.

It was done this slightly labyrinthine way in order that people didn’t have to stand about in the direct sunshine at the port, where there is no shade. It all worked reasonably well, and we shuffled on board around 4pm – to find Jane’s case safely in our cabin but no sign of mine.

Bugger.

Luckily our cabin girl, Verona, popped in to introduce herself; she went off on an ultimately successful mission to find it (delivered to cabin 527 rather than 524 due to sloppy labelling) which left us with just enough time to get largely unpacked before we went for the welcome briefing, with the captain and the cruise director, Margie,

who introduced us to other key people, in charge (right to left) of the spa, the shop, the cruise videos and photos and the wine.

There was, of course, the mandatory life jacket practice,

and then we departed as the sun set,

with drinks

and live music.

This is an expedition cruise, similar in principle to (but far removed, I suspect, in practice from) our Antarctic cruise. The boats have pretty much the same passenger capacity, but there is a little more emphasis on luxury on Le Laperouse: there’s a lift between levels; the boat features a spa, a fitness room and a shop; and drinks are by and large at no extra cost unless you’re after some ritzy cocktail or wine. However, the idea for both is the same: to get people off the boat on Zodiacs to explore the area as we go along. The weather here will be somewhat different, of course; wind was the enemy in Antarctica, whereas we’ll have to be cognisant of the power of the sun on this cruise. Looking at the assembled passengers, I also wonder whether some of them will struggle to get on and off Zodiacs; but maybe I’m being overly pessimistic. Time will tell.

For now, the G&Ts are available at no extra charge and there is Earl Grey Tea and a kettle in our cabin, so, as we leave Broome behind us,

I think we can look forward to 10 days of getting educated about the Kimberley coast while being looked after very well.