Our Northern Explorer Cruise, Australia 2025 Part 3

08 Jul Our Northern Explorer Cruise, Australia 2025 Part 3

Day 11 Saturday April 26th – At Sea

We left Darwin at approximately 10pm on Friday 25th April 2025 en route to the Kimberley Coast. On Saturday we were at sea. If I remember correctly, the head cold I contracted on the ship started to become a problem on this day, to the degree that I took no photos.

Day 12 Sunday April 27th – Kimberley Coast (York Sound)

Our visit to the Kimberley Coast was a “sail by” only. At approximately 1pm Crown princess sailed into York Sound on the Kimberley Coast. It took a while to be close enough to the surrounding mountains to make significant photographs.

The following Google Map copy shows the ships position in York Sound on the Kimberley Coast WA Australia, at 4..17pm on that day.

I cannot tell the exact locations where any of the following photos were taken within York Sound. And there are many other ‘Sounds’ along the Kimberley coast.

Some of the rocks found in the Kimberley region are over 2 billion years old according to the National Museum of Australia.

Day 13 Monday April 28th – Yampi Sound

Yampi Sound, south of York Sound is part of Kimberley coast region. It contains large deposits of high grade Iron Ore, some of which has been mined since 1951.

There are no docks within Yampi Sound, at which ships can be loaded, so barges are filled with the iron ore and dragged out to deeper water to transfer the ore to the bulk carriers.

Day 14 Tuesday April 29th – The Great Disappointment

We were extremely disappointed when the Captain announced we were bypassing Broome. Broome was one of the three places/reasons we were on this cruise. So in our minds the reason for the change of plans needed to be good.

Apparently Broome was expecting a 10 meter tide that day. Prior to the cancellation we had been told that our arrival at Broome would be earlier than scheduled (to coincide with the tides) and our stay in port would be shorter. So the timing of our disembarkation, the length of excursions and the reembarking efficiency for up to 3000 people would be critical.

We know the decision was made with the safety of the passengers, the crew and the ship in mind, but it was still a difficult decisions for us to accept.

Day 15 Wednesday April 30th – At Sea

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Day 16 Thursday May 1st – Exmouth

Exmouth is a small town on the east coast of the North West Cape, Western Australia, which is famous for the Ningaloo Reef and the Cape Range. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go from Exmouth to either of these two places.

We hired a car to do our own tour including the town of Exmouth, Yardie Creek, Turquoise Bay and Vlamingh Head Lighthouse.

Yardie Creek

Turquoise Bay

Vlamingh Head Lighthouse

After seeing was much as we could in the available time, we rushed to return the hire car, caught the next available shuttle bus back to the marina to board a ship’s water shuttle, only to join this long queue of passengers at the marina awaiting a water shuttle. It seems we’d found a weakness in the ship’s logistics.

It was stinking hot, but fortunately the ship’s crew had arranged an umbrella and a water bottle for every person, plus marques and chairs closer to the shuttle wharf.

Safely back on board Crown Princess we watched the last shuttle set out to retrieve equipment and the remaining crew from shore.

Day 17 Friday May 2nd – At Sea

Day 18 Saturday May 3rd – Disembarking at Fremantle

Farewell Crown Princess. We had a wonderful time. Hopefully we will see you again one day.

Thank you for reading the commentary and viewing the photos. I hope you’ve enjoyed the story of our Northern Explorer Cruise..

Stay safe and well.

Our next expedition will be the train journey from Perth to Sydney, Australia.