In awe of the KimberleyOnce upon a time, many thousands of years ago, or maybe it was more, the ancient people who inhabited the great land we now know as Australia, wondered in awe of a very special region on the north western coast. This region, known to us as the Kimberley, was the Land of the Wandjina. The Wandjina is the Rain Spirit of the Wunambul, Wororra and Ngarinyin language people ' the controller of the 'Seasons', the bringer of rain, which equals water, which equals 'life'. She is the Woongurr ' the Leader ' she commands respect and she has great powers. To please her is to thrive ' to insult or do wrong is to bring wrath and recompense to the offenders.The Aboriginal people say that Wandjina made earth and sea and everything. He gave man to live in this earth, for this world, this tribal country.The Wandjina is depicted in cave paintings and is entirely different to the stick-like Gwion Gwion or Bradshaw artwork we more commonly see. These ancient Australians knew this land for its unbelievable beauty and for its very real dangers, for its remoteness and for its unforgiving nature for those who choose to not show respectBecause of its remoteness, this unique part of the world is virtually untouched by modern man, allowing us to explore and enjoy what the ancients first viewed those many many years ago. With an area of some 421,000 square km, only three towns, Broome, Derby and Kununurra, the population in only around 25,000 hardy souls. The Kimberley is bordered by the Indian Ocean; the Timor Sea and the Great Sandy Desert and land travel is only for the well equipped and the well experienced. The coastline of Australia's North West is one of the least explored pristine wonderlands on the planet. A place of wild natural diversity; where the seemingly impenetrable coastline hides an eco treasure trove of ancient river systems, framed by awesome towering cliffs and spectacular thundering waterfalls. Turquoise waters teem with marine life; from prehistoric saltwater crocodiles, neon sea snakes, migrating Humpback whales, playful dolphins, big sharks and a myriad of fish, including wild Barramundi, mangrove jack and the thrilling Spanish mackerel. Here rock oysters are big as your hand and mud crabs fill pots quicker than you can pull them. An Ornithologists' dream ' the air teems with birdlife including sea eagles, kytes, kingfishers, jabirus and huge seabird colonies thrive in the isolation and food rich environment. Malcolm Douglas, Australia's expert wildlife mature traveller says of the Kimberley, "I have been trying to film it for the last 40 years and it is impossible to capture the grandeur of it." "You can show some of the colours to a degree, but you can't capture the scale of it all". "I go to the Kimberley every year to regenerate my body and to regenerate my soul."? "I will never stop loving the Kimberley and trying to capture it on film for the world to see." The Kimberley is a place in the most part so remote it is accessible only from the ocean and here is the best way.
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