Monday 1 June 2026: True North II, Roe River and Porosous Creek – Sylvia
It was nice to have a gentler start this morning. Some of the guests took off on the tenders for a fishing trip at 6am but we had a later breakfast at 7am and then had an hour or two to relax before our first activity at 9am. We all headed off in the tenders for a ~45-minute ride ‘up the back’ of the Roe river to a lovely spot with a waterfall. The crew lit a fire and prepared damper and billy tea while we wandered around the rocks and dipped in some of the smaller, shallower pools.
This was croc territory and we weren’t allowed to swim in the larger deeper pools in case one was lurking around. There was some aboriginal rock art on the roof of one of the caves nearby. A whistling kite circled overhead, a magnificent large bird with a definite point to its tail. Roger and I rested in the shade under one of the cliffs for a while, before I, being still wet from dipping in one of the pools, needed to get back into the sun to warm up.
At about 11:30am we headed back to True North II, spotting a small crocodile and a small pod of dolphins along the way. At one point one of the banks of the river was full of fruit-bat laden mangrove trees, squeaking and carrying on. I would have expected they would be still and silent during the day but it sounds like they are squabbling and they seem to flap and move around a lot. Maybe they are all fighting for the best spot.
After a delicious lunch (cous cous salad with fresh caught fish in a saffron and mussel broth) we opted to stay on board while some of the guests went on a short excursion to view some more modern aboriginal art work. We had opted to do an overnight camp, along with three other guests, (Mark, Michelle and Siobhan), and three crew (James, the helicopter pilot, Lucy and Matt) so just after 3pm we boarded the helicopter and headed off. It was only a short ride to our destination, a truly idyllic spot in a canyon with a tall waterfall and a fantastic swimming hole. Our beds were already set up and chairs laid out around the fire pit. Most of us jumped in for a refreshing swim before exploring around the area a little.
The crew cooked up a lovely steak dinner on a grill plate over the fire and then we sat around chatting while the sun set, the moon rose and the stars came out. Then it was a fairly early night for all of us as we retired to our rather comfortable beds under the open sky.
Tuesday 2 June 2026: True North II, Porosus Creek – Roger
It was just before 0600. We woke in daylight with the moon still in the sky, surrounded by cliffs and, in particular, paperback trees. Overnight there had been a very bright moon, to the point that one didn’t need a torch when taking a stroll for midnight relief. The stretcher beds were very comfortable. They keep them here, stored under the cliff, as I think they have many trips into this delightful little spot.
Lucy turned up with some firewood and soon there was a brew on, with Max and James both chipping in to assist with the cooking of bacon and eggs for breakfast, along with some avocado and toast of course. Sylvia, Mark, Michelle and Siobhan headed off for a short swim before we packed up the camp and mounted the Bell Jet Ranger for the short flight back to the boat. As we approached the boat there were two four-meter crocodiles hanging about 50m off the stern. After landing we went down to the deck by the transom. I leaned over to look and saw four tawny nurse sharks swimming back-and-forth across the transom, close enough to be touched. Apparently they’re quite placid and even enjoy the odd pat, not that anybody was going to try that with the crocodiles hanging around.
After a shower and a change of clothes, we headed off with Heather and Jude up the nearby Porosus Creek for a spot of mud-crabbing. This is done by laying some bait in the bottom of a crab pot, which is surrounded by wire and a nylon mesh. The pot is dropped onto the mud bottom of the creek where it lies flat and has four cords coming off the top onto a rope that is attached to a float. They’re pretty careful to make sure they put the float up in a tree – most of the existing floats had crocodile teeth marks in them from where they’ve been grabbed when floating in the water. Apparently it’s nothing to see a crocodile racing off down the river with a float in its mouth, towing a pot behind it. We laid our pots in six different places and, having laid the last one, we returned to the first one and hauled it up to find quite a large crab in the bottom. Dropping the pot again we went off to the next one, each taking turns to pull the pots up. We would sometimes find jennies (female crabs) or undersize crabs in the pot, which we were returned to the water. At one stage, a particular pot I was hauling up seemed a little bit heavy. Thinking it might have been caught under a branch or something I gave it a bit of a yank and it came up quite easily, but at the same time a crocodile popped up nearby with the bait in his mouth, threw its head back, swallowed the bait and sat there looking at us for a while. The crocodile had managed to chomp through the wire on the pot so we had to dispense with using that one for for the rest of the morning. On another occasion Jude was hauling up the pot when Max told Heather to move away from the edge of the boat. Heather thought it was just because there was a branch brushing her back but when we looked down, right there was a young crocodile, partially hidden by the bushes but within easy bouncing range. This creek was a bit of a crocodile alley. During our crabbing expedition we saw at least half a dozen or more crocodiles in various parts of the creek. With quite a good catch between us, and each of us having hauled up at least one decent crab, we headed back to the boat. There is a limit of 20 crabs for the boat and the plan was that with three boats out, they would count up everybody’s catches and keep the 20 biggest ones, the rest being returned to the sea. As it turned out, we had been by far the most successful with the other two boats only catching 5 crabs between them so all were kept.
At around 1330 we sat down for another delicious lunch, this time consisting of flat bread with lamb shoulder and baba-ganoush. At 1430 we took off in the Bell Jet Ranger again for a 40-minute scenic flight over the local area, looking at the different varieties of mangroves and a pretty spectacular waterfall. It makes you wonder where the hell the water comes from around here because it looks so dry, however there are a number of rivers running through this land. The final part of the flight we flew over our campsite from last night, then around some islands before finally heading back to the boat. Along the way James, the pilot, had pointed out a number of landmarks, including a hill which had been called Donkin Hill. When Parker and his team surveyed this area back in the 1800’s, they took a stroll around the area and on the last day of their stroll ended up on this hill with only one tin of donkin (like Spam) left so the hill got its name as did the nearby waterfall.
After returning from the flight we relaxed for a little while before heading out on one of the tenders to a nearby island. We landed on the beach and walked up the sand and over a little hump to the beach on the other side. The tide was going out fast so we brought the boats back and headed to another island where we watched the sun set at precisely 1715.
Returning to the ship we enjoyed drinks on the bar deck along with a large quantity of the mud crab that been caught earlier in the day, not a taste Sylvia or I enjoyed.
At dinner in the evening, we were joined by Tamarin, originally from a town South of Broome. She joined this True North II crew in February this year. We were all humbled learning not only what she does as a crew person, but also how she spends her three weeks off. (The crew are scheduled on for three weeks and then off for three). During her off time she works for an organisation that helps disadvantaged children. She also works one day a week for St John’s ambulance and in the future wants to become a paramedic. It was from her perspective that we were able to understand how the crew on the boat works so well together. She explained that when she undertook her training the owner of the company said ‘you’re here to have a great time but also to make sure that you work really hard so the guests have a great time too’. She was explaining that during her first three weeks, every time she did anything somebody would be very quick to point out what she had not quite got right but soon she was reaching the required standard and managed to be part of this very professional operation.
Wednesday 3 June 2026: True North II, Osborne Islands and Eagle Falls – Sylvia
Days start early on board and after another 6am breakfast we headed out to look at some indigenous rock art. Lloyd regaled us with more stories of how the family groups worked. Each would have a totem animal that would protect them and that they were not allowed to hunt. Our first stop was in a cave with a large crocodile painted on the roof. This would have been the totem animal of the family group from this location. Apparently there is photographic evidence of indigenous people with a crocodile totem swimming safely with saltwater crocs.
Back in the tenders, we headed to another spot. I managed to stand still in one place for two long and get bitten by a couple of green ants – not an overly pleasant experience but I guess I’ve had worse. Lloyd explained the various scientific techniques used to date the artwork. As the ochre used gets absorbed into the rock it can’t be easily dated itself. One of the techniques involved analysis of overlying wasp nests. In general they date back 12-17,000 years. At this cave was a large serpent painting along with some other Gwion Gwion figures, which often feature elaborate headdresses and tassels.
Our third stop was another small island, which had been visited by the Makasar people from Indonesia. They came in the 1400’s to hunt giant triton snails, some shell remnants of which were evident. More recently they have hunted a type of giant sea slug they consider to be an aphrodisiac. Despite this being banned some time ago, they are still seen here on occasion now, driving very fast boats, enabling them to evade the customs patrols.
We returned on board and had a fairly fast turnaround to head off for our second heli-picnic, this time to Eagle Falls. This was a stunning site with tiered waterfalls and a couple of great swimming holes. The landing was spectacular, in a narrow gorge beside one of the smaller falls. The staff had set up a shade cloth and cooked a delicious Australian themed barbecue lunch with lamb, kangaroo, barramundi, chicken and prawns, potato and broccoli salads and delicious scrolls. Later in the afternoon they brought out brownies and a fresh fruit platter.
There were a few indigenous rock art sites to explore and we alternated our time sitting under waterfalls, swimming in the deep pools, and relaxing in the shade. I have rekindled my love of water after several years of not swimming much and spent a lot of time in the pools, despite a few qualms… even though they assured us that freshwater crocodiles are shy and don’t attack people, I still wasn’t that keen to bump into one and the pools were pretty deep and dark. Still, it was worth it and if there was a croc around i didn’t see it.
We flew back to True North II late afternoon with time for a short rest before heading up to the bar deck, where Ryan, the captain, shared some more information about the True North history and other itineraries she and her sister boat do… We are very interested…
We had another delicious meal of eye fillet steak with scallops, béarnaise sauce and potato gratin before getting dressed up and heading back to the bar deck for the crazy quiz night. I was happy to be part of the winning team. We had been provided with an array of western gear to dress in and the staff donned a variety of weird and whacky costumes. It was a pretty fun evening. I retired at the end of the quiz but Roger, who has been dubbed the new sheriff in town, was last man standing, enjoying trading stories with the other guests and crew.
Thursday 4 June 2026: True North II, Mitchell River – Roger
Just after 0700 we hopped in a tender with Lucy, our fishing guide, and Deb, one of the other passengers, and headed out for a spot fishing. We had moored up last night about 20km up the Mitchell River, which is still saltwater at this point, with, of course, lots of saltwater crocodiles about. We headed upriver about five or six kms and then fished along the bank near the mangroves with a lot happening as we drifted down the river. We came to a clear bit of beach where a small crocodile of about 2.5m was lying just out of the water soaking up some morning sun. After taking a picture or two, I cast the lure up onto the sand a couple of feet away from him. As I flicked the lure he leapt to life chasing the hook back towards the boat. It was quite entertaining and it was also interesting to see how fast the bloody things can move.
With not much happening there on the fishing front, we headed up a side tributary where we tried our luck at the intersection of a couple creeks. Sylvia and Deb were fishing towards the rocks and I was casting out into the middle of the stream where there weren’t supposed to be any fish and suddenly I hooked a barramundi. I kept the tension on the line while he fought, wrapping himself around the anchor line a couple of times and around Deb‘s fishing line. In spite of all this Lucy got there with the net and we brought it in at 62 cm. We took a photo and then threw him back as the ship didn’t require any more barramundi.
We headed back to the river and then down the stream about 10km to try our luck again. We drifted along near the bank, casting our lines in amongst the mangroves with not much luck. We reached a bit of a beach where there was a little crocodile lying sunning himself so I thought I’d try the same trick with the lure and cast it up beside him to see if he would chase it also. Unfortunately the cast wasn’t too good and the lure landed on the other side of him. I thought if I wound the line across his back he might take off but he didn’t and the lure hooked him on the back. Bloody hell! now I’d caught a crocodile! It was highly entertaining listening to Lucy and Sylvia and Deb as I reeled the thing towards the boat, getting it right up alongside and realising there was no way we were going to get the lure out of it back. We ended up cutting the line. We thought he would just swim away but he didn’t, just staying near the boat. Lucy thought maybe she could use the gaff to remove the lure but as she reached out and touched the crocodile it went mad, flinging itself up in the air and then diving deep into the water. Lucy screamed and the crocodile was gone.
We continued our way down the river for another 300m or so to some rocks, with Sylvia and Deb fishing along the way. Having lost my lure, I had been banned from more fishing. Then we spotted the little crocodile again, complete with green and red lure, swimming not far from the boat.
Fishing over, and having had a very entertaining morning, we headed back to the boat. After a cup of tea and a lot of laughs as we told our fishing stories, we hopped back in the tender and headed down the river and up a side stream. There we dismounted the tenders and walked up the side of the river to a freshwater swimming hole where the group had a swim.
After about 30-minutes the helicopter turned up, dropping off David, Sonya, Andrew and Kate. Sylvia and I jumped aboard and we flew back to the ship to refuel and also pick up Deb and Ian. Taking off and flying up the river, well past where it became freshwater, we landed near the impressive Mitchell Falls. We dismounted and went for a short walk up to a viewing area overlooking the falls. Returning back from the walk there were another two helicopters parked nearby, turning and burning and waiting to pick up passengers to take back to a nearby campsite. We took off first, flew over the falls again, and then around past the campsite where another three helicopters were parked. We flew back cross country, taking the direct line to the boat, passing over various freshwater creeks and rivers. Sylvia even spotted a mob of cattle along the way.
Back at the boat we enjoyed another nice lunch and some more fishing stories as Andrew had also dangled a lure in front of a crocodile which had been hanging around their boat. It took the lure for a few seconds till it broke away, but it continued following their boat around. There’s a strict rule around here if you’re anywhere near the saltwater you have to be very stupid to go swimming.
After lunch I stayed on the boat as my right knee had started to swell up a bit. Sylvia went out on the sightseeing tour with Mike and Bree, our two American guests, and Lloyd as the guide.
At 5pm we had a very interesting presentation from Lloyd on the history of the Kimberley area, including many of the goings on here over the years. Following that I spent a few minutes in the bridge looking at how the electronic navigation system works in conjunction with the radar. Even with all that equipment they still carry paper charts. We then joined everyone for another fantastic meal with sticky date pudding for dessert.
