00:00The Kimberley is a truly unique wilderness area, known as Australia's last frontier.
00:07From the rugged landscapes of cracking clays, to its ancient rock formations, the Kimberley
00:16captures the imagination of all who visit it.
00:22The Kimberley region is located in the far northern corner of Western Australia and covers
00:27more than 400,000 square kilometres.
00:30That makes it one-sixth the size of Western Australia.
00:35Its population though is tiny, just 38,000 people.
00:40It's an ancient region with fewer people per square kilometre than almost any other place
00:45on earth.
00:47The Kimberley consists mainly of ancient, steep-sided mountain ranges, from which the
00:52extreme climate has removed most of the soil.
00:56Although none of the mountains reach 1,000 metres, there is a considerable amount of
01:00steep land, making much of the region very difficult to cross.
01:09The Kimberley has a tropical monsoon climate.
01:12During the wet season, from November to April, the region receives about 90% of its rainfall
01:18and cyclones are common, especially around Broome.
01:26During the dry season, from May to October, southeasterly breezes bring sunny days and
01:32cool nights.
01:42Hidden in the heart of the Kimberley region are vast wildlife sanctuaries, spectacular
01:47gorges and thundering waterfalls.
01:51One of the most remote but alluring attractions is the Mitchell Falls.
01:56From the Mitchell Plateau, the Mitchell River plunges over three separate tiered waterfalls.
02:02From the air, the Mitchell Falls look impressive, a string of waterfalls linking big basins
02:07of water.
02:09Creeks and streams feed out of the Mitchell Plateau all year round, even in the driest
02:14part of the dry season.
02:17There are excellent natural swimming holes here too.
02:29And then the breathtaking falls themselves.
02:35Visitors can walk around the rim of the upper falls, overlooking the huge pools and waterfalls
02:40that together make up the Mitchell Falls.
02:45Another experience not to be missed is in a helicopter ride over the Mitchell Falls.
02:55From 300 metres up, you get to see how the Mitchell River has gouged massive gorges as
03:00it surges off the side of the Mitchell Plateau.
03:03These three separate falls drop roughly 80 metres.
03:07That makes them the second tallest waterfall in Western Australia.
03:13In the wet season, all of the rock faces will be awash with even more water, as the
03:18whole top end is inundated.
03:21But even when there's been no rain for several months like now, there's an impressive flow.
03:27Impressive too are the sheer size of the gorges, carved out by surging water over millions of
03:33years.
03:34The Mitchell Falls, exhilarating to explore from both the ground and the air.
03:43Close to the Mitchell Falls, visitors encounter the site of some sacred rock art.
03:49Most of the ochre paintings on these sandstone walls were made over thousands of years by
03:54the Wunanbal people.
04:08Visitors to these Mitchell Falls can also stay in this tented wilderness camp.
04:13All of these tents will be dismantled when the cyclones and heavy rains of the wet season
04:17set in.
04:21Another must-see in the Kimberley is the giant cattle property, El Cuestro.
04:33El Cuestro and its glorious boab trees is a million acre wilderness property that serves
04:39as both a resort for high flyers and is a working cattle property.
04:45Five thousand head of cattle are kept here, fattened and mustered in the yards by a team
04:49of hardened stockmen.
04:53Breeding cattle in the Kimberley can be a risky business, with crocodiles one of the
04:57many hazards faced by both the cattle and their keepers.
05:05El Cuestro also has some beautiful waterways.
05:12The Chamberlain Gorge is a three kilometre long fresh water hole, fringed by tropical
05:16vegetation, which visitors can explore by boat.
05:211.8 billion years old, the deep ochre sandstone cliffs of the Chamberlain Gorge are a great
05:26setting for romance and adventure.
05:30The Chamberlain Gorge is impressive for many reasons.
05:34Boca escarpments up to 60 metres tall line its banks.
05:39And towards the end of this three kilometre long water hole, there's an excellent collection
05:43of Bradshaw paintings.
05:47These distinctive style of ancient rock art paintings are still a mystery, thought to
05:52have been painted by people who lived before the Aborigines some 60,000 years ago.
05:59Rock wallabies live along its shores, while fishermen catch barramundi.
06:04For a touch of romance in the Kimberley, there's the fresh water Zebedee Springs.
06:12These thermal springs are set in lush surroundings.
06:16The vegetation here at El Cuestro, like all over the Kimberley, is both hardy and robust.
06:24For half the year, trees like these giant boabs survive our next to no rainfall.
06:29Then in the wet season, they're drowned by up to 1,400 millimetres of rain.
06:36The boabs are the iconic symbol of the Kimberleys, found nowhere else in Australia.
06:42Some of the boabs are up to 1,500 years old.
06:45The large spherical fruit of the boabs hang like giant Christmas decorations.
06:54Another authentic outback experience can be found nestled at the foot of the spectacular
06:59Coburn Range.
07:02Once a poorly neglected cattle station, Home Valley Station is now an outback oasis, where
07:08visitors can enjoy a range of activities like rounding up cattle.
07:13Home Valley Station is owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation, and was purchased on behalf
07:18of the Ballangatta people of the East Kimberley.
07:25Visitors here can also go fishing on the Pentecost River.
07:33Further east is Lake Argyle, the largest expanse of fresh water in Australia.
07:40This inland sea was created in 1971 by damming the mighty Ord River, forming a storage reservoir
07:48to supply one of the country's largest irrigation schemes.
07:53What was once known as Argyle Downs, a million acre cattle station, is now an immense body
07:59of water amid a largely untamed wilderness that can sometimes encompass an area of 54
08:05times the capacity of Sydney Harbour.
08:10Lake Argyle has become famous for the rugged red cliffs reflected in the azure blue water.
08:16This lake is designated as a Ramsar Wetland, with an extremely large variety of bird life.
08:24Rock wallabies also thrive in the crevices close to the water's edge.
08:31At the southern end of Lake Argyle is the world's biggest diamond mine.
08:37The Argyle diamond mine is technically not open to visitors, although one operator, Sling
08:42Air, has been allowed to conduct tours through the mines.
08:48Visitors to the $430 million dollar Argyle mine follow the whole mining process, which
08:54extracts more than 30 million carats of diamonds each year.
08:59Although only 5% of the mine's production is gem quality, it has gained a worldwide
09:04reputation for its rare and valuable pink diamonds, as well as fine whites, champagnes
09:11and cognac coloured diamonds.
09:15This part of the Kimberley is also the site of the Bungle Bungles, a place of majestic
09:20formations.
09:25Over the last 400 million years, the winds of the Tanami Desert have blasted through
09:30these sedimentary deposits to create the unique dome-like formations.
09:36In this timeless part of the world, one needs to stop and look closely, very closely, to
09:41discover that many living creatures have made this their home.
09:49Water, as it turns out, is what created these formations in the first place.
09:55Persistent and heavy rainfall hundreds of millions of years ago slowly eroded the sandstone
10:00rock bed to leave the unique dome-shaped formations we find today.
10:06Best and certainly quickest way to explore these formations is in the air.
10:11In fact, it's only recently, 1982, that the Bungle Bungles were discovered, and that was
10:16from a pilot flying a TV crew.
10:23Further west is the more easily accessible Winjana Gorge.
10:28The most noticeable feature of Winjana Gorge is the freshwater crocodiles.
10:34There's a resident population of over 70 freshwater crocodiles here.
10:40Freshwater crocs are usually harmless but can bite, making swimming in these pools a
10:45risk to visitors.
10:49The Kimberley, wild and wonderful, a place like no other on earth.
