Dropping in for a dip

You could reach this waterhole north of the Berkeley River in the Kimberley by foot from the Berkeley River Lodge but it would be a helluva long hike though through very difficult country. The best way is just to drop in by helicopter-landing in the lower part of the waterhole.You have to be careful on the slippery rocks as you climb out of the chopper.
Soaking in the waterhole itself-below-was something else. The water was warm and soft and small fish came and nibbled at my feet and back-a rather odd sensation. Apparently from about half way across the waterhole there is a big very deep hole which a freshwater crocodile has been known to inhabit. Freshwater crocs are not aggressive unlike their saltwater cousins but in any case on the day we dropped in there was no sign of it.
I slipped on the rocks climbing out and fell heavily but came away with just a grazed knee. I was lucky. Otherwise it might have been a helicopter medivac.

Remote defined.

I have just spent four nights at the stunning Berkeley River Lodge on the Berkeley River in a most remote part of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Lodge is only accessible by air or by sea. Guests arrive by light aircraft from Darwin which is an hour and 45mins flying time away. The accommodation is in 20 villas-steel huts- perched on a line of dunes overlooking either the sea or the Berkeley River. Supplies are bought in by barge every 6 weeks from Wyndham which is a few hundred kms away and daily in the light plane.

I run out of superlatives describing the resort. The location is beyond stunning and the activities are equally stunning. Above all else it is the remoteness of the location which I appreciated. I went fishing one morning in a boat in the area around the mouth of the huge Berkeley river. Apart from the four other people on the boat I did not see another person or see a single sign of civilisation for 4 hours-no sweet wrappers, no mobile phone towers on the horizon, no buildings or cars, not even a single plastic bottle on the beach. Just the stunning scenery, plenty of fish and saltwater crocodiles as well as sea eagles and sharks.