Circumnavigating Australia - week 1, the West coast
We were starting our four week circumnavigation of Australia on Princess Cruises Coral Princess in the city of Perth in Western Australia. The first week of our travels would take us from Perth 400km northwards to the mining city of Geraldton, followed by a couple of sea days to get to the holiday resort of Broome before quick stop at a pearl farm in Kuri bay on the Kimberley coast.
We decided to arrive in Perth the night before our cruise left, choosing to head straight from the airport to Fremantle where we would embark the following morning. Though we didn’t have much time to explore Fremantle we made the most of our time there, booking a hotel in the heart of the city centre to ensure we could explore the town on foot. Our hotel, The National, was an excellent choice - with only 12 rooms, ours was on the top floor with a lovely view over to the docks, and after a walk around Fremantle and a quick stop at the Little Creatures Brewery to try one of their beer paddles, we headed back to our hotel and the roof top bar for dinner and a cold glass of white wine as the sun set in the background.
Waking early we were excited to look out of our hotel room window to see our ship had arrived. With a few hours before we had to check out of the hotel we headed into town to get some breakfast at a nearby restaurant so we could check out of hotel then, leaving our luggage with them, wander down to the waterfront for a leisurely coffee in a beachside cafe, the perfect way to spend an hour or two before we could embark on our cruise.
Embarkation was a little slow but any frustrations were quickly forgotten once we were on board the beautiful Coral Princess. We had been a little worried about our room choice, an oceanview room located next to the casino, but as soon as we stepped into the room our fears dissipated with the large picture window giving us a fabulous sea view and its central location next to the main piazza and a very short stroll to the central lifts making it easy to access all of the public areas, especially the international cafe, one of our favourite venues. We spent the rest of the day settling in to our room and the ship, making sure we had planned our dinner reservations, shore excursions, spa entry etc etc, ending the day with a lovely 3 course dinner in the Provence dining room before succumbing to jet lag.
Our first port of call was Geraldton, a mining city in Western Australia, about 230 miles north of Perth with one of the busiest ports in the country. We decided that on this 4 week cruise we would start each day with an exercise session, Rich choosing to go to the gym and Helen to the lido pool. Up early we were on one of the first buses into Geraldton, already noticing the rise in temperature and humidity. We spent a couple of hours wandering around Geraldton, walking along the sea front and back through the high street, making sure to get our steps in for the day.
Back on the ship by lunchtime we changed into our swimwear headed up to the Sanctuary. Since we didn’t have a balcony we had decided to book the Sanctuary for our whole cruise and had reserved a lovely little cabana to ensure we had some necessary shade and a comfortable lounger to relax on when we were on the ship. The Sanctuary is an extra cost area available on Princess ship offering luxurious pre-booked sun loungers, special menus for breakfast, lunch, snacks and afternoon tea, a dedicated serving team and an exclusive hot tub or pool. For $20 for half a day, $40 for a full day or $30 a day if booked for the whole voyage we always find it good value for an extra special treat.
Despite the next day being a relaxing sea day we were both up before 7am for our daily exercise in the gym and pool, glad we could then relax in the Sanctuary for the rest of the day. As part of our daily exercise routine we also incorporated an early evening walk around the wonderful promenade deck. That evening was our first formal night and Captain’s welcome reception party in the main atrium, happy to see the return of the champagne waterfall.
With another sea day before arriving into Broome we made sure to try out some of the different dining options on board taking breakfast at The International Cafe and lunch in Sabatini’s, which on sea day lunchtimes becomes the popular Alfredo’s pizzeria. Though the menu is not as extensive as on the larger ships the pizzas are just as good and the perfect size for lunch. In the evening we decided to try one of the speciality restaurants, the Bayou Steakhouse, which has the same menu as Crown Grill on many of the other Princess ships.
After two days at sea we were pleased to arrive into Broome to see what the northern part of Western Australia had to offer. With the ship docked a little way out of the town there was a free shuttle bus to take passengers the 15 minute drive to the heart of the town. Just a short stroll from the shuttle bus stop was an independent tourist bus which we jumped on to take us out to Cable Beach, so called because its where the first telegraph cable came into Australia from Java in 1889. This renowned beach is miles long with beautiful coloured sands and blue seas which despite it’s enticing lure, is ill advised to swim in, being a breeding ground for the deadly box jellyfish. After a wander along the beach we decided to grab a coffee at a beachside cafe, enjoying a visitation from a rather large local goanna as we sipped on our coffee and enjoyed the views out to sea. Catching the bus bak through the town and out to Town Beach on the other side of the peninsula we spent a little time turtle spotting off the jetty before walking back to the town along the beach promenade , stopping at Matso’s Brewery to sample one of their beer paddles in an attempt to cool down.
That evening we had been invited to a sunset sailaway party with just a few other guests. Up on the top deck sports area there was live music and some of the senior officers in attendance as we enjoyed a drink while waiting for the sun to go down. Broome is known for its glorious sunsets and it didn’t disappoint, with an amazing sky and beautiful sunset over the sea as we sailed away from this lovely town. Once the sun had set we decided to stay out on the open decks, grabbing a couple of loungers for that evening’s Movie Under The Stars, Thor Love and Thunder. Ordering a cocktail to go with our plate of food from the buffet, we settled in to watch the movie, grabbing a lovely ice cream sundae from the swirls bar a little later on - a perfect evening.
Waking up to another sea day it was extraordinarily hot as we started our scenic sailing of the Kimberley coast starting with a transit into York Sound. Even though the heat was almost unbearable we stayed outside to take in the stunning scenery as we sailed through the York sound with colourful cliffs and stunning white-beached islands dotting the horizon. The humid weather made for set dramatic skies with clear blue skies on one side of the ship and dark, stormy skies the other. Reaching the end of the sound the ship did a couple of 360degree turnarounds to allow us all to take in the view from all angles before heading out to sea again.
Taking a stroll on the promenade deck as the sun was setting we were treated to the most magnificent sunset.
The next morning the Coral Princess dropped anchor in Kuri Bay in Kimberley, Western Australia. There’s nothing in Kuri Bay except for a pearl farm so the only way to leave the ship was to book either a walking tour excursion or, for the braver guests, a scenic flight on a sea plane. We chose to do the walking tour. Taking a tender to shore we we’re shown around the little ‘village’ where the 20-25 pearl farm workers live, with the history of pearl farming in the region explained along the way. Not only was it an interesting insight into the significance of pearl farming in Australia it was incredible to see the conditions they live and work in. We were only ashore for an hour and a half and we each got through an entire bottle of water and had to come back for a very cold shower - the heat here is intense! Not only are they battling the heat, the wildlife is pretty deadly - they had spotted a sea crocodile only that morning and they regularly see sharks and jellyfish in the bay, as well as the snakes that live in the undergrowth on the land. Set up in the 1950s the Paspaley pearl farm has running water piped in from the creak on the other side of the bay but they still live pretty rudimentally with no air con, limited power from a couple of generators and a cyclone shelter that is essentially a shipping container. The land the pearl farm sits on is leased from the Crown, being surrounded by Aborigine national park and is the only inhabited section of land between Derby and Darwin with the mostly young men that work there flying in from Darwin on either a 2 week on/1week off or a 4 week on/2 week off roster. What an interesting morning and a privilege to have set foot on Kimberley land.
Despite it being one of the cheapest and shortest shore excursions we took on our voyage the visit to the pearl farm turned out to be one of our favourites, but the day wasn’t over yet as we had been invited to join the Chef’s Table Dinner in Sabatini’s that night. We met the other ten diners who would be joining us at the Chef’s Table outside Sabatini’s and were greeted by the head maitre’d and the executive chef for photos before being seated at the lovely table which had been placed in front of the open kitchen. The meal was wonderful meal with amuse bouche served with champagne, a risotto served with white wine, a sorbet palate cleanser, a main course and cheese course served with a red wine and a delicious lemon dessert served with a desert wine - all accompanied with stories and anecdotes from our wonderful host. We finished the meal with petit fours before leaving Sabatini’s to go and enjoy a post dinner cocktail with our fellow table mates in Good Spirits bar, the perfect way to end the first week of our four week voyage.
We would like to say thank you to Princess cruises for inviting us to join the Chef’s table in Sabatini’s. All other costs on this trip were paid for by us.
For part two of this voyage click here. For part three click here, and for part four click here.
If you enjoyed this article you may also enjoy our New Zealand blogs, North Island and South Island, or our 72 hours in Sydney blog.
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