Raft Point - Kimberley Day 9: Breakfast on the beach, scenic tour of Three Ways and Montgomery Reef

28th June 2026

I awoke at 5:40, too late to attempt further sleep, and with sunrise scheduled for 6:10, I quickly showered, dressed and adjourned with my coffee to the top deck

We are at anchor at Reef point and there is a private vessel and a fisheries boat also anchored in the bay.

By 6:15 the sun is above the horizon, painting a path across the water and starting to highlight the red cliffs on the other side of the bay.

Even at this time of the morning I can feel it's heat on the back of my neck.

Sandstone on dolerite; all lit up by the rising sun

The orange sandstone cliffs here are sitting on a later of dolerite, providing an interesting contrast of colour.

A white egret, at least I presume that is what it is) paces the mangrove mudflats and the occasional fish jumps.

As the egret takes flight, so do a few smaller dark birds I had not seen.

Breakfast on the beach (Jasmine's photo)

Breakfast this morning was burritos on the beach with a fruit platter and I elected not to have a burrito and Marco had prepared me two boiled eggs instead. There was also banana and Berry smoothie made with coconut yoghurt which was just perfect .

The coast near the beach

Breakfast demolished in a relatively short time and there was time for a wander along the beach to see what treasures could be found. They were, of course, some and I enjoyed playing guessing games with many others over the identification of some pencil urchin spines.

Sea urchin spines and other treasures

A large eagle ray was spotted close to the beach, but not in a way that allowed any identifyable photos.

Lots of Hermit Crabs

 

Once back to the boat, engineer Tommy conducted some small group tours of the engine room in which I didn't participate and then we are underway and heading our next destination, Three Ways.

We are passing more stunning Sandstone cliffs, with various vegetation communities below.

 

The scenic tour is rather lovely and we started by observing the two tenders with the fisherman who were having some success. As it turned out later they had much success.

Successful fishing

A couple of crocs were sighted, but only just.

A sea eagle swooped down to take a released fish that was a bit too slow (Jasmine's photo)

We did see one sea eagle as it swished down to grab a fish that had been discarded by the fisherman.  We also saw an osprey on its nest and later in flight. 

Osprey on its nest

The colours of the different mangroves with water and flower behind and then gum trees further up really was beautiful.

Many stunning shades of green

On our way to our next destination, Montgomery Reef, we pass some beautiful islands and more stunning cliffs.

 

More stunning cliff spam :)

Lunch was a perfect reinterpretation of fish and chips with the fish being pan fried in lemon butter, cooked to perfection and the chips being wedges very nicely fried, just crispy and hot but soft in the middle. And for me a separate bowl of steamed vegetables as the general populace were treated to mixed vegetables which included cauliflower, asparagus and snow peas. 

We arrive at Montgomery Reef as it is starting to show above the water and it's absolutely huge. I'm wondering if I am correct in my assuming what it is and the skipper confirms with an explanation of it on the charts.  I was looking forward to our exploration of it.

Before we can go and explore though there is an emergency drill with the scenario that we have hit a  rock and taken on water.

 

The crew dealt with that in the appropriate way as the passengers assembled in the required place, apart from Ron who is feeling unwell and was given permission to remain horizontal and asleep. 

Ananda, who said she had a sore throat yesterday which seems to have got worse has been keeping apart in her cabin but she presented herself for the emergency muster, suitably masked.

Waterfalls over the edge of the reef - they pack a punch!

The afternoon tour to Montgomery Reef was truly amazing. The Reef is some 400 square kilometres and as the tide goes out numerous cascades and small waterfalls form over the edge of the reef. 

Plenty of bird life on the reef

The main passage towards the centre of the reef is called Turtle Gully for very good reason. We saw many turtles briefly raise their heads or raise a flipper or show their shells, but we didn't really see anything clearly for more than a second or so.

 

Plenty of bird life on the reef

There was plenty of bird life on the reef. 

Plenty of bird life on the reef

As we turned at the end of the navigable part of the channel, the strengths of the water movement carried us quite quickly back towards the Reef Prince. The turbulence created by the many cascades and small waterfalls as the water escaped the reef really was something to behold and it all sounded a bit like a river running over quite serious rapids.

We were still in the tenders as the sun set and the ridiculous thought went through my head that it was lovely to be on the water at this time of the day. We've been on the water (onboard the Reef Prince) at this time of the day for the past week and a bit!

Posing nicely for his photo as we drifted with the outgoing tide

Sunset was glorious and the setting sunlight on the sky in the east was so delicate, highlighting the rising moon which is almost full.

 

The moon with sunset colours