Wyndham WA Kimberley, Western Australia
Australia
14
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Frequently Asked Questions
At the old port wharf, which primarily serves regional trade. Expedition ship passengers land here at the start or end of their voyage, often with a road transfer to Kununurra, about a hundred kilometres away.
The lookout on top of the Bastion, the rocky ridge behind the port: the only place in the world from which five rivers — the King, Pentecost, Durack, Forrest and Ord — can be seen emptying into the same gulf in a single view. At sunset the scene turns to fire.
By vehicle, on the road that climbs the Bastion. It's not a walk: excursions from the call or a taxi handle the climb, and this alone is the attraction that justifies stopping at Wyndham.
No. Saltwater crocodiles patrol the mudflats and estuaries of Cambridge Gulf, and swimming appears on no programme. A concrete crocodile statue the size of a bus at the town entrance makes the point with some humour.
Wyndham claims the title of Australia's hottest town by annual average. Hat, water and measured pace are basic equipment, and shade is scarce once you step outside.
The town was founded in 1886 as the gateway for gold seekers heading to Halls Creek, then lived for decades on its meatworks, shipping beef from the vast Kimberley cattle stations. The small local museum tells this saga of pioneers, telegraph operators and drovers.
A wetland in the Parry Lagoons reserve, about twenty kilometres away, one of the most respected birdwatching sites in northern Australia. From the boardwalk you watch whistling ducks, jabirus, egrets and jacanas walking on the lilies, while a few crocodiles doze among the lotus.
Yes, on the road to Parry Lagoons: a hollow Australian boab once used as a makeshift lock-up, a reminder of the harsh early days of settlement in the region.
Gleaming mudflats, mangroves, red rock hills flattened by heat, and tides among the largest in the country, redrawing the shoreline twice a day.
Travellers after authenticity rather than comfort. Wyndham makes no attempt to charm: the heat, the red mud, the crocodiles and the silence make a call of complete sincerity, the opposite of a polished port.
