Prince Regent River - Two more waterfalls, more hiking, more swimming and lots of crocs!

 This morning we were inundated with cruise boat tenders passing us starting at 06:00.  The cruise boats had moored downstream by Camp Creek and set their passengers up in their tenders to see the waterfalls.  Luckily they provide whirlwind tours so by 10:00 all tenders had headed back downstream and we had the upper river to ourselves again.  We headed out in our tinny to explore the upper reaches of the river.  At the head of the river there was a small and narrow creek which ended in a tall waterfall.

Waterfall at the head of the Prince Regent River

We snapped a few pictures of the waterfall and immediately headed out of the small creek to the main river.  The creek was very narrow and murky and seemed like a perfect location for a crocodile attack.

When safely back in the main river we headed back downstream to see Kings Cascade Falls.  This is a very famous waterfall and was the attraction for all the people from the cruise boats.

The beautiful Kings Cascade Falls.  People have put their boat bows under the waterfall.

Paul and I decided we would climb up to the top of the waterfall to check out the promised swimming hole above the falls.  The climb was difficult up the sheer cliff and when we arrived at the top we found the pool choked with grasses.  Not the swimming hole we expected!  We thought there must be something better upstream so we walked along the dry portion of the riverbed.  The going was easy and we marvelled at the power the river must have in the rainy season to have carved such a wide deep canyon through the rock.  Eventually we arrived at an idyllic and deep pool with a small waterfall at its head.  We greatly enjoyed our cooling swim in the crystal clear water.

What a beautiful spot!

All to soon it was time to head back down to the dinghy where Glen was patiently waiting for us to return.  On our hike up we had noticed near the top an official trail so we decided to follow it down.  The trail was much easier than the route we had climbed up and we arrived back at the bottom with our incident.  During our hike the tide had dropped significantly leaving huge mud banks in the area around the falls.  Paul and I determined the closest place to cross the mud between the rocks and water and had Glen bring the dinghy to the edge of the mud bank.  Once we were safely aboard the dinghy Glen showed us the two crocodiles he had been watching on the mud banks since we left.  One of the crocs was at least 10 feet long!

A very large crocodile near the base of Kings Cascade Falls

The second croc was smaller and we have seen another on a sandbar near where True North is anchored.

Later today when the tide is rising again we will head down the river to anchor below the shallow sandbars and will continue to our next anchorage on the falling tide tomorrow.