Essence of the Kimberley with Grand Kimberley Coast Reviews
1 Essence of the Kimberley with Grand Kimberley Coast reviews from past travellers that booked with Global Journeys.
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Our 20 day Essence of the Kimberley with Grand Kimberley Coast tour was fabulous. However, we also had several events that happened to make it a little unsettling. First of all, our luggage did not arrive when we reached Broome on a Saturday, and there was no flight from Brisbane-Sydney to Broome until Tuesday - another 3 days! No one at the Broome ...read more airport to help either. Eventually we got a form to fill out and was told to wait until Qantas contacted us. We went to our hotel (Oaks Cable Beach - not the hotel that the tour was leaving from), spent the night there, then checked out and went to Cable Beach Club Resort where the tour would be leaving from the next morning.
Spoke to Mas from APT on Sunday, who tried her best to see where our luggage might be or when it might arrive. Our tour was leaving 7.00am on Monday morning! We had one change of clothes and minimal toiletries. APT suggested we purchase extra clothing and essentials and that they would get our luggage out to us as soon as possible. But they wanted us to join the tour. On a Sunday afternoon around 4.00pm, we managed to find a store open, KMart, bought a large bag and about $300 worth of basic essentials to start the trip. It is June and weather is cold at night and warm in the day. After returning to our hotel, later that evening, our luggage arrived! Thank goodness! But it was after we'd purchased extra goods.
So we were ready to start our 20 day Kimberley Tour. We're thankful that APT were as helpful as possible under the circumstances. It was disappointing that there wasn't a welcome dinner on the first night so we could've met the driver and other passengers. 7.00am Monday morning we start off on our tour. A full bus of 22 passengers. (We thought the maximum number of passengers was 20!) The air-conditioning wasn't working well, so Richard the Driver, Tour Leader, dropped all of us off in Broome town for an hour while he got the bus looked at at the depot. We got a new bus with better air-conditioning. So off we set. All going really well and enjoying the trip. Day 7, on drive to Manning Creek, we got punctures - 2 flat tyres! Fortunately we were near a rest stop with toilets, so we had morning tea while the 2 tyres were being changed. Off we go! Further down the road, we got another puncture and flat tyre! No spare tyres now!! Richard phoned for help with his satellite phone, but we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the day, with little shade. We waited over 2 hours for help to arrive so we could continue on. But the air compression brakes weren't working properly, so it was a slow trip to Bell Gorge, and no activities that day.
Fortunately, Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge is fantastic and so was the food. Excellent, after a difficult day. All praise goes to Richard, the driver, and one of our passengers who helped with the tyres and getting us on the road again. It was good to get back to Broome and Cable Beach Resort Club and be able to do some washing before starting on our cruise. It was disappointing that there wasn't a final dinner or gathering when we arrived in Broome. We'd been through a lot together and it would've been nice to have one last meal or drink together once we'd arrived in Broome. The things we saw and experienced on the land tour through the Kimberleys was fantastic and despite our flat tyres, it was a great trip. We highly commend Richard, our driver, for getting us through some difficult times.
6 couples from the land tour also went on the cruise. The entire cruise was great and enjoyed everything...food, service, guides, experiences. Amazing to see some of the natural wonders of the area. It was great to see the Kimberleys from both sides...land and sea. It was truly amazing. We'd highly recommend doing this trip and seeing the Kimberleys from both sides. Many people only do the cruise, or just the land tours, but they're missing out of half of the beauty it offers. APT were helpful with our luggage delay and we're thankful for that. Whether the bus could've been in better condition, I can't say. We found that just having one person to be driver, tour leader, and everything else is probably too big a job. All of us on our tour felt that there should be a driver and a tour leader. The roads are so bad in some areas, that to navigate the roads was difficult enough, without having to give information about the countryside, what bird it that, what vegetation is that, how old are these ranges, etc, etc, and then also set up our roadside lunches, make sure everyone has enough water and is safe on the walks, and some of the walks were difficult. Overall...it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and well worth it. I booked through Global Journeys and are happy with their service. Thank you.
Spoke to Mas from APT on Sunday, who tried her best to see where our luggage might be or when it might arrive. Our tour was leaving 7.00am on Monday morning! We had one change of clothes and minimal toiletries. APT suggested we purchase extra clothing and essentials and that they would get our luggage out to us as soon as possible. But they wanted us to join the tour. On a Sunday afternoon around 4.00pm, we managed to find a store open, KMart, bought a large bag and about $300 worth of basic essentials to start the trip. It is June and weather is cold at night and warm in the day. After returning to our hotel, later that evening, our luggage arrived! Thank goodness! But it was after we'd purchased extra goods.
So we were ready to start our 20 day Kimberley Tour. We're thankful that APT were as helpful as possible under the circumstances. It was disappointing that there wasn't a welcome dinner on the first night so we could've met the driver and other passengers. 7.00am Monday morning we start off on our tour. A full bus of 22 passengers. (We thought the maximum number of passengers was 20!) The air-conditioning wasn't working well, so Richard the Driver, Tour Leader, dropped all of us off in Broome town for an hour while he got the bus looked at at the depot. We got a new bus with better air-conditioning. So off we set. All going really well and enjoying the trip. Day 7, on drive to Manning Creek, we got punctures - 2 flat tyres! Fortunately we were near a rest stop with toilets, so we had morning tea while the 2 tyres were being changed. Off we go! Further down the road, we got another puncture and flat tyre! No spare tyres now!! Richard phoned for help with his satellite phone, but we were stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the day, with little shade. We waited over 2 hours for help to arrive so we could continue on. But the air compression brakes weren't working properly, so it was a slow trip to Bell Gorge, and no activities that day.
Fortunately, Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge is fantastic and so was the food. Excellent, after a difficult day. All praise goes to Richard, the driver, and one of our passengers who helped with the tyres and getting us on the road again. It was good to get back to Broome and Cable Beach Resort Club and be able to do some washing before starting on our cruise. It was disappointing that there wasn't a final dinner or gathering when we arrived in Broome. We'd been through a lot together and it would've been nice to have one last meal or drink together once we'd arrived in Broome. The things we saw and experienced on the land tour through the Kimberleys was fantastic and despite our flat tyres, it was a great trip. We highly commend Richard, our driver, for getting us through some difficult times.
6 couples from the land tour also went on the cruise. The entire cruise was great and enjoyed everything...food, service, guides, experiences. Amazing to see some of the natural wonders of the area. It was great to see the Kimberleys from both sides...land and sea. It was truly amazing. We'd highly recommend doing this trip and seeing the Kimberleys from both sides. Many people only do the cruise, or just the land tours, but they're missing out of half of the beauty it offers. APT were helpful with our luggage delay and we're thankful for that. Whether the bus could've been in better condition, I can't say. We found that just having one person to be driver, tour leader, and everything else is probably too big a job. All of us on our tour felt that there should be a driver and a tour leader. The roads are so bad in some areas, that to navigate the roads was difficult enough, without having to give information about the countryside, what bird it that, what vegetation is that, how old are these ranges, etc, etc, and then also set up our roadside lunches, make sure everyone has enough water and is safe on the walks, and some of the walks were difficult. Overall...it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and well worth it. I booked through Global Journeys and are happy with their service. Thank you.
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