Kimberley Coastal Camp takes ‘getting away from it all’ to a whole new level.
Story + Photos Mark Muller
As the chopper skims north from Mitchell Plateau over the vast Kimberley landscape, a sense of excitement grows. Sandstone outcrops, waterways, patches of remnant rainforest, spinifex, paperbark, boabs and kapok trees peel past below as you speed towards the mangrove-lined eastern shore of Admiralty Gulf
and the waiting delights of Kimberley Coastal Camp.
Soon enough the camp comes into view, the pilot banks around over the Big House, comes in to land on the shell grit beach and powers down. Then the beaming faces of Andrew ‘Tubs’ White and Jules Van Duuren appear beside the chopper doors and your stay at one of Australia’s most remote, remarkable and laid-back getaways begins.
At first, it’s a whirl of hugs and laughter and handshakes and hellos and goodbyes as incoming guests are welcomed and an outgoing party is farewelled. With no access by road, this is how most people travel. First a 65-minute fixed-wing flight from Kununurra to the landing strip at Mitchell Plateau, then another 20 minutes by helicopter to the camp proper. You’d be forgiven for thinking that just getting here is half the fun, but that doesn’t do justice to the amount of fun to be had during your stay. “Laughing is what the camp’s all about,” Tubs says. “We want people to feel comfortable immediately and have a bloody good time. If we catch a few fish, then all the better!”
This story excerpt is from Issue #120
Outback Magazine: August/September 2018
