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The French luxury expedition line, Ponant, have embarked on a remarkable project to film one of the world’s most untamed wilderness areas – the Kimberly in the remote north west of Australia.
Acclaimed Australian photographer Nick Rains has captured spectacular vision of the Kimberly during his recent Ponant Kimberly voyage onboard the luxurious L’Austral.
Nick Rains captured the Kimberly from Zodiac.
Nick’s photography has featured in Australian Geographic and on the BBC. During his Ponant voyage into the Kimberly he captured images from the water and an entirely new dimension – with a drone mounted camera.
One of the great challenges he faced was capturing the changing colours and grandeur of the 13,000 kilometre stretch of coastline. Larger than 75% of the world’s countries, the Kimberley is a national biodiversity hotspot. It is listed in the top 3.7% of least impacted marine environments in the world.
Nick Rains drone-mounted camera filmed guests on expedition.
Among the many natural wonders Nick filmed onboard the Ponant Kimberly voyage were the King George Falls, the Hunter River, Horizontal Falls and tidal Montgomery Reef. In each of these ruggedly beautiful regions he captured rarely seen overhead perspectives.
Ponant have quickly become recognised as Kimberly specialists. This year’s voyages have sold out and only a few openings remain for the 2018 season.
Guests sail onboard the internationally recognised, environmentally accredited small ship L’Austral. It is the youngest and most modern ship in the region. L’Austral features the very latest in maritime technology, including 3D sonar for seabed vision, a dynamic positioning system to avoid dropping anchor in sensitive maritime environments and electric propulsion for reduced emissions.
As Nick Rains has discovered, L’Austral is perfect for exploring the Kimberly region, much of which is still uncharted with dramatic tidal changes.
The luxurious L’Austral sails through The Kimberly – Courtesy Nick Rains.
Guests on the 2018 Ponant Kimberly voyage will visit areas with the highest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the world. The voyages will also coincide with prime time for observing the largest population of migrating Humpback whales in the world – estimated to number at least 36,000 individuals.
All these natural wonders can be explored from Ponant’s luxurious L’Austral and her 14 Zodiacs.
Visit Nick Rains website.
About the Author: Jason Kerr
