John and Mary Kormendy: Seabourn Cruise 2025
This web site contains the pictures from our 80-day Seabourn Cruise from Darwin, Australia, west and south to Broome, Australia, then back to Darwin and on via Indonesian New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Santa Cruz Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, including Tahiti, Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, and the Juan Fernandez Islands, ending up in Santiago, Chile.
The trip is now under way. I will add pictures as I have time. The itinerary is busy, so I expect that I'll fall behind and will fill in many missing pictures only long after the trip is finished. (Note: We plan a trip to Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, and Borneo for January -- April, so I am serious when I say that I'll fall behind. All the above trips will have web sites with links at the end of this Seabourn 2025 site.)
The purpose of this web site is to catalog our memories, not to showcase the trip for public readers. So I include pictures that are not very good when they document sightings that are important to us.
Itinerary and Maps
This shows the itinerary of the second part of our cruise, from August 24 in Broome, Australia, until October 30 in San Antonio (near Santiago), Chile. The first part of our cruise from August 13 to August 24 visits the same places from Broome to Darwin but starts in Darwin and does them in reverse order.
This map shows the part of our Seabourn cruise from Broome, Australia to the Solomon Islands. We chose to begin our cruise in Darwin, Australia, and first cruise from Darwin to Broome with all the stops shown here but in reverse order. They are then repeated on the day numbers of our (formally separate, second) cruise from Broome to Chile. The numbers printed in dark red before each destination name are day numbers out of Broome. Printed in bright red are places where we birded during our 2022 July-August trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea -- see this web site for pictures.
This map shows in more detail our destinations during the next part of our cruise, from the Solomon Islands to French Polynesia. Again, red numbers are day numbers starting with 0 in Broome, Australia. It's a wide map: scroll right to see the full panorama.
To see the relative locations of the last stops on our cruise, we need to shrink the above maps by a lot. The resulting shows destinations from West Papua Indonesia and Papua New Guinea all the way to our final docking in San Antonio, the port of Santiago, Chile. This map was made from the "Windy Waves" web site encoding surface temperature. "Windy Waves" is a superb tool to check weather and sea conditions, especially during an ocean cruise but useful also to check (e. g.) temperatures and rainfall on land.
This shows many of our destinations on a relief map of the Pacific Ocean floor published many years ago by National Geographic. Most islands that we visit are the tips of volcanoes, sometimes in isolated burn-throughs of the Earth's crust and sometimes parts of mountain chains of volcanoes. It is remarkable how many times volcanoes have burned through the relatively thin Earth's crust that makes up the ocean floor. This map wonderfully puts our destinations in a global geoplanetary context.
Trip Birds
Scenery and "Land" Birds
August 15, 2025: Koolama Bay and King George River and Falls zodiac cruise
Our first stop was at King George River, SW of Darwin. The ship provided this map of the route of our 20-nautical-mile zodiac cruise up the tidal part of the river to the famous twin falls. Actually, I took this cruise as part of a photography course let by ship's photographer Harry Aslan Rogers. We first cruised up the mangrove-sided channel toward the bottom-left of the main river channel starting near its mouth. Went in as far as we could, until the left- and right-side mangrove banks merged. Then we cruised up the main river to the twin falls. This gave us a wonderfully detailed look at the ornate landscape and its wildlife. Especially the birds.
This is a more-than-180-degree panorama of Koolama Bay, the entrance to the river gorge. Here and throughout our zodiac cruise, the scenery was spectacular. Pan right to see the full pano.
Cliffs near the entrance to King George River. The "Warten sandstone" rock layers are approximately 1.8 billion years old: younger layers atop them are eroded away. These layers encode -- and overwhelmingly emphasize -- many millions of years of the history of this ancient place. They are amazingly ornate: see pictures that follow.
The complicated interaction of salt water spray, wind, and waves creates a marvellous 3-D tapestry of erosion -- captivating artistry everywhere you look, especially near water level. We were there at high tide, so there must have been much more of it under water.
This is the cliff top that towers over the previous two pictures.
Entering the King Goerge River gorge from Koolama Bay (scroll right to see the full pano)
Australian darter drying its wings
Osprey on a nest mid-way up the wall of the King George River gorge -- very safe and a very good place to make a living. We saw several Osprey and Peregrine falcons on nests, in the latter case (but not photographed) with 2 chicks.
White-faced heron
More 3D art, farther upstream
Ship's photographer Harry Aslan Rogers taking pictures of a precariously positioned rock known as "the guillotine' ... again, amid marvels of 3D art
This shows the guillotine.
Tenderness of tree amid rock
Sacred kingfisher
I found the artistry of the gorge walls irresistible.
These are the twin falls of the King George River, almost dried up, now, during the height of Northern Australia's dry season. The height of the falls is variously quoted as 80 - 100 m or 262 - 328 feet, presumably because they fall into a tidal river. I think that these are overestimates, and lower values can be found on the web. We were there at high tide, when the falls are less high than at low tide. The black color of the walls is due to cyanobacteria, which thrive when the falls are most active and which hang on and survive during the dry season.
King George river dry waterfall and (in shadow to the right) a zodiac at the same distance, for scale
The trickle of water that still flows during the dry season has cut a narrow niche for itself in the wall of the main waterfall.
Rainbow ... if you catch the sunlight just right
View of the King George River gorge from the twin falls back out toward the mouth of the river
Mertens water monitor (Varanus mertensi) on the way back to the ship
August 16, 2025: Vansittart Bay landing
Brolga -- one of three on the sand flats at our Vansittart Bay landing
Brown honeyeater was the most common honeyeater throughout the Northern Territory and Australian cruise portions of our trip. This was at the water hole at Vansittart bay.
White-throated honeyeater at the water hole
Yellow-tinted honeyeater (The yellow plume to the right of the black crescent at the ear is a bit too overexposed to be obvious.)
Yellow-tinted honeyeaters
Double-barred finch was the most common bird at the water hole.
August 17, 2025: Ashmore Reef zodiac cruise
Ashmore Reef is a major nesting site for pelagic birds, a stopover for migrating birds, and a marine sanctuary. Unfortunately, no arrangement was made for me to take a zodiac with the ship's most experienced birder and photographer. This was disappointing. I could potentially have gotten 2 moderately easy and several harder new birds. On my own, with limited time and a non-birder (but otherwise helpful) zodiac driver, I saw only 3 bird species and got only one new bird, the easy and distinctive Bridled tern.
Brown booby was by far the most common bird around us in shallow water inside the reef and near the nesting island.
Common noddy also was easy. It's a bird that we have known since our stay at Dunk Island, many years ago. I was hoping for Lesser noddy, but they are rarer and, among the relatively few birds that came close to our zodiac, I never saw one.
Bridled tern (This is my life bird. I saw several; they were clearly the most common tern -- at least just now -- at Ashmore Reef. The white eye stripe that extends well back behind the eye is characteristic.)
Ship's photographer Harry Rogers and our photo group zodiac driver
August 20 AM, 2025: Mitchell Falls helicopter tour from Hunter River
While I waited for the arrival of the helicopters that would take us to Mitchell Falls, this butterfly landed briefly on my face, presumably in search of salts. It looks most like a Dainty swallowtail (Papilo anactus). The range map for this species shows it only on the east coastal side of Australia "but with potential for vagrants in the Kimberley". If readers of this page can definitively ID it, please email me at kormendy at astro dot as dot utexas dot edu. Thanks!
The left helicopter took me (John) to Mitchell Falls. Mary had a bad cold and skipped this outing, so only 4 of 5 seats were occupied. I was lucky to get the right-hand back window seat, with the result that I could get good pictures during the roughly 20-minute flight.
View of the cockpit from the right-hand back seat. The passenger is photographing Seabourn Pursuit, moments after takeoff.
Seabourn Pursuit from the helicopter ride. Our suite during the Darwin-to-Broome part of the cruise is at the front of the deck immediately above the deck that extends to the bow, slightly overhung by the bridge deck and on the far (i. e., port) side of the ship, facing forward. Wonderful suite with wonderful views. On the rest of the cruise, from Broome to Santiago, Chile, we will be one floor farther up, also on the port side, immediatly aft of the bridge and therefore on the back side that is hidden in this view. This gives us a side-facing balcony, which is actually better for pelagic birding.
Kimberley coast from the helicopter
Rocky highland scrub forest gives way to mangroves in river valleys.
More views from the helicopter -- mangrove serpentines
Approaching Mitchell River and falls
Upper Mitchell River, which flows from right to left in this picture. The triple waterfall is at the head of the gorge at upper left.
Mitchell Falls from the helicopter
Now from our landing site, these are circular basins around 10 feet in diameter, upstream from the falls. They are produced during periods of flood flow by circular eddies that carry rocks which scour the basins. I have seen similar -- but less dramatic! -- basins more than 60 years ago along the Niagara River in eastern Canada.
Panoramas of the first view of Mitchell Falls from near the landing site. Scroll right to see the full pictures.
Mitchell falls -- simply gorgeous (movie)
Upper 3 Mitchell falls (Here is a movie that better captures the moment.)
Lower Mitchell falls
During the helicopter flight back to the ship, we were treated to a "bonus" view of 90 m Donkins Falls on the Hunter River.
August 20 PM, 2025: Hunter River -- Porosus Creek zodiac cruise
The afternoon, detailed "Image Masters" zodiac cruise was on Porosus creek. The Australian saltwater crocodile is Crocodylus porosus, so it is not hard to guess the main attraction.
Mudskippers were everywhere. We saw many confrontations over status, territory, and mating rights, no less ferocious for being between ~ 2-inch-long fish.
Mangrove robin -- good bird; well seen
Croc alert!
August 21 PM, 2025: Montgomery Reef zodiac cruise
At the beginning of our zodiac cruise, it felt like the top of the reef -- this part, anyway -- was just awash. But the tide fell quickly, and within an hour, about 4 m of the reef were exposed, and fast rivulets could not keep up in draining the reeftop. Some sea life gets stranded; other creatures try to escape, and predators such as birds and even reef sharks feast on the unlucky. Dominating the spectacle are torrents of shallow waterfalls as the reef continues to drain. As documented below:
A reef shark was momentarily stranded as it lunged after prey. It quickly flapped its way back into deeper water ... and then continued to hunt as the tide continued to drop.
Pied oystercatchers
Beach thick-knee (or Stone-curlew)
Gradually, dozens of waterfalls emerged as the tide continued to drain off the reef. The zodiac provides a sense of scale.
A movies provides a better sense of the feel of the tidal drainoff.
August 22 AM, 2025: Cyclone Creek zodiac cruise
Ship's photographer Harry Aslan Rogers (characteristically exuberant) and John (characteristically subdued) at the start of today's zodiac cruise to the spectacular rock formations around Cyclone Creek. Harry's Image Masters program gave five of us longer and more intimate excursions into nature plus excellent advice on photography and especially on finesse with the features of iphones and other cameras. Thanks also to Harry for tweaking the Image Masters' schedule to give me more chances to see new birds.
Cyclone Creek cliffs in early morning sunlight were a riot of color.
In the King George River valley, sedimentary strata were horizontal, but at Cyclone Creek, the layers that encode millions of years of sedimentation have been tilted -- here almost vertically -- or even crunched up into curves. Also, you can also see the consequence of arriving at low tide; many vertical meters of cliff are stained and covered with micro-organisms up to various high tide lines. Tidal ranges in the Kimberley are extraordinary, ~ 33 feet during spring tides and still ~ 12 feet during neap tides.
I hope that my photo co-conspirators -- including ship's photographer Harry -- don't mind if I post a picture of our group to record the feeling of tranquility inherent in the intimate connection with nature that was provided by the in-depth zodiac rides of our Image Masters Photography Masterclass.
Alcove in a cliff with trees makes for a charming moment in a memorable morning.
More tilted layers
Osprey ... far away
Spectacular rock formations ... including this movie.
More spectacular rocks and another movie to try to capture some of the feeling of sailing up Cyclone Creek .
Some layers are not just tilted -- they are squeezed up into rock waves.
The ubiquitous Brown honeyeater looks a bit different here ... or maybe this is just a juvenile.
Croc alert!
Mangrove robin
White-quilled rock-pigeon (I got my life bird just recently, on August 9th.)
August 23, 2025: Lacipede Island zodiac cruise
Today was promising: Lacipede Island just north of Broome is said to be a major nesting site for Roseate tern and could also have lesser Noddy, both of which I need. As it happens, I saw hundreds of Brown noddies and many hundreds of Brown boobies ... but no Lesser noddy and no Roseate tern. So today was a bit disappointing, despite the happy richness of more common birds. Still I got better pictures of Bridled tern than I did at Ashmore Reef.
Lacipede Islands Nature Reserve (with dark-morph Eastern reef-heron and Brown booby)
I tried to look at every one of the several hundred noddies that I photographed, but as near as I could tell, essentially all of them were resolutely Brown noddy. Note the sharp edge to the light gray cap at a line from the top of the bill to the eye. Below that line, the color is very dark. A few birds were brown all over. But none showed light gray between the bill and the eye, shading into brown only lower down on the chest. So I did not get Lesser noddy. And this was by far my best chance of the trip.
This cropped version of the above picture better shows the sharp line between bright above and dark brown below the line that connects the top of the bill with the eye. Hence: Brown noddy. Note how different birds have bills of different lengths and different amounts of decurvature. Hard to ID using bill length, as bird ID books suggest.
Brown noddy closeup to show colors between the bill and the eye
Bridled tern (The white eye stripe clearly extends back behind the eye.)
Caspian tern (non-breeding adult)
Brown boobies
Brown booby chick
Lesser frigatebird
Sacred kingfisher ... is not exactly to be expected on Lacipede Island. It surely did not get here "on purpose". On the other hand, this IS a place where a kingfisher might make a reasonably good living. But not a place where one might one day find a mate.
August 24, 2025: Broome
Today, we docked in Broome and formally switched from our Darwin-to-Broome cruise to our
Broome-to-Darwin-to-Santiago, Chile cruise. With much appreciated help from VENT's bird guide
Scott Baker, I had arranged to bird with Karina Sorrell
Mangroves and ornate rock formations at Roebuck Bay near Broome Bird Observatory (Scroll right
to see the full panorama.)
Mangrove fantail at "One-Tree" in Roebuck Bay (This is my life bird.
We got there just in time to benefit from the end of the "morning rush" ... plus the tide was
rapidly rising and driving us farther away from the mangroves. The spring tidal range here is a
remarkable 10 m; we were here less than a week before spring tide. Every few minutes, we had to
take a step back, farther up the beach, as the tide advanced.)
Dusky gerygone at "One-Tree" in Roebuck Bay (This is my life bird. It is a classic example
of a "little brown job" that is very hard to find and still harder to identify without a
guide.)
Sacred kingfisher
Silver gulls on what's left of the ornate rocks at Roebuck Bay at high tide
White-bellied sea eagle during the drive back to Broome
Gray-headed honeyeater was surprisingly easy and clearcut at the busy parking lot of Entrance Point
in Broome. This is my life bird.
Singing honeyeater, also at Entrance Point. This is a bad picture, almost directly up-sun,
but I include it because I may never have photographed this species before, and besides ...
it seems to have its eye on the prize.
Dusky gerygone one more time, in the shadows at Streeter's Jetty in Broome. By this time, the
tide was well on the ebb, and then, in mid-afternoon, bird activity got very subdued.
Mangrove fantail also one more time ... in a not very sharp picture in the shadows during the
heat of the day.
Meanwhile, the tide had gone out enough to expose the mud flats at Streeter's Jetty, so the
Fiddler crabs were out in force, trolling for mates. At this point, we declared the end of an
enjoyable and successful day. Many thanks to Karina for getting me the two target species
and the important bonus of Gray-headed honeyeater.
Today, John took the Mitchell Falls helicopter tour again, in part because, well: it's worth it ...
and because we wanted Mary to experience it, too. The weather was again perfect; the zodiac ride
to the helicopter takeoff and landing site was short and easy; the helicopter ride itself was again
very nice (this time, the tide was low and mud flats were exposed everywhere along Hunter river),
and the walk from the landing site at Mitchell Falls to the first, main lookout was not too hard
for Mary.
Mary at Mitchell Falls lookout: Red Bull gives her wiings. (Maybe not "wiiings", but still helpful.
Unfortunately, two cans would not give her wiiiiiings.)
Mary at the lookout to Mitchell Falls (Scroll right to see the full 180-degree panorama.)
Mitchell Falls (except for the uppermost falls) movie.
Bits of riparian habitat upstream from the falls: I heard bird song on my previous visit here,
so I looked for birds this time (specifically: Kimberley honeyeater), but we were scheduled too
late in the day for birding, and in the noon heat, the area was silent.
Red rock is characteristic of the Kimberley. This picture is exactly as taken with my iphone:
I have not changed the color balance, vibrance, or color saturation. The rock really is this
beautifully red.
Today, we stopped again at Ashmore Reef, on the way back from Broome to Darwin. I again took a
standard zodiac cruise with 11 other passengers. The zodiac driver was a good generalist but
had no special interest or expertise in birds. As expected, the result was a disappointing
ride. We were not allowed close to the islands where birds breed (this is, after all, a nature
reserve); we saw few birds, and only Brown boobies came close. I saw only a few, very distant terns,
mostly Common noddies and a few probable (but not confirmed) Bridled terns. No Roseate tern.
No Lesser noddy. Today was probably my last semi-realistic chance for Lesser noddy.
West Island at Ashmore Reef (This is the closest that we could get, photographed with an 800 mm
telephoto lens. The highest-flying bird is an adult Brown booby: adults were substantially
outnumbered by immatures.)
This was the only Common noddy that came close enough to be well photographed. Looks juvenile.
Immature Lesser frigatebirds were common during this zodiac cruise. I saw a few distant adults ...
but signs clearly were that we are here late in their breeding season. I suspect that the same is
true for other breeding sea birds. The end of August is not the best time to visit Ashmore reef.
Immature (probably Lesser) frigatebirds of various ages. The one with the white head is youngest.
Immature frigatebird (not sure whether this is Great or -- more probably -- Lesser) and
Brown booby (at least almost an adult)
Brown boobies were, like last time, by far the most common bird. They took an active interest in us,
and it was easy to get almost within arms length of birds sitting on buoys. Note again that all these
are immature birds.
Brown boobies (immature)
Today John again took the zodiac cruise up the King George River estuary to the twin falls.
This time, it was not an Image Masters cruise but just a normal (and therefore quicker) zodiac
excursion. I was again mesmerized by the 3-D artistry of erosion on the sandstone walls ...
but something went wrong with my iphone, and it erased all pictures taken before I arrived
at the falls. The following 3 pictures were taken with my birding camera. Pictures that follow
were taken with my iphone.
Artistry of erosion on the sandstone walls of the King George River gorge
The sea level estuary of the King George River ends about 7.5 miles upstream at the double falls.
Which are almost dry during the Northern Territory dry season. This shows the (black-walled) double
falls. Scroll right to see the full panorama.
King George River falls
Two views of the eastern wall of the river gorge near the falls
One more view of the western falls -- the one that was in sunlight -- before we headed back
to Seabourn Pursuit
And a last look at the east falls, now partly sunlit
This is the view back downstream away from (but still from near) King George River Falls.
More 3-D erosion art, this time on the east wall of the King George River gorge, on our way out
It is interesting how differently different rock faces are eroded. Presumably this results from
slight differences in composition and (e. g.) hardness ... because all this happened after the
various blocks were in place with respect to each other and all presumably had similar experiences
with eroding forces. It is also safe to assume that chunks sometimes break off the wall, taking
with them eroded faces and leaving behind a smooth surface. For all these reasons and maybe more,
results differ dramatically from block to block.
I can't resist adding one more ...
Everywhere we look, the walls of the gorge encode many millions of years of history.
From here, we zoomed back to the ship ... after a welcome second immersion in this wonderful experience.
This was the last stop in our return cruise from Broome to Darwin.
Our bird pictures from around the world follow standard ecozones approximately but not exactly:
Birds from the USA and Canada: our house,
Hornsby Bend and greater Austin,
Texas,
California,
Hawaii,
Canada,
Neotropic birds from Central America and the Caribbean: Honduras,
Costa Rica,
Panama,
Trinidad and Tobago
Neotropic birds from South America: Ecuador,
Ecuador 2017,
Brazil.
Western palearctic birds: Europe: Germany, Finland, Norway,
Europe: United Kingdom,
Europe: Spain,
the Canary Islands,
Europe: Lesbos, Greece,
Israel
Eastern palearctic birds: China
Birds from Africa: The Gambia,
South Africa
Indo-Malayan birds from India: North-west (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand)
India: North-east (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya)
India: Central (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh)
Birds from Australia,
New Zealand.
For our 2014 December trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2016 May-June trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2017 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2018 March trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2018 May trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2018 October trip from Munich to Budapest, Hungary see this travelog.
For our 2018 November trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2019 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2019 July trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2021 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For the 2021 August 3 & 4 migration of Purple martins through Austin, see this web site.
For our 2021 December trip to Ecuador, see this web site.
For our 2022 January-February trip to Peru, see this web site.
For our 2022 July/August trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, see this web site.
For our 2022 September trip to Bolivia, see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December pre-trip to Argentina (before our Antarctic cruise),
see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December cruise to Antarctica,
see this web site.
For our 2023 January birding in Chile,
see this web site.
For our 2023 January-March cruise from Chile to Antarctica and around South America to Miami, FL,
see this web site.
For our 2023 March-April birding in south Florida (after the Seabourn cruise), see
this web site.
For our 2023 November-December birding to Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands, and South India, see
this web site.
For John's 2024 February-March birding in Colombia, see
this web site.
For our 2024 May-June cruise from Iceland to Jan Mayen Island to and around the Svalbard Archipelago, see
this web site.
For our 2024 June 25-30 stay in Paris, see this web site.
For our 2025 April 21 - May 3 trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2025 July vacation and birding in Singapore, see this web site.
For our 2025 August birding in north-west Australia, see this web site.
For our 2025 August-October Seabourn cruise from Australia to Chile, see this web site.
For our 2026 January-February trip to New Zealand and 3rd cruise to Antarctica, see this web site.
August 29, 2025: Second Mitchell Falls helicopter tour from Hunter River
August 31, 2025: Ashmore Reef Zodiac Cruise Redux
September 2, 2025: King George River Zodiac Cruise Redux
Pelagic Birds