Full Steam to the 8th Wonder of the World 🛥️
Kimberley, Australia Expedition Day 5 of 14
Written by Scott David Martin | May 3, 2023
The Dash [ - ] goes behind the scenes of a WABU filmmaking expedition in the remote Northwest region of Australia, The Kimberley. In this 14-part series, we’ll share the highs and lows, from marathon shoots aboard luxurious yachts to heart-stopping encounters with nature's fiercest creatures.
Tatooine or The Kimberley?
Planning our Kimberley Route
You can’t talk about the Kimberley without talking about the tides.
These aren’t ordinary tides.
They’re wild. Unpredictable. Powerful.
So powerful, we built our entire schedule around them.
We studied routes for six months before ever stepping foot in Australia.
From the beginning, Captain Ben made it clear:
The Kimberley is a game of adjustments.
Speed is everything.
Minutes mattered.
Arrive too early? You miss the moment.
Too late? The tides might eat you alive.
Tides dictated everything.
Every decision. Every location.
Every hour of our plan.
The bridge of the Akiko
Deck space onboard Akiko to Store Zodiac & Nyaid
The Ship That Wasn’t There, Yet
We were hired to promote Seabourn Pursuit voyages in the Kimberley.
But there was one small issue…
The Pursuit was still being built.
We needed a substitute.
One that could carry our crew, our talent, our support boats, and our mission.
Enter Akiko.
A yacht built for the Kimberley.
World-class design, full kitchen, crew quarters.
And a working deck large enough for our Zodiacs.
She gave us what we needed most:
Food
Water
Shelter
Safety
Security
…and deck space.
Akiko became our floating basecamp.
From sunrise scouts to midnight gear prep, every mission launched from her decks.
She didn’t have the speed…
But she had the infrastructure to keep us alive, moving, and focused.
Our first full exterior view of the Akiko in daylight. She’s a beaut, Clark.
The Schedule
We built the schedule backwards, from the tides.
Start in Broome or Kununurra.
Hit 14 key locations.
Stay within a 10–14 day window.
But The math didn’t work.
Not without some creative problem-solving.
That’s why I love this kind of filmmaking.
It’s a team sport.
High stakes. High collaboration.
That’s when WABU thrives.
WABU Creative Kimberley Expedition Team
Learn from the Locals
So we built a brain trust.
Six months of research.
Local intel. Logistics. Tidal charts.
And one secret weapon: Michael.
Michael’s the kind of guy who knows every back door in the Kimberley.
He’s the fixer.
The opener of worlds.
You can be the best filmmaker in the world…
But with weak local support, you’ll fail fast.
Michael was the reason we had a shot.
Literally and figuratively.
Because this is The Kimberley.
She doesn’t mess around.
Saltwater crocs.
Venomous snakes.
Spiders that could haunt your dreams.
Expedition leader Robin describing the geology heading to Talbot bay onboard the Nyaid
Resources
To pull this off, we needed:
A photo/video crew
A picture boat + zodiac
A shadow vessel
A deck for Zodiac
Fixers
Chef
Captains
Expedition Crew
Expedition Leader
And a hell of a lot of hustle.
This wasn’t just a shoot.
It was an expedition.
Our first mission:
Scout the Horizontal Falls, often called the 8th Wonder of the World.
But we couldn’t take Akiko.
She was too slow to beat the tides.
So we loaded up on the Nyaid.
Fast.
Nimble.
Reliable.
We were so eager, we forgot snacks.
Full tilt through the Horizontal Falls (with a permit).
Captains
Enter Captain Josh.
If we were on water, Josh was there.
Captain Josh led the Nyaid, our speedboat.
The guy could thread a needle at 40 knots.
Fixer. Navigator.
Swiss Army human.
By the end of the trip, Josh was the guy.
Drone Scout of Talbot Bay complete ✅
And alongside Josh…
Expedition Leader Robin.
VP & General Manager of Seabourn Expeditions.
Legend. Guide. Zodiac Captain.
Robin had decades of experience.
A walking encyclopedia of remote travel.
I had watched his work for years.
Dreamed of collaborating.
Now? We were bunkmates.
But Day five wasn’t for bonding.
Day five was for executing.
The Horizontal Falls, named the 8th Wonder of the World by David Attenborough
Brutal Beauty
The Kimberley is stunning, but she makes you earn every frame.
Dangerous dinosaurs patrol the water.
Creepy crawlers own the land.
The sun burns.
There’s no faking it out here.
If your not dialed, you’re toast (literally).
After six months of preparation, we were finally here:
On the water. In the Kimberley.
Racing towards Talbot Bay.
Home to one of Earth’s rarest natural phenomena…
The Horizontal Falls.
Scouting the 8th Wonder of the World
The scout went perfectly.
We found the angle. We nailed the timing.
Everything was ready.
But we needed the talent…
…and a Zodiac for the hero shot.
As the sun dipped, we rejoined Akiko, hearts full of optimism.
Tomorrow would be the moment we’d been chasing for half a year.
One shot at sunrise.
Tides. Talent. Light.
No do-overs.
Our first Kimberley Sunset ☀️ ©SEABOURN
WABU Day 5 Lessons
✅ Grateful for nature’s wonders: the Kimberley is unlike anywhere else on Earth.
✅ Collaboration is the WABU way: The team build the spine of this operation.
✅ Scouting is mission-critical: you don’t discover the 8th Wonder in best light by accident.
I laid down that night on Akiko, gear drying at my feet.
The tide was shifting outside.
I felt peace as my eyes shut.
Up next on The Dash (—):
The next thing I heard woke me.
“Shark!”