Hunter River, Western Australia, Australia

The Hunter River rises on the rocky plateau of the Kimberley, in the Prince Regent National Park, and flows some 30 km to empty into the Prince Frederick Harbour and thence into York Sound and the Indian Ocean. Where it leaves the plateau there are two waterfalls of nearly 300 feet in height, Hunter Falls and Donkin Falls, from where the river enters a deep and sinuous gorge. In its lower reaches, it meanders through mangrove forests sprawled between towering red rock escarpments, the channel laced with mud-bank islands. These waters support the highest proportion of saltwater crocodiles in Australia, as well as sharks, rays and other fauna. This remote wilderness is an ideal place for Zodiac cruising to see the saltwater crocodiles, sharks and birds of prey including ospreys and the distinctive Brahminy kites with their white heads and breasts. The river is an important landmark feature to the local Wunambai Gaambera Aboriginal people, whose tradition holds that it is the abode of Wunggurr, the Creator Snake, and who call the river Kampamantlya where it joins the sea.