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The Kimberley Region in northwest Australia
remains until this day little researched and largely
undeveloped. The 420,000 km² area only has
around 40,000 inhabitants. From a geological
perspective, it is one of the oldest formations
on earth, with two billion year old volcanic and
sedimentary rock that was lifted up roughly 200
million years ago, forming a plateau that has
been cut by ravines and sculpted into bizarre
rock formations by the forces of wind and water
erosion. During the summer, a tropical monsoon
climate reigns in the Kimberley, with heavy
rainfall, 90% humidity, and temperatures of over
40°C. This is followed by a similarly long winter
dry season in which the humidity sinks as low as
27% and temperatures drop to 30°C. The interior
of the Kimberley region is the hottest part of
the southern hemisphere. The plateau is covered
with abundant vegetation, including acacias,
eucalyptus trees, and a variety of grasses such as
spinifex, which is adapted to arid conditions. In
many places the plateau abruptly drops down to
the Timor Sea, into which the rivers that cut across
the plateau empty with spectacular waterfalls.