Cute koala.
We went thru the Seymour river around the Hinchinbrook island and explored the mangrove swamps. We did NOT see the crocodile that our friends on TRUE BLUE said they saw!
Mud crabs; about a kilo in weight very pricey but very filling supposedly.
Mangroves behind Hinchinbrook island. Didn't see the croc tho.
We then sailed to Cairns, then on to Port Douglas, where Carol and I took a tour to some waterfalls and a "croc cruise".
Beautiful, refreshing, and uh, invigorating !
Saltwater Croc we saw on the river cruise.
We then sailed up the coast and passed Endeavor Reef, where Captain Cook ran aground and nearly sank ENDEAVOUR. We had some blustery winds which caused us to bypass not one but two potential anchorage before finding shelter. After 12 days we had reached Thursday Island and prepared for our crossing to Darwin.
Crossing the Gulf of Carpenteria was a bit bumpy and we even took a 40 knot gust the first night which pushed the knotmeter up to 13.4kts. Time to reef! We even had a booby land on the boat and stayed there for about 10 hours leaving a huge mess of bird doo on the aft deck.
Booby passenger for the night.
Don really wanted to go through Hole in the Wall, a narrow gap between two low islands in the Wessel Islands. Fortunately we timed it reasonably well and only had 2.5 to 3 it's of current against us. A week later TRUE BLUE went through and had 9 knot
s against them. Full revs on their engine got them through the 1 mile pass but it took over an hour!
Also on this crossing we were accosted for the second time in a week by a Border patrol plane asking who we were, where did we depart, what's our next port, where is the boat's hailing port.... When I asked if we were going to go over this again as we had gone through this a few days ago, they said STANDBY. Came back a few seconds later, read off all that info to which I replied "affirmative". They said okay have a nice night and flew off to nother METEORITE, another Oyster who were sailing about 5 miles away.
We were quite successful in our fishing catching a 25+ lb Spanish mackerel which Carol filleted and the next day a blackfin tuna also about 25+ lbs. We also snagged a sea snake; venomous critters they are but you'd have to work hard to get bitten. We returned him to his natural habitat!
Spanish mackerel
Blackfin tuna and the Captain Don.
Still not 100% sure which species , but they all are venomous.
Getting to Darwin we anchored for the night and the next morning went for our biosecurity inspection where a diver inspects you hull and then squirts stuff in you thruhulls to kill any invasive species you may have picked up!
After sitting for a minimum of 10 hours we left the next morning but had to wait for high tide in order to cross the sand bar in front of the lock that lifts you into the marina. All three marinas in Darwin are inside a lock; it serves two purposes. Keeps the water level the same.... and crocodiles OUT!
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Going through the lock to the marina .
We've toured Darwin a bit seeing the Botanic Gardens, Museum of the Northern Territory, Darwin Military Museum, Litchfield National Park, and of course the Darwin Aviation Museum! Learned all about Darwin getting bombed over 50 times by the Japanese in WWII.
At Litchfield we saw huge termite mounds and went swimming by the waterfalls.
Birthday boy jumping off the rocks!
Since we were going to be in Darwin a few weeks we arranged a trip to Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the Outback. We flew to Alice Springs and on to Ayers Rock.
Spent the night in a lodge there and cooked our dinner on their grills with meat you can buy; crocodile tail, emu sausage, and kangaroo!
Ayers Rock aka Uluru
Sara, the Aboriginal speaker and Lori the interpreter .
Sleeping bags inside a tent with a bed frame and mattress so it was more Glamping than Camping.
Next morning we were up early to see the sunrise and then off to another set of rocks, Kata Tjuta, to do a long hike. After that it was off to our second campground where some folks took the option of sleeping out under the stars in a "swag", which is just a heavy canvas oversized sleeping bag you put YOUR sleeping bag into. Nah, not tonight, we've got another 3 day tour starting at Alice Springs.
Elephant Rock at Kata Tjuta
Our off road tour bus.
Our last day we went to Kings Canyon and a long hike, then it was off on a dirt road shortcut for over an hour before we got back on a sealed road for the trip to Alice Springs. Kinda reminded us of our former home in Loudoun county!
There we spent the night in a backpacking lodge, fortunately with a private room. Early next morning we were off again, this time in a 20 passenger bus/van with 11 20something women and a Mom/Dad/9 y.o.. Us being the oldsters by far! This trip was basically just a way to get back to Darwin, 1500 km away with a few interesting sights along the way.
We saw the marker for the Tropic of Capricorn, stopped at Devil's Marbles and generally watched the scenery go by. We were on the Stuart Highway to Darwin which is just a two lane road. Unbelievably the speed limit is usually 100 km (60mph) often 130km (81mph!) and one stretch of the road is UNLIMITED !! To make it even crazier the trucks are pulling 3, sometimes 4, long trailers.
Tropic of Capricorn
One stack of "marbles"
Pac-man rock. Dave not feeling 57!
This trip we did sleep out in a swag and could hear the dingos howling at night. And it gets cold in the desert at night! On both trips we had to fix our meals and one night we had kangaroo Bolognese and as a special treat... kangaroo tail.
Kangaroo tail is sold in all this Mom/Pop stores.
Sam our driver/guide burning the hair off the tail.
We stopped in several quirky little towns that each have some gimmick to get people to stop.
Bras were just one of many items pinned, hung stuck on the walls of the Daly Waters Pub. Panties, hats license plates, flip flops, money, etc.
Um, no thanks.
Wycliff Wells is all about UFO's
Also stopped a few times to swim in warm springs or just a big pool of water.
So now we're back in Darwin and prepping for our departure later this week for Kupang Indonesia. We have had an interesting time in Australia; more than what I've had time to blog about.
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