Thursday 30 May 2013

30th May - Escape River to Thursday Island - pearl farm - crocodile


Thursday 30th May

10 degrees of latitude
142 of longitude but we are now heading west, for the first time.

Thursday…and we are anchored just near Thursday Island!

We have made it up and around the tippytop of Australia.

This is Cape York:



Maybe not such a thrilling photo, but all very thrilling to us.  We left the Escape River at 12.00 and absolutely powered up the coast, caught on a tidal surge which gave us 10, and sometimes 12 knots.  So fortuitous!  Well not really…God management rather than good luck was in force.  Pete had spent a lot of time studying the wind, weather and tides, and he anticipated a bit of help from the tides.  But not this much!

When we got to the Albany Channel we were in a positive maelstrom of tossing waves going in every direction.  We were mildly alarmed; how would we negotiate this narrow passage in such turbulent sea?  Not a problem!  The water all flattened out, all but the ripping tide, which carried us swiftly and majestically through a very beautiful little part of the world.



This morning we had an unexpected invitation to morning tea at the Escape River pearl farm.  We met up with our Yacht Forty-Two



friends, Karsten and Mercedes (from Hamburg) and anchored just off the farm jetty.  Rusty and Bronwyn



were extremely hospitable and full of chat and information.  And…best of all…I actually got to see a wild crocodile!  O frabjous day!!  Bronwyn told me that there are lots of crocs in this river.  A very big one, further down from where we were anchored overnight, which likes to LEAP.  Recently it leapt out of the water and tore a high-flying flag off a gently bobbing yacht, causing great consternation all around.  There is another large one which lolls about on the sandbank near where we had been.  “Oh yes,” said both Karsten and Pete.  We saw a large log.  Which moved.”  But I did NOT see it!!  And just near the pearl farm buildings, said Bronwyn, there is a cute smaller croc, barely two metres, which is often visible.  When we left – there it was, as cute as a croc can be!  It was sitting in the shallows, but as we left in the laden dinghy it was thrashing about very happily, causing great consternation amongst the small silver fish which hurled themselves out of the water with a resounding splishysplash.

Bronwyn also told us that this river is teeming with life  Dugongs, turtles, crocs big and small, groupers, mackerel, barramundi, and…sharks.  Big ones!  Bull sharks and tiger sharks and hammerheads.  SO glad I wasn’t in the least tempted to swim!

We will have a few days here, around Thursday Island (known to those in the know as TI…) and we will greatly enjoy being able to buy some more food, and to be connected to cyberworld.

Oh and I forgot to mention…my beautiful beanbag, as An Asset To 2XS…(Pete is in the (temporary...) tarpaulin breezeway



And here are some of the Blue Thong Walk path markers:


and another one:



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