30th June - Haulround Island - North Goulburn Island

Sunday 30^th June

11 degrees south

133 degrees east

Today we had a peachy sail to North Goulburn Island, which is as pretty as can be…not sure if this photo quite captures the essence but never mind…actually..wrong photo but...never mind!!

It looks completely deserted but, amazingly, there is a small brave tower just behind the beach so – we have reception!  We think it is just wonderful that the government has financed all of these towers, to service the most remote Aboriginal communities.  And we are happy to benefit from them as well…

Last night we left Maningrida, with some regrets for the barramundi and pleasant company we were leaving behind.  It was worth doing, however, because it took ten nautical miles off our trip today.

We anchored here

off  the evocatively named Haulround Island, which is nothing but a flat little sandy pancake, surrounded by a fringe of fearsome rocks.  Fortunately we arrived there at low tide so they were clearly visible… This unprepossessing little island provided us with nice enough shelter for the night, for which we were very grateful. 

We left before dawn this morning and…nothing went wrong!  Pete has disconnected the autopilot from the starboard motor and it all seems just fine, for the moment.  But I think 2XS will have to spend a bit of time up on a slip, in Darwin.

The sea seemed to be with us all the way.  It is very tiring, battling against tide and currents, and we had expected to be going against the tide for the first few hours.  The swell was quite big – maybe two metres, but all very benign as it was going with us, not providing obstacles every inch of the way, as can be the case.

As well as this, we had several Attenborough Moments, always a source of joy and delight:

·      Two sea turtles, way out at sea, flopping about on the big waves.  One of hem was about as big as King Arthurs Round Table; we were mightily impressed.  The other was smaller, but had interesting incrustations of barnacles on its shell.  (We see so little sea life up here in the north that we are inordinately thrilled to see barnacles on a turtle…)

·      A pod of about ten dolphins, quite big ones, riding the swell, and occasionally leaping from the top of a wave.  We are slightly miffed that the dolphins in this part of the world are not in the least interested in 2XS.  We are accustomed to cheery dolphins riding the slipstream and entertaining us for miles on end.  Not so, up here.  Things are different in the north…

·      A large happy sea eagle flying over the boat as we dropped anchor.  It was carrying, in its talons, quite a big fish, and it looked very pleased with itself.

Tomorrow we have another leg of the trip, to Valentia Island, only about 35 nautical miles.  So we are slowly but surely making our way to Darwin.