Weipa to Boyd Point

Wednesday 20^th July: a quick trip to the boat ramp for water was our first opportunity to see a bauxite ship up close. As we crossed its path, it’s massive size and speed was apparent though still over a km from us. I am grateful the dinghy engine did not stop mid channel. A loaded ship leaves daily, with 2 usually on the wharve at any one time. They arrive empty, sitting high above the water line and leave full, like an iceberg mainly submerged. Their movement within the river has Tony enthrawed. Tugboats assist the pilot in manoeuvring.

Rob dropped in for morning tea and to inspect our water desalinator. He and Aya are still setting their yacht up but with the limited space they only have storage for about 40 litres of water and are living on about 5 litres of fresh water a day – washing occurs in salt water and cooking currently on the shore!

Today is the 11^th anniversary of Tony’s mother’s death.

Ship loading terminal at Weipa Port

Thursday 21^st July: meet Karen, the Sexual Health nurse in Weipa, and her partner Patrick. Karen has worked in many remote locations over the Cape, and Rob is an engineer who has also worked in PNG and Sudan.

The boat ramp is often very busy with fisher folk. We stand out due to the bright yellow raincoats we wear (it is a wet ride to and from Robert’s Creek) and the fact we carry no fishing gear.

Red bauxite beach at Weipa

Friday 22^{nd July}: time to do the tax return. A friend reminded us that they are experiencing a very cold, wet, foggy winter down south. Meanwhile we have 31’C, no humidity and no rain – what I consider a perfect winter! The wind has also dropped and it is very calm.

Saturday 23^rd July: after my comment yesterday it did rain last night but just enough to wash the salt off Nysa.

With the calmer weather we were able to enjoy a walk along the foreshore along from the boat ramp and then took the dinghy past the wharves where bauxite rock is loaded into the ships. From there we crossed the river to where a new jetty is planned. This will facilitate the transfer of staff across to the proposed new mine south, close to the gulf coastline. Finished by exploring further down Robert’s Creek where we are anchored, which is longer than I expected, and full of bird life. Overall 5 crocodiles were seen today.

Low tide at the mouth of the Embley River, Weipa

Sunday 24^th July: One reason why Tony has been carting so much water has been his desire to give Nysa a wash – we have accumulated a lot of dirt on the deck while travelling but at least for today she is clean again.   One negative of the Gulf and Weipa is the amount of dust and smoke in the air that makes also keeping the inside surfaces dirt free a daily battle and affects my lungs as well.

Late afternoon we enjoyed a walk along the foreshore on the other side of the boat ramp and then were joined by Sarah and Byron, who brought dinner to share while we watched a brilliant red and gold sunset – something benefits from the smoke! Meet a few of their friends enjoying sunset drinks - one was a ex-policeman from Lockhart River who told us we weren't the first yacht to almost come to grief on the rocks off the ramp there.

Sunset dinner and drinks at Weipa

We really like the landscape of Weipa but tomorrow we leave and start heading south. After speaking to a number of people, Tony is keen to see this area.

Monday 25^th July: frigate birds spiralling in the thermals and booby birds roosting on the channel lights farewelled us. The seas were messy but it was a pleasant sail past white beaches and red bauxite cliffs. Tony is pleased with the new rigging of the sails. Arrived at Boyd Point, 30kms south of Weipa, mid afternoon. The new mine will be near here and wharves will be built from where ships will remove the bauxite. 1 large flat barge and an accommodation barge are here with a smaller landing barge, and vehicles can be seen on the cliff – presumably work has begun on preparing the site. A low-level fire is scrambling through the coastal bush - ? accidental or part of the clearing.

After a short beach walk north we watched another magnificent sunset and experienced swell for the first time in many weeks – the benefit of rivers and creeks is calm water. However here we have no insects, which is a definite plus of open water!

Sunset at Boyd Bay

Tuesday 26^th July: today is the 6^th anniversary of my brother’s death, which was the catalyst for the change in our recreational aspirations when I inherited his yacht – mmm!

Enjoyed a walk along the beach south around the Point and for a short distance in the bush, which is healthy and full of birdsong. No obvious signs of construction though a metal staircase has been built from the beach to a bush track, which facilitates access from where the barge lands.

Watched sharks chasing fish in the shallows – looking out across the water, the gulf is immense and definitely gives the impression of being somewhere different.

Bushfire at Boyd Bay

Wednesday 27^th July: in 3 hours we walked a total of 8.5kms along the beach north and back at low tide. The sand was pockmarked with the tracks of wild pigs. Yesterday and today we found turtle nests they had scavenged, with shell remnants. Though vegetarian I do support the culling of these pigs. Much of the beach was fringed with rock reefs not mentioned on the maps/books. The rocks were weathered into formations, often capped with oysters – in different areas they appeared like a field of gigantic mushrooms, the ruins of an ancient city and a cemetery of tombstones. Other sections had weed so thick it had compacted to look like rock until a prod indicated its spongy texture. The bauxite cliffs glowed in the sunlight.

Bauxite cliffs at Boyd Bay

A towboat arrived with a work platform from Weipa – it was taken around the corner south, so hopefully that means the new wharve won’t actually be in this bay.

During the afternoon a fire became evident in the bush we had walked yesterday. It strengthened during the next few hours, the wind covering our clean boat with ash. Ash even settled in my glass of wine! Guys from the barge had gone over to the area and we can see the lights of their vehicles in the smoke - ? monitoring or managing.

Emails today from a work colleague alerted me to new regulations for nurses in Pap smear provision, which I am unable to meet due to leave. Nor do I agree with these regulations so am feeling sad, annoyed and worried. I feel everything I have worked so hard to achieve experience wise in nursing is being taken away.

Chris admiring the view at Boyd Bay

Thursday 28^th July: the fire on the shore cliffs appears to have burnt itself out, or is now further away.

Since travelling I have been experiencing increasing nighttime sciatica, which Tony blames on the bed’s foam mattress (I miss my regular massages). While in Weipa we ordered a new spring mattress but delivery was delayed by the Cairns Show holiday so we left, only to find out it arrived in Weipa the next day. Byron thinks he may be able to deliver it to us in his boat on Saturday, so we will sit and wait.

Another fire inland south is obvious and ash continues to float our way. While watching the resultant fiery sunset we glimpsed our first dugong in the Gulf.

Unusual rocky reef in Boyd Bay

Friday 29^th July: Late morning we walked along another section of beach and through the bush burnt on Wednesday - only the undergrowth of long grass appeared to have been burnt.

A long stretch of the beach was covered in masses of weed dumped by last night’s high tide and swell. Scattered throughout were sea slugs, looking like snails without shells, which I have never seen before. One was the size of my hand. Also known as sea hares, they are usually found on the algae upon which they feed. Unfortunately most appeared dead but a few were moving where the weed was still wet. Tide exposed sand had a number of nice shells inhabited by hermit crabs – though I find them delightful, I would have liked the murex to have been uninhabited!

Sea slug on beach at Boyd Bay

The landing barge was also stranded on the shore by the out-going low tide and we meet Rueben the cook as he waited with others for the water to float their vessel. The new wharf will be built further south and will service ships larger than those that visit Weipa. He explained the purpose of the large motor catamaran we have seen on a number of occasions – ‘Sharp Shooter’ is responsible for monitoring Indonesian fishing vessels and divers dive on the reefs to remove their tangled nets.

Interestedly we have seen no crocodiles here but plenty of large fish around the boat.
We plan to travel further south tomorrow.

Coast to the north of Boyd Bay

Weipa

Innovative entrance to (now derelict) house at Roberts Ck settlement

Monday 11^th July: we motored 2kms across the Embley River into Weipa to find a new anchorage and were disappointed. The area near the public jetty was full with local boats on moorings; we did find a spot but the swell was so big it was difficult to enter/exit the dinghy without banging into Nysa, and hitting another boat was a possibility if conditions changed. We telephoned the people we know locally: Greg, a fisherman and Byron, a police detective, but neither knew of any alternative sites that did not dry out at low tide. We aborted and returned to Roberts Creek where we were last night. Though this is calm, it is a long way across the river in the dinghy (particularly when it is rough) to carry everything we need to obtain – groceries, fuel, water. It is also swarming with insects, requiring all screens up. At least Nysa no longer crackles.

As our shopping plans were unable to eventuate, Tony commenced working on the cockpit roof instead. I became frustrated with the internet, which is very slow and keeps dropping out – reconnecting with the world is going to take a while.

"Nysa" at anchor in Roberts Creek

Tuesday 12^th July: Weipa has a population of about 3,500 and is the world’s largest bauxite mine. For us it provides the added advantage of Sarah (a nurse Tony and I have both worked with in Cairns) and her husband Byron who have been living in Weipa since last October with Mitchell 2yrs and Jake 1. After a rough trip across the river at 8.30am, Byron picked us up at the boat ramp so we could borrow their ute. The foreshore is bauxite rock, and the rough seas with large tide differences means securing the dinghy requires a bit of muscle pulling it up the boat ramp. We are very grateful for the loan of the car as the township is 5kms away. A massive shopping expedition involved 2 trips to Woolworths, the post office for exciting internet ordered parcels and mail (only the second we have received since leaving Cairns), plus the hardware shop for things to fix the broken bits & pieces. Thankfully Woolworths has a good variety of produce and I did not find it overally expensive – 4 trolley loads amounted to $1000 but we have been travelling a long time and needed a major re-stock. We are storing everything at Sarah and Byron’s, slowly bringing it back to Nysa as space on the dinghy allows. After our first long hot shower since leaving home, a very yummy “fresh food” dinner was enjoyed with the family before heading back to Nysa prior to dark. Luckily the water was calmer, the sun was a massive red ball sinking into the horizon and a large flock of frigate birds soared overhead. We had left Zowie on board all day and at our arrival back at 6.30pm it was obvious she was rather distressed – obviously forgotten what it is like for us to go to work!

Wednesday 13^th July: 2 dolphins swam past Nysa this morning and a crocodile was on a mud flat as we passed in the dinghy. On arrival at the other side we saw that one of the local catamarans had broken it’s mooring and was high and dry on the foreshore rocks. We felt for the owner working on the damaged hull, and though the dinghy travel is proving a bit of a nightmare, we are pleased we moved to the calmer creek.

Derelict house at Roberts Creek settlement

Taking Zowie with me, I spent most of the day at Sarah’s using her wonderful automatic washing machine – being anchored in rivers has not allowed sufficient water production for washing clothes and I had 4 big loads! Though Zowie was happier, Cody the German Shepherd and the kids still raised her stress levels. Tony spent the morning doing numerous trips across the river, refilling our tanks with jerry cans of water. This is extremely heavy, time consuming work and the trips got rougher each time as the winds increased. I am very concerned with the strain on Tony as he continues to lose weight and is increasingly exhausted at night.

Returning to Nysa we were surfing large waves that I felt would swamp the dinghy – each time it appeared imminent Tony would accelerate and manage to move away from that wave onto another. It was a relief when we arrived. As the sun was setting Tony saw through the binoculars that the damaged catamaran had been refloated and was at the ramp being removed from the water, no doubt for more extensive repairs.

Interesting sign on house at Roberts Creek

Thursday 14^th July: we are having a rest from the tribulations of visiting Weipa. During breakfast the 2 dolphins swam past again, a crocodile swam in the opposite direction and the frigate birds, looking like prehistoric pteranodons, soared overhead. Tony finished working on the roof while we both haggled with the internet. While Tony becomes gaunter, my body shape is increasingly matronly pudgy – I am not doing the hard labour like Tony and am simply not getting enough exercise : sitting for most of the day travelling/sewing/reading/writing does not even equate to the walking I did at work. I am concerned as I am now in the ‘at risk’ range.

Friday 15^th July: the winds are 25-35 knots and the sky overcast so we stayed on Nysa. Tony spent most of the day slowly downloading photos onto the blog, when the internet intermittently worked, and installing our new VHF radio.

What would this small kiln be used for?

We are anchored just inside the mouth of the creek. At high tide we are approximately 50 metres from the shore – at low, 20 metres. It is fairly calm despite the wind, and if conditions worsened, we could go further along the creek, which we share with a number of local boats: a large 50 foot houseboat with occupants, a large and small monohull and 2 small power boats unoccupied.

Saturday 16^th July: 3 good things happened today:

1. Tony went across to the boat ramp early to collect more water. On his return he noticed water inside the dinghy – not from a leaking container but from the hull which has a split, probably damaged by banging on the rocks at the foreshore when heavily loaded. At least he did not sink!
2. Being in Weipa with a split hull is possibly the best place we can be in the circumstances. Very helpful Byron is going to find someone who can do a welding repair and then we only have to get the dinghy to there!?!?
3. After this discovery, Tony took Zowie to the shore for a quick toilet stop. On their return to Nysa the water containers were still on the top step. When Zowie jumped onto this step, there must have been insufficient room and she slipped, falling into the water (it had to happen eventually). Zowie started to swim away from the boat (perhaps taken by the current) but luckily a distraught Tony was able to grab her from the dinghy before she drowned or became a breakfast.

The leaking hull changed our  plans to visit town, so we stayed on Nysa: winds 20-30knots and still overcast. Tony did general maintenance on the engine and generator.

Late afternoon, after bailing out the dinghy, we visited the nearby land at the creek’s mouth. A number of caucasians lived here in the past – there are a few boat wrecks remaining on shore with pieces of equipment and 3 grave stones belonging to a shipwright, boilermaker and fisherman/crocodile hunter, all buried in the early 1990s, aged mid 60-70. Nearby is a fenced area with dogs – hopefully someone is caring for them? Further along were the derelict remains of a community that had been well set up with windmills for bore water, louvred houses and work sheds.

Evans Landing anchorage on a calm day

Zowie recently started chasing small crabs across the sand, and today, for the first time, she was sniffing at holes and trying to dig them out. A nip on the nose will be her just reward.

The sky was too dull for a sunset, so we had a drink and watched a large fire that seemed to be on the outskirts of town.

Sunday 17^th July: Tony is unsurprisingly not feeling well so is tinkering at a slower pace (or so he says). At least the sun has reappeared. Byron and Sarah very nicely brought our remaining groceries out to Nysa on route fishing, and then returned for morning tea – their assistance has been wonderful.

Late afternoon Russell and Lisa from the houseboat asked us for dinner with Rob and Aya from the small 8 metre monohull. Russell (an ex-barramundi fisherman) and Lisa (ex-teacher) now work for the mine. The dogs on the mainland are their’s for pig hunting. Earlier in the day we had watched Russell sink large tree branches and car axles near his mooring – I had suggested he was making an artificial reef and I was right – he wants to attract fish! They travel to and from Weipa in 2 very large dinghies, better suited to the rough conditions and faster than ours.

 Rob and Aya have a property on Kangaroo Island – mainly bush with rammed earth and mud brick houses they have built, powered entirely by solar panels. Rob spent 20 years working winters on camel treks across the Gibson Desert and they currently work on Aboriginal communities each December/January. After buying the yacht in Weipa just recently, they plan to live on it during the winters. In summer, the yacht will go on the hardstand. In a previous 40 foot monohull they spent 3 years sailing across the Top and down the WA coast to Shark Bay.

Monday 18^th July: Tony contacted the welder recommended through Byron’s investigations and he could fix the dinghy this morning. Unfortunately this meant a very bouncy wet trip across the river – I imagine the movement we experienced was similar to riding a bucking horse – not pleasant. Though the journey only takes 10-15 minutes, it can be ‘the trip from hell.’ With Byron’s assistance we got the dinghy into the ute and to the welder who only charged $55; much cheaper than we were expecting but he may have felt sorry for us as he had difficulty with the welding and is not confident it will last.

At least the water was calmer in the afternoon when we travelled back.

Poor Tony had the symptoms of a cold during all this rough riding and manual handling. However, though he had another day of hard work, he stays upbeat while I feel like I am emotionally crumbling. I would really like a holiday.

Tuesday 19^th July: to town again for Tony’s venesection at the GP service based at the hospital. Gave me a chance to peruse the local pottery shop and community centre.

A large school of bait fish have taken residence under Nysa. When the tide changes and Nysa swings to face another direction, the school becomes a long ‘tail’ floating out from the stern. The water behind us then becomes a whirl of splashes as larger fish feed on the vulnerable bait fish until they can resettle.

At low tide the nearby mud bank is a bird-watcher’s dream. Today we have had the added pleasure of watching 2 jabirus that are large majestic birds. Chasing fish, they run and jump on their long red stilt legs, flapping their wings and really look like ballerinas dressed in feathers. One fish’s escape attempt was to continuing keep jumping out of the water like a bouncing stone, with the jabiru flapping and pouncing behind.

Port Musgrave to Weipa

Beach at entrance to Port Musgrave

Tuesday 28^th June: like kids who have not had lollies for a while, we spent the morning indulging in the internet. In the afternoon we attempted to beach Nysa. She has been in the water since last August and Tony wants to check the hull and propeller leg after the work that was done on these prior to this. Also, other catamaran owners have told us that if we ever need to do repairs while travelling to just ‘beach’ the boat – ie. take the boat into very shallow water that will dry out at high tide, thus allowing access to the hulls normally submerged. As we would rather work out how to do this in calm conditions and not wait for an emergency situation, Tony has been searching for a suitable site (eg. flat, non-rocky) to attempt this. Though our current location looked promising, it did not work out due to a combination of factors. Tony worked incredibly hard over a few hours placing forward and stern anchors from the dinghy, trying to overcome the environmental factors working against him. As usual his tenacity refused to abort the attempt until we were running out of daylight and he was exhausted. After re-anchoring in deeper water, we debriefed about what we had learnt and how it could be done more easily and effectively in a more suitable location.

Bush scene at Port Musgrave

Wednesday 29^th June: At 4am we were inundated with mosquitoes. Until now we have had few problems with insects, and no mosquitoes, but the buzzing which woke us revealed a swarm in the bedroom and cockpit. Zowie vacated the bed and hid in the cupboard until manual removal methods were sufficient to provide a safe sleeping environment again. We will be more diligent with screens at nighttime now, especially when the weather is dead calm.

During the decent hours of the morning, Tony finally agreed he needed a haircut and succumbed to the clippers held by my hand – he was shocked how grey his hair had become in the past 2 months (this trip is definitely aging both of us) but was satisfied with the outcome. After my last disastrous clipping attempt on Zowie (we have had to tell so many people that she did not have the mange, just a bad hair cut) Tony then managed to give her a more presentable appearance, so it is his job from now on.

As he wasn’t inspecting the hull as planned, Tony spent the day modifying the rigging on the mainsail to be more adaptable to wind strength changes.

Late afternoon we walked a short distance along the beach to the entrance of Namaleta Creek where the mosquitoes were definitely swarming. On the beach were areas where the sand had been dug out into good-sized holes – we have seen no people on the beach so ? wild pigs digging for crabs. The sand banks were covered with a variety of bird life and the dolphins return each evening, including a mother with calf.

On our return to Nysa Coast Watch flew over for the very first time this entire trip – we are surprised it has taken so long for them to hail us.

Thursday 30^th June: over breakfast we saw a wild black pig on the beach 100 metres from us digging holes (theory correct) and dolphins a similar distance off the back deck. Tony finished the ‘Seisia to Port Musgrave’ part of the blog this morning, which will now be on par with my journal notes.

Left mid morning and it took 4 hours against the tide to motor across the bay and then past Mapoon to anchor within the mouth of the Wenlock River. The Wenlock almost dissects the Cape, commencing in the ranges south of Portland Roads on the east coast and flowing northwest to Port Musgrave. In years past we have camped a number of times on the upper fresh water section that the Peninsular Development road crosses  – beautiful bush bordering sandy riverbanks. From the mouth we travelled in the dinghy for an hour to cover 20kms to the first road access to the river. Thick mangroves initially bordered the river and we sighted a majestic Jabiru standing stately like a butler on a mud bank. The bush slowly became apparent behind the mangroves. At times the smoke from burning off stung our eyes and ash floated into the river. 50 metres from the landing I spied what appeared to be a large crocodile before it submerged. A fishing trawler and houseboat were anchored – unfortunately for Zowie the landing was the only possible place for a short walk.

Some days were cold

Friday 1^st July: We planned to leave today for Pennefather River, 35kms south. The dead calm of the river became choppier as we motor sailed crossed the Bay, at a much faster pace with the outgoing tide. By the time we reached Cullen Point it was blowing 30-35 knots so we decided to return to the western side of the entrance and wait it out. At least the wind kept the insects away.

Saturday 2^nd July: rose at sunrise to cross the sandbar just after high tide and spent a very slow day sailing to Pennefather in mild winds 10 – 20 knots. We had decided to go slow and arrive on the incoming tide late afternoon, which is needed to cross the sandbar into the river. However after a day of keeping watch while Tony did odd jobs I would now prefer to arrive early and anchor and wait for the tide – at least then I could do some other activities also. The day was dreary – not sure if overcast or if the sky was saturated with smoke. I felt rather down today, so maintaining watch and trying to persist with a knitting pattern that eventually had to be totally unravelled did not help my state of mind – I feel like I have been kidnapped.

Pennefather River

We anchored at 4.30pm in the Pennefather, which is a very attractive river, accessible by road from Weipa about 75kms away. There are many campers on the southern entrance under the casuarinas, and there was a small crocodile on the northern. Though between Mapoon and Weipa, we have no telephone or internet access here.

Flowering tree on the banks of the Pennefather River

This river is the site of the first recorded European landing in Australia by Willem Jaunts in the Duyfken in 1606, after a voyage from the Dutch East Indies. Matthew Flinders visited it on the 7 November 1802 but wrongly thought it was the Coen River – understandably there was confusion with old records and latitudes/longitudes. In 1880 Captain Charles Edward de Fomblanque Pennefather sailed from Thursday Island along the eastern side of the Gulf to examine the coast and rivers named by previous explorers. He identified that there were actually 2 Coen Rivers and the one named by Flinders was renamed the Pennefather. However, if you believe the literature, no one actually told the British Admiralty and the chart for the Gulf was not changed till 1967.

Camping by the Pennefather River

Sunday 3^rd July: Murray, one of the fisherman camped across from us arrived for a morning cuppa. He has camped here for years – the stretch of sand that is used for camping is a few kms long, well shaded, backed by bush and has access to drinkable bore water. There is a ranger who collects a fee of $30 per vehicle plus $5 per person per week. The road from Weipa is dirt/sand but as there are camper and dinghy trailers present, it must be quite manageable. I would highly recommend this place for camping – it is lovely except you can’t swim…

In the first 40 minutes we were out exploring in the dinghy we saw 10 crocodiles – 16 by the time we arrived back at Nysa 2 hours later. A variety of sizes from 1-2 metres, but the campers have seen a 3-4 metre recently. At the first beach we planned to stop at, a crocodile appeared and swam between us and the shore about 3 metres away while we debated whether to land or not. Tony could not understand why I insisted we go elsewhere as he stated that there are obviously crocodiles everywhere in the river – I still think there is a difference when you know one is definitely watching you!

Sandbanks and smokey sky at Pennefather River

This open water way is also active with wildlife other than crocodiles: leaping eagle rays, dolphins and a great variety of bird life including sea eagles, kites, pelicans, jabirus, beach bustards, kingfishers, bush turkeys, magpie geese and many different water birds.

Luckily we had anchored yesterday without any problem, as disappointedly the map in the coastal cruising book is not accurate in that it fails to mention the submerged rocks on the other side of the river, but Murray’s local information today was very helpful.

It is from this river that cruisers also choose to cross the gulf if they haven’t taken the shorter option north from the Tip.  At this lower latitude the sea is usually less rough than further north, and should have fewer submerged Indonesian fishing nets to run into. Tony only plans to cross the gulf if the weather on the other side is forecasted as calm for a few days – as yet this has not happened. If this does not eventuate, we will go sightseeing around the gulf.

Pennefather River

We have had one strange occurrence still arriving yesterday – a crackling we can hear when in Nysa’s hulls. We have checked it is not wiring or anything potentially within the boat. We have no idea what is causing this sound, which can be heard on both sides and continues day and night. Another reason to now check the hulls externally.

Turtle hospital at Pennefather River Ranger station.

Monday 4^th July: Nysa is anchored about 25 metres from the northern side of the river, where a long beach continues from the mouth’s sand dunes. In the 200 metres of that beach nearest to us we had 4 crocodiles this morning. You would know when a dinghy was approaching as the closest crocodile would return to the water and then you would hear the dinghy engine. Once the dinghy passes, the crocodile returns to sunbaking.

In the afternoon we joined Murray and his friends for a cuppa. John lives at Bluewater in Cairns; Peter and Yvonne are travelling/working after selling up in Airlie Beach; Murray and his partner Sue are from Canberra (they drove from Canberra to Pennefather in 4 days and have a camper trailer, 2 dinghies and quad bike!). All have camped here for the same 2-4 months each year since 2002/2003 and have very comfortable well set-up campsites. A bonus for Tony is the fish (Mangrove Jack) they have given him today and yesterday.

Beach near Pennefather River

Though the area is lovely I am unsure if I could remain in one campsite doing the same thing for so long a time. On the boat there are days that are really pleasant and I am quite happy to be in relaxed ‘holiday mode’. Other days the very slow travelling with the same daily routine can become frustrating and boring. I need a variety of activities to maintain a feeling of worthwhileness: a dive, dance, game of 500 in the company of friends would be nice diversions.  Other times I also feel great disappointment at not being in the Kimberley and need to focus on accepting what we are doing now. At 52 years of age I have realised I do not have the psychological adaptability to work in Antarctica, on a space station or a fishing trawler – only 2 of these were childhood aspirations! Tony is very patient, loving and reassuring – he is a much better person than me and putting up with my moods and inadequacies must be very difficult at times.

During the afternoon the smoke from burning off on the land had built up and moved out over the ocean forming a low lying, dark, forbidding cloud from which you expected lighting and thunder to appear from – we had read how the smoke can be so dense in the Gulf that boats need to use radar, which seemed unlikely till you look out at that cloud.

Most campers also had dinghys.

Tuesday 5^th July: Tony has searched each day for a possible ‘beaching’ site on the numerous beaches and sandbars here. This morning he decided on an area at the northern river mouth. There is a sand island here separated from the mainland by a channel that varies in depth and width with the tide. To the eastern side of this is a flat firm area sheltered from the current and wind by the surrounding sand dunes. It is also a fair distance from the water’s edge at low tide, giving plenty of space to sight crocodiles. We will attempt a landing tomorrow morning on the high tide.

Behind the sand dunes of the northern beach are beautiful stands of paperbarks and pandanus – the gullies would be water filled in the wet. We found an intact brown glass bottle stamped 1956 – if only it could talk!

Sandunes behind the ocean beach

On the beach were 3 turtle nests with fresh tracks – unfortunately the nests had been destroyed by goannas and littered with the remains of shells – not much reward for the turtle’s hard work.

I have found some excellent shells on the gulf beaches, including baler and triton shells up to 30 cms. Though the large ones have all been broken, there must be some marvellously large living molluscs somewhere out there.

The crackling continues!

Behind the sandunes vegetation was very dense.

Wednesday 6^th July: successfully ‘beached’ Nysa as the sun rose at 7am. Tony was pleased with the tactics he devised. Also pleasing was the inspection of the hull and propeller leg – apart from a small dint obtained during Cyclone Yasi, and another from a banging mooring at Fitzroy Island, there was no damage and no deterioration where the repair work had been done. There is no visible cause either for the crackling and thankfully our only visitors were Peter, Yvonne (who brought Tony barramundi) and Murray during the day – no crocodiles – I kept a very close watch on the clear aqua water a few metres away.

The high tide at night was not sufficient to float off, so we will hopefully attempt this successfully in the morning. There has been no crackling in this new anchorage.

Nysa beached for hull inspection

Thursday 7^th July: it required Tony’s assistance by pulling on the stern anchor rope, but at the peak of high tide, just after a colourful sunrise, we did refloat and returned to where we had anchored previously. Tony is very pleased with the exercise and feels more confident if we ever need to ‘beach’ again. The crackling re-started as soon as we anchored so there must be “something” in the water here?

Today has been a rest today after the exertion of yesterday. Eventually though he even succumbed to a nap. Peter and Yvonne visiting for afternoon drinks, bringing Tony a mud crab that the men quickly demolished. They don’t use crab pots, just walk the shore and scoop them up with a net! Peter and Yvonne have travelled extensively within Australia and knew some good camping areas we haven’t been to – the Kingfisher Camp near Lawn Hill is recommended.

Friday 8^th July: during the morning we explored further down the river. This river is really stunning – a large estuary surrounded by a labyrinth of creeks, quite shallow in sections so the depth sounder is handy. I can understand why people return here regularly.

Mangrove forest on Pennefather River

We then walked along the camping area on the river’s southern side and was dismayed by the rubbish left by some campers too lazy to take it back to a rubbish bin in Weipa – I cannot comprehend this apathy. I was also disturbed to see young children standing in the water unsupervised fishing and throwing nets. There are a number of rocky ledges where people without dinghies can fish but the kids were on a sandy beach section. I spoke to one of the mother’s who stated she was unaware that crocodiles are prolific here, though she probably thought I was a busybody – when Zowie snapped at her little girl (who was taunting Zowie) she may have also felt my dog was more a risk than the crocodiles. Kerry and her family recently sold their farm in western NSW after years of drought. They are 8 weeks into taking a year off to travel and rejuvenate before deciding their next step.

Pennefather River

In the afternoon we had a closer look at John’s Track off-road caravan and Murray’s Gulf Lander camper trailer, brands we had not seen before – part of my dreaming of returning to road travel. Very impressive long-term camps with solar panels, access to their own bores providing running water, washing machines and varied cooking options.

Just before sunset a small trailer-sailer arrived from Weipa – this is the first yacht we have seen since Seisia.

Crackle, crackle.

Saturday 9^th July: the wind is up today but the uncomfortable conditions. The wind is blowing the ash from the fires onto the boat and inside.

John visited in the morning for his reciprocal ‘look-see’ of Nysa and provided some ideas of improving our power production.

Tony brought Dennis and David Brown from the trailer sailer over for afternoon tea. Dennis (from Kingaroy) and David (from Merbula near Eden) are brothers in their late sixties. Dennis built the wooden 22ft Dutch designed yacht named ‘Sandpiper’. They drove to Karumba to sail from there to Cairns, having left 44 days ago. Their wives are waiting at home for their return in approximately 5 months. The yacht is very shallow draft (the keel lifts up) so they beach the boat each night. They have no dinghy or kayaks  to explore away from the yacht – just walk the beach and bushes nearby. David has collected some incredible shells, and they have enjoyed the people they have met – the trip is just something they wanted to do.  Dennis has owned a previous larger monohull and sailed parts of the east coast, besides working on the pearling ships based in the past at the Flinders Group Islands in Princess Charlotte Bay. He has given us further interesting sites to visit on our return. They are travelling very basically – salt water showers, no refrigeration and cook in a camp oven on the beach. Put me to shame!

Crackle.

Sunday 10^th July:

we decided to leave on the morning tide at 9am to commence the route to Weipa. Dennis and David are already left prior to our waking – they need to slow down otherwise will face a long stay in Seisia waiting for the northerly winds to tackle the east coast. I am sad to leave the nice company of the past week, but we need to restock, organise Tony’s venesection and decide our future travel plans.

Winds 20-25 knots, gusting to 30 gave us a good moving sail, travelling the 40kms to Duyfkin Point in 4.5 hours. Unfortunately we then had to turn into the wind to cross Albatross Bay and the next 5 hours was a hard slog motor sailing until we arrived across the channel from Weipa, thankfully anchoring in Roberts Creek just prior to dark.

We now have telephone and internet again. No crackles though!