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.