A Conundrum

Why did the chicken cross the road?

We still don't know the answer, even though we witnessed the crossing!

Orange-footed Scrub Fowl crossing the road at Gove Harbour.

We Left Port Essington on 18 Sept, heading for Gove Harbour.  The Great White Hunter decreased the population of Spanish Mackerel once again after leaving Port Essington.  His trusty assistant suggested that this looked a likely place to catch a fish and it was. 

Hmmm, where to put it.  It might be that we haven't finished eating the last two mackerel yet.  Time to re-organize the freezer, put the rod in moth balls for a while and eat more.

The first two nights found anchorage at Croker Island and Malay Bay which are along the north coast of Arnhem  Land.  Interesting country but you need a permit from the Northern Land Council which is the authority for indigenous affairs in this area.  We didn't have one.

From there  we had a long stretch of three days and two nights before the next anchorage which would be at Elcho Island.  Favourable winds  would have got us there sooner but easterly winds meant a lot of zig-zagging and straight into the oncoming swell.

It was slow going with a lot of dramatic waves breaking over the bow.  

I went below to make a cup of tea.  Winkali was heeled over on the zig and as I was eyeing off the floor to see where the best spot would be to find a secure foothold, I noticed a thin line of water lying along the junction of the floor and wall.  

I lifted the floor boards to see what was happening in the bilge.  This caused me to inform Ian that there seemed to be quite a lot of water in there.

Panic! ! !  Where was it coming from?  Were we going to sink?  What to do if we were going to sink and what to grab?

Lucky I knew all the answers to this because I had just finished reading a book where the family yacht had sunk off the Galapagos Islands and they had to survive in their raft, then dinghy when the raft sank, for thirty eight days.  They lived mainly off turtle and drank turtle blood when water was scarce.

If we sank, we were going to do it easy because I was more than ready to grab the food and water and I would have even saved the lollies.

Ian tracked down the source of the water and found it was coming through the   hawse pipe (anchor chain hole) on the bow of the boat.  Crashing headlong into the waves put a lot of pressure on our usually functional chain cover and the excess water found its way into the anchor locker, under our bunk (giving our bedding a good soaking), into the locker where we keep our computers and into the bilge.  

The next couple of hours were devoted to pumping out the water, stripping the bunk, organizing our bed to dry out and finding out whether the computers had survived.

There were three laptops and one printer in the flooded locker.  The printer and Ian's old laptop which he had used for his work were write offs.  Lucky our other two laptops were on top and still dry.  They have all our photos on them.

We got to Elcho Island on 23 Sept exhausted and had a full night's sleep - luxury!

The next day was spent drying out the boat and sorting out ruined computer stuff.  

There is a township on Elcho Island called Galiwin'ku.  As we had internet and phone reception, we were able to research the area where we were and found that Galiwin'ku is the second largest indigenous community in the Northern Territory. They boast an Arts and Crafts centre in a modern building.  Also, it is the home of the famous Galiwin'ku Chooky dancers who sky-rocketed to fame when they appeared on U tube doing their rendition of Zorba The Greek.

Locals getting ready for a bit of  (non) fishing.

We watched these locals spend some time sharpening this over-sized spear.  When they were happy with it , they put it away and drove off. . . . as you do!









This island was worth visiting so we upped anchor and moved to the bay adjacent to the township.  I made a call to the council office to see if we could get permission to come ashore.

The authority in charge was out of the office at the time and I was told that they would ring back in half an hour.  I was also informed that there was a 5 meter crocodile in the area that had been giving them trouble lately but we should be ok.  It had taken a dog the night before.  I suppose that meant it wouldn't be hungry that day.

During our wait for the phone call,  we considered our fragile inflatable dinghy.  There was a fine line between inflated and deflated and crocodiles are experts at deflation.  

The phone call we were waiting for took sufficient time for us to weigh up the risk involved.  We changed our minds about visiting.

Also, the timing was right (with tides) for passage through Cadell Straits which runs between the bottom of Elcho Island and the mainland.

Ian concentrates on getting us through Cadell straits safely

The straits are tricky as the channel is narrow and there are shifting sandbanks.  The water was extremely turbulent where the channel narrowed, almost creating whirlpools at times.  









That night anchorage was at Inglis Island which is part of the English Company Islands south of the Wessels.  (Ian thinks it was named after Greg Inglis, South Sydney Rabbitoh's full-back).

The land was changing.  Flat sandy coast was replaced by hills and valleys.  Large trees had replaced scrub.  Monsoonal forest was now dominant.

Next night was Astel Island.  This was only a short sail from Inglis so we still had lots of time to go ashore.  Our map showed us that this didn't belong to Arnhem Land so we didn't need permission.

We took a crab pot and a tin of cat food which is apparently the best bait for crabs.  The beach looked croc free.  We found a suitable corner of the beach where there was some rocks and likely to be crabs.  Ian opened the cat food and the rich odour of sardines wafted through the air.  I could almost see the crabs clambering over each other to get to the cat food first.

Then . . . .  Ian saw a croc cruising the rocks.  The crab pot was folded up again, cat food disposed of at the other end of the beach and thoughts of crab for supper dismissed.

Time for photos.  The bay was full of birds, mainly congregated in one small corner.  Bowerbirds, Beach Stone-curlews, Honeyeaters and ? ? ? some other bird sneaking up over the rocks. 

"What's that?" asked Ian.
It was about the size of a Scrub Fowl.  After looking it up in the bird book it turned out to be a Chestnut Rail of which not a real lot is known about because of difficulty of access to their habitat.

Ian got a bad photo of it which was better than my no-photo.

The rocks in this area are as unusual as any we have seen along this whole top end.

A large piece of coral with its fragile honeycomb structure, at home amongst the other sandstone sculptures.




These brightly coloured flowers were popular with the Honey-eaters.

Me standing amidst some very nice pandanus.

If we couldn't eat them, we could still photograph them.

Then it was on to Gove Harbour via Cape Wilburforce. Working with the right tides is of utmost importance in this area because if you get it wrong, you can expect to be going backwards in the rip.  The country and coastline is spectacular in this area.  It came to us as serendipity as it was every bit as good as we could have hoped the Kimberleys to be
Landscape now became soaring cliffs.  Mile after craggy mile.  Islands were carved and sculpted.  

Cotton Island - largest of the English Company Is group.

Entry to Gove Harbour

Gove Harbour bauxite refinery on the right, tropical island on the left.  Not something you would see too often.  The refinery was visible on the horizon from about 10 miles away.

Gove Harbour anchorage taken from boat club.

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Little Corella

Trees at the boat club car-park provided great nesting holes for the feathered locals.

Crocodiles, Banteng and Buffalo

We left Darwin around midnight on 12 Sept so we could go with the flow of the tide.  

We anchored at Alcaro Bay near the Cape Don lighthouse the following evening.  

We decided to spend a day.  There was a 5km walk from the jetty near where we were anchored to the lighthouse which amounted to 10km there and back but we were up to it and it would be worth it!

We armed ourselves with cameras, lollies and water and grabbed our best thongs for the walk. Ian also took his spear gun in case we had to defend ourselves against crocs.  

We landed on a nice little spot on the beach away from where crocs were likely to be lurking.  We got about 10m along the beach when we noticed a rather fresh croc slide.  

We looked around nervously and wondered what we should do.  Ian knew.  He went and got a nasty looking stick to back up his spear gun.  

Another nervous look around and we made our way to the track on the high side of the beach.  We left our armoury at a convenient spot at the start of the track to be collected for defence purposes when we came back.

Well, we walked and walked and walked.  The day got hotter, our lollies and water started to run out and our thongs were proving to be unsuitable.

Several times Ian questioned whether we should give up and turn around but I assured him that the lighthouse would be just around the next corner and it would be worth it.

In the finish, it just wasn't worth it and we turned around minus the lighthouse experience.   

We made it back to the jetty before heat exhaustion and fatigue overcame us.    
Ian retrieved his weapons.
A thorough scan of the area didn't show up any further evidence of crocodile activity so we quickly launched the dinghy and sped back to Winkali as fast as our 3.5hp outboard would go.

We survived!

Trusty assistant catches a Golden Trevally

That evening we thought a change from Spanish Mackerel would be welcome on the menu.

 The following morning we left for Port Essington which is at the top of Coburg Peninsular.  Our first anchorage was at Black Point which boasts a boat ramp, ranger station, cultural information centre and, best of all, a swamp where many birds congregate.

This was a great place to bring the cameras to.

"Look out, George is coming in for landing"

Magpie Geese sporting an orange tinge from the red soil in the swamp.

Practice makes perfect - keep practising George.

We were treated to the sight of Magpie Geese taking flight in a shower of diamonds as we approached.

 We noticed that the edges of the swamp had been disturbed and muddied by many hooves.  Usually the cause of this in Northern Australia is pigs but in this case it was from cattle.

The information centre told us that these were Banteng cattle which were brought to the Coburg peninsular in the early 1800s when a township named Victoria Settlement was established in the area.  This settlement was abandoned after 10 years due to the harsh environment and sickness etc.

A small herd of these cattle were left behind and now form the largest herd of wild Banteng in the world.  They are almost extinct in the wild in their home lands due to loss of habitat, although there are many domestic Banteng cattle still in Asia.

Although we saw many hoofprints and cow-pats, we saw no Banteng.

One of the rangers walking home after a hard day in the office

 The beach offered more exploring so off we went in that direction.

The beach took on a different look at every turn.

Everywhere we went there were amazing rock formations. These rocks looked good enough to eat - creamy vanilla with boysenberry swirls - yum!







Still in Port Essington, we ventured to Kennedy Bay the next night.  Another exploration along that beach showed more evidence of Banteng. 

Ian considers whether he should keep this buoy.

Let's see how it bowls.

Even better, Ian found more treasure.

Our last stop in Port Essington was 7 Spirit Bay.  This was a beautiful spot complete with a 4 star resort.  As there were no roads into this bay, access was by boat from the rangers station at Black Point or by plane as they had their own little airstrip.

The resort managers were very friendly and we were allowed to use their facilities as well as take a good wander around for a modest fee.

More swamps, we were in our element.




And so were the crocodiles.  This is a photo of one of the numerous slides which were side by side along the whole beach.

 In the distance we saw what we first took to be a termite mound. . . . . . .

 until it stood up. . . . .

and was joined by its friend who had been hiding in the shadows.

 We had nowhere to run to.  Ahead lay the bovine enemy, in the water, ugh, I don't want to think about it.

We retreated.




A moving line in the water made us think of crocodiles.  After a bit of focusing and zooming of camera lenses we were astonished to see it was a line of fish, skimming the water with mouths wide open.  

A thorough search of Grant's Fish Guide hasn't shed any light on what kind of fish this might be.

 Another blog coming soon.  This one's getting too long.

See you there  :)

King George River, The Kimberleys

We left for The Kimberleys on the first day of spring.  We had our extra 2 jerry cans of diesel which increased our total fuel carried to 250 litres.

We left in the calm but had a handy little breeze spring up in the afternoon so we were able to raise the sails and turn the motor off.  Silence is bliss!

During the night, the breeze died out once again, so we glid (past tense of glide), into the golden sunrise on an oily calm sea.  



You wouldn't want it any other way!














As the morning matured into day, the sea and sky 
merged into one.


It took us about 50 hours to reach the mouth of the King George River.  Along the way we had a pod of 8 dolphins, making good use of our bow wave.  They stayed with us for nearly half an hour which is unusual as they normally tire of it after 5 - 10 minutes.

Another surprise for us was a Hump-backed whale as we were nearing King George River.  I believe it is not that common for them to be in that area.

We entered the wider part of the mouth of the river known as Koolama Bay mid morning and found a small secluded beach to anchor while we took the dinghy to check the depths of the sandbars across the river.  We would have to wait till high tide to cross these and needed to know our course as we would be in trouble, even at high tide, if we got it wrong.

As we rounded into this little bay, we were greeted, first by a mast, then the rest of a yacht. However, the yacht wasn't so much on the water as it was half high and dry, moored and anchored at 4 separate points to keep it falling over. 

Before you could say Jack Robinson, the owner of this yacht (Raymond) was in his dinghy on his way to say G'day.

After a bit of small talk, he went back to his yacht and we followed over in the dinghy to stretch our legs on land.


Cameras in hand we went for a walk to see what we could find.  I was especially looking for the White-quilled Rock Pigeon which is only found in this small part of Australia.  Ian found one first and I was excited to see one on my first day here.

Ok, I admit it's quite a nondescript looking bird, but you have to come a long way to see one.  It's priceless!









 Legs stretched, we had a bit more of a chat to Raymond before heading back to Winkali, then over to the sandbars.

We admired Raymond's handiwork.  He wanted to get his yacht high and dry so he could clean the bottom and get a few more knots out of it on his way to Freemantle.  We were in awe, to say the least.  Raymond isn't a spring chicken and he had accomplished this amazing piece of engineering by himself.  

He did it all the time! 
Why didn't we try it?  
Umm, what for? 
To see if it will float again.
What would we tell the insurance?  We put our boat high and dry to see if it would float again when the tide came in. 

We didn't try :)

After checking the sandbars in our dinghy, we looked over to the bay where we had Winkali anchored.  To our dismay, we noticed that Raymond's yacht was no longer upright, but lying on it's side.

Oh no, we hoped that he was ok.

Raymond's boat on it's side

Back we went to make sure he hadn't fallen over and been crushed as the yacht had tilted.

No, there he was taking a stroll along the shore.  

Ian and Raymond 

He assured us that everything was well and the worst that had happened was that his stew had fallen off the stove.



Ian and Raymond sat under a rock ledge in the shade for a while, fixing the yacht (verbally).


That night, the tide came in, Raymond's yacht floated and he anchored out in the deeper water for a good night's sleep.  We were relieved and did the same.

We woke in the morning to find a cruise ship had come in and anchored not far away.  While we were getting over our astonishment, another one came in and did the same.  They launched a flotilla of zodiacs, filled them with happy passengers and up the river they went.

It was now high tide so we pulled up anchor and followed them sedately.


We sailed up the King George River mostly in silence.  What could you say.  It was breath-takingly beautiful.



Crazyily angled cliffs towered above us.  Deep ochre, delicate pink, black, sandstone, boulders precariously balanced - Rock Art in nature.

We took Winkali to the waterfalls (which weren't falling this time of the season).  The water in the river is 60m deep here!  

The dark area on the rocks is where the water falls in the wet season.










These tour guides from the cruise ships have got a tough job, guarding the inflatables in the shade of a rock ledge, while their passengers are climbing the gorge above.


We anchored Winkali downstream a short way and found the steep rocky path to the top of the falls after the last of the cruise ship passengers had departed back to their ship.

Wow, this was a serious climb.  I had new respect for those people who had just came down.

It was now early afternoon and the walk was hot to say the least.  We had intended on going for a dip in the freshwater pools at the top of the falls, but being so late in the season, the pools had an active growth of algae flourishing in them, so we abstained.  

From the top of the falls we could see Winkali waiting at anchor.  She is the small dot in the middle of the river.  

It's hard to give the right perspective of how high and grand the gorges are, but if you can imagine yourself as a small speck on that tiny dot, it's a start.



We spent 2 days exploring the river and falls.  We had to keep moving because we were way behind time and had a long way to cover through the Kimberleys and down the west coast before the cyclone season was upon us.  

With the unseasonally calm days we had been having, the ocean would be warming up early this year and we were getting nervous.

We had arrived at King George River, the first of our Kimberleys stops on the 3 Sept and it was now 6 Sept and we were leaving.  The weather was still against us and we would still have to motor most of the way.  We could buy fuel at 2 remote locations before Broome but it would cost us over $3 a litre, the most expensive fuel in Australia.

As we reached the mouth of the river with a light westerly blowing, we both reached a sudden decision which we hadn't even discussed before.

We would head east and explore all that fabulous country which we had raced past on our way up here.  

There was Arnhem Land just begging to be seen.  The Wessels.  All those islands up the east coast which we had passed and promised ourselves to come back and see properly.

Why race through The fantastic Kimberleys and not see them properly while sacrificing all that we had been past.

We decided to head back while there was still time to get a good look at what we'd missed on the way up.  We'll leave earlier next dry season and have a proper look.

So, we had a day of sailing till the calm took over again and we turned on the motor. 

What do we do while we're out on the sea out of sight of the land.

Well, we watch sunrise and sunset, always on the look for the amazing green flash on the set (which we haven't seen yet).  We watch the ocean and often see amazing things which pass too quick to be photographed.  

Look, there's a turtle. A Sea Snake.  Schools and schools of fish. Dolphins.  Ian saw a pod of Humpbacks on the way back as I was having a nap - yes, he took photos for proof.

 Ian managed to get this photo a Sea Snake.  It's tricky because there here and gone in an instant.  It's a special moment to see one in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight.

And I got this photo of a tuna jumping out of the water.  We often go through schools of fish but you need to take a hundred photos before you actually get the fish in one!



Well, we're back in Darwin for a few days, then it's on to Arnhem Land,