Cape York - "The Tip"

Wed 31 Oct.  We hired a "Limo" for  our trip to the tip.  It was a Toyota Landcruiser troopy. None of that looking around the car for scratches and minor dents that you don't want to be blamed for later on.  We would have been there a week listing them all.

After using a crow bar to adjust the door so we could close it, we were off.  There were 8 of us in all and we could all fit in this vehicle and apart from hoping that it would make the distance, that was all that mattered.

I made this movie clip of our trip.  It takes 4 mins 16 secs.  I've resized it to email quality - 46.6mb

As usual, the main topic of conversation between us and the other yachties was the weather, especially wind speed and direction.  Bob and Cheryl had to get back to Cairns for work commitments and left the 2 Nov, bad winds and all.  The rest of us stayed put - no point in punishing ourselves and our boats if we didn't have to.  As it turned out, Bob and Cheryl haven't had too much of a rough trip so far, but they have sheltered for a couple of days at Portland Roads for the worst.

Ian had been busy fishing and I have lost sleep over it.  

• Ian gets up early
• I can't focus and go back to sleep
• Flippity flippity flap flap flap
• What the ? ? ? ?
• The world comes into focus for me
• IANNNN are you fishing?

He is catching sardines for bait for bigger fish which he catches but they are too big and break the line before he can bring them in.  

We do a fair bit of walking to get ourselves fit again.  The jetty is always a hive of activity as the locals manage to supplement their food supplies there very well.

Locals catch fish by the bucket load from the jetty.

Wayne gets some tips from the kids on the finer art using a cast net.

Barbara in front of a termite mound.

Barbara and I do a long walk.  Our waistlines are steadily approaching the dimensions of our boat's waterlines from too much food and too little exercise.

We go bush for a while so I can go looking for birds while Barbara looks for new plants - she has a background in horticulture and is a wealth of information when I need to know what a particular plant is that I've never seen before.

Proiphys Lily

This beautiful scented lily emerges after the first rains of the wet season.  Few people get to see this lily as most visitors have left the Cape at this time of the year.






I spot a Red-backed Fairywren, in all his feisty glory.  He is fiercely protective of the grasshopper he has just caught and dares me to try and take it from him.

Red-backed Fairywren

Native Spider Lily

This eye-catching Native Spider Lily is another flower which emerges at the onset of the wet season.  The bulb can be dug up, ground and boiled and then applied as a "painkiller, disinfectant and insect repellent all in one".






The next day, a few more people join us in a walk to Red Island which is just a stone's throw from Seisia.  Ian and I attempted to visit this island not long after we arrived here but we chickened out when a crocodile jumped into the water from the beach we were about to land on.  

We decided there was safety in numbers and ventured forth.

Bees visiting a Scarlet Flowered Bloodroot 

We found this attractive little plant growing across the island.  Once again, it heralds the wet season - nature is telling us something!

After consulting John Beasley's 'Plants of Cape York' once again we find that it is a Scarlet Flowered Bloodroot.  Named for the red sap of the bulb which is used as dye by Aboriginal people for baskets and bags. 






On a less happy note, Ian finds a discarded fishing line lying in a tangle, complete with a bird skeleton.  It must have been a slow and cruel demise for the unfortunate bird that met with the careless action of a fisherman.

once was a bird

A pigeon pair

On a happier note - a pair of Pied Imperial Pigeons also known as Torres Strait Pigeons.  These beautiful birds migrate to the north of our continent from New Guinea each year to breed.

There are enough yachties here now for a game of cricket with the arrival of a couple more yachts.  Ian finds a splintered plank on the beach and fashions it into a cricket bat.  A lot of insulation tape applied over the lot to prevent splinters and it's ready to go.  Wayne and Barbara had a cricket (tennis) ball and we used jerry cans as wickets.  A concrete path running parallel with the beach proved to be a great pitch.

After a couple of dismal bowls from our participants, we accosted an innocent passer-by. 
 "Can you bowl?", we asked the hapless stranger.
It turned out he had played cricket for Townsville and Brisbane and was quickly enlisted in our game.  

All went well for a while till someone spotted a crocodile cruising close to the beach.  The cricket rules suddenly had a new one. If you hit the ball into the water, you had to go and get it yourself.

We are itching to get going as usual.  The weather patterns are unusual and we can't seem to find a good break.  Seisia is a good place to be as everything (shops, water, fuel, showers and washing machines) are in walking distance and it is only a short distance by dinghy to the shore. There are good beaches and bush walks to go on as well. 

On a longer walk, you can get to Bamaga which is about 3/4 of an hour by foot.  On the way to Bamaga there are sewerage ponds.  I bet that excites all my readers!  Well, we noticed a lot of ducks there the other day and I'm hoping to 'spot' some Spotted Whistling Ducks.  I suppose that would make them 'double spotted'.

There are also pockets of monsoonal rainforest in which reside Magnificent Riflebirds (one of Australia's 4 Birds of Paradise).  I heard them the other day as we were walking past.

Ian hasn't seen any more Palm Cockatoos and is now appreciating the sighting earlier in our trip.  If we have to wait at Seisia for much longer, the Beach Almonds which grow near the jetty, should ripen.  Palm Cockatoos love them.

Well, it's off to the showers for now.  Amusing signs on the amenities ensures that Ian and I go into the right ones.

A Week in Darwin

We arrived in Darwin on 17 Aug.  It was a bit of a nerve racking experience getting into the marina as we had to go through a lock which we had never done before.  We amused the lockmaster with our nervousness.

Odd shaped sandstone cliffs along the foreshore, entering Darwin at Cullen Bay.











We made it though and were soon "locked" safe and sound in the marina at Cullen Bay.  From the look of the yachts in this marina it is apparent that yacht racing is alive and well here.  It must take a bit of organization on race days as they all have to get out through the lock for their events.  



The marina is surrounded by cafes and restaurants.
I found out very quickly to go to the bathroom fully dressed (not in my nighty) before bed as the walkway took you straight past the most popular restaurant.

We hired a car to do errands as well as have an inland trip which we did to Litchfield National Park.  We thought this would be a good place to see lots of wildlife as well as cool off in spectacular waterfalls.

The roads were very good which meant that "a lot" of other people could do the same.  Lucky that there aren't too many people willing to wander around swamps looking for birds, so we had Tabletop Swamp mostly to ourselves.




A yellow form of the Snowflake lilly.  So called as they have a delicate fringe around the flower petal.  They are of the Nymphoides family.

A Royal Spoonbill surveys his kingdom, looking for a dirty rascal to eat.

Ian looking for snakes amongst the weird and wonderful rock formation in Litchfield National Park.

Fruit Bats keeping an eye on us at Wangi Falls.









Unfortunately, the number of people visiting the waterfalls were inversely proportional to the number of people birdwatching.  This, combined with good roads and easy access meant that there was standing room only when we got to each waterfall.

Back in Darwin, we visited Lake Alexander, a salt water man-made lake.  We spent a few hours there taking photos and feeding the sandflies. 










A camera-shy Rajah Shelduck disturbs the glassiness of the lake - beautiful!

Pied Imperial Pigeons enjoying a tasty meal of Palm fruit.







                                      




Back at the marina.

 Striated Herons are showing up everywhere.

A leaf in the still water of the morning.
















Sunset at Cullen Bay.







Off to the Kimberleys.