You'll Never Never Know If You Never Never Go- N.T. sightseeing

We are just so lucky! Ben and Bianca arranged a hire car so we could visit them in Arnhem Land for a wonderful week,staying at Barunga,an aboriginal community 100km SE of Katherine,where Bianca is a remote area nurse.

Barunga Health Clinic

 Special visitor permits had to be obtained,and we were very impressed with the tidy,well kept community,its friendly people and gorgeous kids.

On the road trip south, made a break at historic Adelaide River,with its old tavern and railway station,showing many reminders of the important role this area played during WWII.

The trip seemed quite quick as the speed limit is 130kph,the road mostly straight,and there is interesting country along the way.Bodi loved his airconditioned backseat lounge and was quite reluctant to get out,even for comfort stops.
     As B. and B. have now lived in the Never Never area for over 12 months they knew all the best places to take us.Ben took us 4wheel bush driving showing us the beautiful country and wildlife-we saw brumbies,buffaloes,

donkeys,kangaroos and vivid parrots.We visited one of the old mining sites near Maranboy,

once very populated but now consisting of only a police station,lockup

Old lockup at Maranboy Police Station

 and derelict hospital.

Having obtained permission from the traditional owners,and being a coordinator for the local Emergency Service,Ben took the ES boat,after a quick motor service by Bill,for a test run along the Roper River.

Boat launching Territory style

It was amazing to see the river surrounded by tall dense tropical growth,huge palms and ferns,just a fertile channel in the dry,arid landscape.

Roper River

    We swam and snorkelled at Bitter Springs,

Bitter Springs

 visited bat-infested hot springs at nearby Mataranka and wondered at the spartan homestead conditions endured by the Gunn family of "We of the Never Never " fame.

Then it was a great lunch at The Stockman's Gallery' opposite the huge old banyan tree.
    Wugularr(Beswick)Falls was a highlight,with cool streams,a large sandy pool,with obvious croc tracks all over the shore, and the sheer dark red cliffs surrounding the waterfall.

Wugularr. Crocs lurk here !

In Beswick, another aboriginal community we visited the Cultural Gallery,full of vibrant local works.
     We even managed a trip to Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge)

No swimming here at Katherine Gorge

and in the heat climbed the steep track to the top of the escarpment,for a spectacular overview of the gorge and miles of surrounding country,then enjoyed a lunch of Barra burgers and iced coffee,both local favorites at the cafe.Ju

Katherine Gorge

st outside Katherine we visited the original 1879 Springvale Homestead,surrounded by huge rain trees,where a pioneering family unsuccessfully attempted to farm in the extremely harsh conditions.
    Almost reluctantly we returned to Darwin.Bill has started work and is finding his job full of variety; from helping the sailmaker to set up sails at various marinas,to restocking liferafts for the Navy,as well as serving in the chandlery-no mechanical work at all!
    We now have a car,a necessity here,so we can go sightseeing as well as attend the great local weekend markets,and conveniently do our shopping.We have joined the nearby Dinah Beach(there is no beach!)Yacht Club and use their floating jetty(tide permitting)as well as socialise in the open air club breezeway,with live music several nights a week,and great reasonably priced meals.

Our neighbour, Rainbow Zucchini 

     We're enjoying living in Darwin and getting used to N.T. time-not Today,not Tomorrow,not Tuesday,not Thursday, Not This week...just take your time! The Wet has not arrived yet-we've heard lots of stories-so we'll let you know !
    PS. It has just now started to rain!!

Up the creek in Darwin

Yes-we made it to Darwin,but it's been too hot to type out the blog!
Even Bodi has had a radical trim.

    We have a Darwin Port Authority mooring in Sadgrove's Creek
 close to Dinah Beach Yacht Club and Nautical Supplies,a large shipschandlery,where Bill now has a job for 6 months.

    After The Wet we will continue our travels down the West Coast with a new autopilot.
    Our trip from Gove to Darwin,which took 11 days,was interesting,beautiful and isolated -

we were out of phone and internet range for most of it,and met or sighted only several other people.

       







   The most exciting moment was forcing our way through the "Hole in the wall"Gugari Rip,a 65m wide channel between Guluwuru and Raragala Is. in the Wessel group.
   Against the incoming tide we were gaining only 2knots at 3000rpm.,zigzagging to avoid shallow patches and rocky outcrops.Just after we emerged shakily at the western end we were hailed by radio from a Customs vessel,lurking around the next bay, checking our id. and movements.

  Further west we overnighted at Refuge Bay,Elcho Is,then decide to head straight across towards the Goulburn Is. Passing close to the picturesque Crocodile Islands,
 we thought we'd stop off for a beach walk and swim,but just after anchoring we were greeted by a 4m."lizard",and then we noticed many slide marks and tracks into the water from the sandy beach!
    Other stopovers were in a sheltered bay near Braithwaite Point where all the water drained away during the night,returning with the morning tide;Sims Is.in a bay full of coral heads,but we did manage to swim in the sandy shore.
Heading north in Bowen Straits we were accompanied for miles by a school of mini-dolphins,playing and diving underneath,ignoring Bodi's excited barking.
   At Port Essington-no port just a large body of water-we met Peter,the ranger at Black Point,viewed the info and cultural display,and decided to visit the ruins of the Victoria Settlement(1836-1849) further down the bay,another futile and tragic British settlement disaster.
  At Cape Don we were hoping to visit the historic lighthouse,but after trudging for miles along the red dirt road,we were picked up by a Cape Don Experience 4wd troupie,told that we were trespassing as it was now all private property,an exclusive fishing lodge,and dumped back at the jetty.

    Tidal flow determined our next few early mornings(3 or4 am.)to enable us to get the right currents through the Vernon Is.in darkness,anchoring at reef-fringed Cape Hotham,then through the Beagle Gulf and Timor Sea,reaching Fannie Bay,Darwin, about 11am. 23rdSept.We moved around and up the creek a couple of days later as it is very shallow,wind-prone and bumpy at Fannie Bay.
   Ben and Bianca drove up from Barunga,400kms south in Arnhem land,where Bianca is a remote area nurse,to welcome us.It was a great reunion as we hadn't seen them since Townsville ,12 months previously.
   Next post will be about our visit to Barunga!

Tide's out in Sadgrove's Creek

Over the Top! Cooktown to Gove

     We finally left Cooktown about 2 weeks ago, provisioned, laundered and our ripped foresail robustly repaired by "Shakey Pete" using a maxiyacht sail offcut. Strong wind warnings were still current with gusts up to 35 knots, buffetting us as we made our way towards Cape Bedford, a very shallow, sandy bay, surrounded by silica sandhills. On our beach walk we met Terrence, an artist who lived in a beach shack, his self-made 'twocanoes' catamaran with hand painted sails out front.

    Next stopover Cape  Flattery, another beautiful bay complete with indigenous 

people spearing fish in the shallows.

 After a rough trip north-east, Lizard Island was interesting and exhausting, as we trekked all over, checking out Mrs Watson's house, over Chinaman's Ridge to the resort and tiny airport, but as it was very overcast and very windy we didn't climb Cook's Lookout Hill.

the blue lagoon and other inviting bays,

     Our Flinders Island stopover was eventful, having to dinghy ashore at low tide through coral, rocks and mud, Bill having to drag it through the shallows, watching for crocs, beating off with a paddle dozens of small stingrays darting about. But it was worth it to see the magnificent paintings of early ships, animals and fish in the caves in an area inhabited up until only 60 years ago.

Morris Island, a long days sail on, was a tiny coral fringed sand spit with several coconut palms and overrun with spiky succulents with tall central spears apparently planted by admirality to save shipwrecked sailors by providing coconuts and poles to harvest them! We were not alone...A fishing trawler spawning 4 smallrunabouts taking off in all directions towards the horizon kept us company here until dawn. Bodi was delighted to have unexpectedly startled some pelicans into flight.

     Now we have really experienced the trade winds. Making the most of them, we were using only sails to reach our destinations speedily, with little use of fuel. We progressed up the coast, passing many reefs to Portland Roads, a strategic base during WWII, now inhabited by about a dozen people.

    The Cape Grenville stopover was memorable, we found the largest and tastiest oysters and a small barracuda leapt up onto our side deck. Bodi thought he'd caught it and guarded it all night!

    We had our first aerial surveillance check by Coastwatch and watched a 'mothership' providing supplies and fuel for the gathering fishing fleet. 

    Via radio we witnessed an efficient rescue drama with a helicopter eventually plucking 3 'english challenged' people in strong winds and darkness from a yacht which had collided with a small reef near the outer fringe. Thank goodness for EPIRB's!

     Further north we entered Escape River guided by a fishing boat through the sand banks to an anchorage amongst pearl rafts and croc swamps.

     The next day we were propelled through Albany Passage then over the top to round Cape York, anchoring alone in the bay beneath with camera- clicking land tourists silhouetted on the rocky track leading to the tip. Of course we headed up there and found ourselves alone for a short while sipping chardy to celebrate, a great thrill but very windy.

For the next few days recovery time, we anchored further south 50 metres off the beach at Seisia, the delightful little port for inland Bamaga community and took a ferry day tour to Thursday Island as quarantine restrictions would've made it too difficult in our boat, 

while Bodi was minded by a new fan who ran the ferry office and caravan park.

 It was a great experience, like a remote island. Most of the population being of islander heritage were very friendly and the historic fort and cultural centre were fascinating.

     Seisia was also mainly populated by islanders, the arrival, loading and unloading of of the cargo ships from Cairns the main activity. The fishing club on the foreshore provided delightful live island style music nearly every night.

View from Gove Yacht Club

    After extra safety lines and equipment and weather checks, we set off across the gulf on the Friday the 5th of September without much help from the wind. All was going well until later that evening when Fred, our autopilot had an electronic malfunction, and despite Bill's efforts (he does fix mostly anything!), we were forced to manually steer the rest of the way - 320 nautical miles, taking turns at the wheel, compass steering for the next 50 hours with only short breaks. Finally we land ahoyed about 6:30pm Sunday evening but by the time we entered Gove Harbour it was 8:30pm so we anchored well out in the harbour, full of boats, mostly unlit, dazzled by the huge alumina plant and wharf lights.

      We have been lucky in Gove, where there is nothing at all but a sadly declining yacht club,heaps of red dust, with Nhulunbuy, 12 kms away and no public transport. By chance Bill made the acquaintance of the Commodore, Roger, seeking help with the autopilot repair. He suggested a few possibilities and took us on a tour of the town and shops. An ex Port Mac boatie Greg, a customer in our marine business days, then lent us a vehicle for the duration of our stay. As this entire area is Aboriginal land, there are many limitations and issues (we had to go to the court house to acquire liquor permits to buy supplies)  which we have learnt about from Roger, married to the daughter of the traditional aboriginal owner.

    Well this has been a huge post .but so much has happened and once we leave here there will probably be no more internet or phone until Darwin which is 1-2 weeks away. We will have to do without Fred but Bill has rigged up a joystick which will make steering much easier and as there are plenty of anchorages along the way, we will only be doing day-hops.