Well this is going to be short…. Getting ready to leave early tomorrow AM before sunrise. Here is a short recap of our time here on Thursday/Horn Islands in the Torres Strait, Australia. I will just comment on each one and let you all connect the dots : )
Coming into the anchorage at Horn Island…there must be 20-30 boats here!As soon as got settled…we picked up Thom and headed to the only bar on Horn Island. It was a resort, a museum, and a bar serving a buffet dinner.AND pool tables?! Trevor and Thom had an ongoing 2 out 3 game tournament….it got pretty intense : )The next day we got into contact with SV Henrietta who said they were taking the ferry to Thursday Island for a tour of the island (1 hour tour) and asked if we wanted to join them…yes please! So on our way to shore…we thought it would be good to give a tow since they were in a row dinghy.The dinghy dock is a bit small for all these boats so you had to “squeeze” in and have a long line.The Rebel ferry was the smaller of the 2 ferries but the faster one. The Sail 2 Indonesia rally negotiated a price for participants to pay only $12 round trip….The ferry was small but can fit all of us doing laundry, shopping, and dining to Thursday Island, no problem.It gets better…..Rebel ferry also takes you by vans and drops you off and picks you up where you need to be and go and will take you back to the ferry dock to go back to Horn Island….what a treat!We all piled into another van with SV Henrietta to take the tour of the island. Tony was our driver/guide…a hilarious islander. He has 10 kids and 60 grand kids. He is about 70 years old but looks like he is in his late 50’s. He use to run a crayfish diving company and it seems like he has done very well for himself. He told us lots about the population here: There is zero unemployment on the island 70% employment by the government. No homeless people and no poverty. Here we visited the cemetery and the famous Japanese shrine for all the Japanese pearl divers who lost their lives here. Japan paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to erect this shrine.Tony also explained there are no aboriginal people here… Tony calls himself an “islander” and he is part Scottish and Indonesian. People here are mostly of a mixed race. Here at the cemetary you can see the grave stones faces East for the muslim Indonesian husbands and the christian wives grave is a cross. It was a beautiful blend and we all loved how each person’s cultural differences were honored and respected…TOGETHER!On our tour, we visited the Green Hill Fort….breathtaking views and boy howdy…was the wind gusting…we all said we needed to “reef” (LOL-sailing joke)View from the Green Hill Fort….looking south towards the Horn Island anchorageSelfie with a canon in the background: Trevor, Thom, Caroline, Michael (hiding) Tony (guide), Joyce, and meWe even stopped by Tony’s house….we were besties by then (it’s only been 30 minutes)Tony took us by “Thong” street…I guess tourist hang there flip flops on this tree or give them to the homeowner…Tony thinks it’s strange…At the dock waiting for the ferry to take us back from Thursday Island to Horn Island, these guys rolled up after a hard days work of catching cray fish. These crayfish go directly to Japan or other places in Asia for a pretty penny….something well over a few hundred dollar for each!Back on the dinghy dock at Horn Island, lots of locals fishing….here are some Travellis…unfortunately they don’t kill them right away…clearly they let them die by suffocation as you can see one of them got out of “line”.The next few days were boat days, getting a few things looked at. Our winches started to “squeak” while coming here so we thought it best to grease them.As a cruiser should..offer to help…We offered water to many boats who had come in and a few took us up on the offer. We spend the better half of the morning filling jerry jugs of water. Part of the reason for this was that the local told us not to drink the water here as there was a boil warning a few months ago. Supposedly it has been tested and the water was good to drink but you never know and it is better not to take chances. Here Thom is taking our dinghy after filling his boat with Slow Flight H2O.Another evening, some of us meet at the resort/bar/restaurant to get together. SV Wasco, SV Chrispohe, SV Fathom, SV Show Time, and us. A game of pool and a few adult beverages (minus the 4 boys on SV Christophe) we had a great time!A few boats left mid week and the anchorage was thinning out. I love the pelicans…they were huge!!!!Say hello to our neighbor! This salt water crocodile was chilling in the sun as we dinghy by back to the boat one afternoon. Some of the rally participants who have lived in Australia most of their lives said they never have seen a crocodile in the wild until now! additionally, It was said that a 16 meter crocodile was recently shot here as it was getting in the way of the ferry traffic….. that is the length of our boat!!!! Hard to image but thankful I didn’t see it : )Ahhh..local beer….and the local rum!!!!Well we checked out today…the customs ladies were so nice! even gave us a bag of Border Force swag!!!!Well…we watch 20+ boats leave in the last 3-4 days…there are only about 5 of us left…here is the anchorage in its current state…EMPTY! That’s ok, the weather looks good and we don’t mind being at the “back of the bus”…inner city style.
We have done 3,276 nautical miles since May 3rd, 2018 when we left New Zealand. 3 countries and headed to our 4th. We should be in Indonesia in about 5-6 days, weather depending. It is about 700+ miles and wind should be behind us. Next up…South East Asia….here we come!
Tonight we had Thom on board for our last dinner together for a while…pepper steak and roasted veggies with a bottle of wine from SV Storm (we all helped SV Storm with diesel and water today). We are so excited for Thom to get to South Africa and beyond…only wish our paths could stay connected longer…but I guarantee…we will have a lifelong friendship : ) Hearts to you Thom and we will see you in the Caribbean!
Oh man…we only have 1 bottle : ( Not sure it will make it to Malaysia where we can trust postage…but if it somehow manages to stay unopened..we will send it to you!
Did you pick up Bundaberg Rum for me? I will pay to have two bottles…shipped if possible! Ooh, good stuff! Safe travels and awesome adventures.
Oh man…we only have 1 bottle : ( Not sure it will make it to Malaysia where we can trust postage…but if it somehow manages to stay unopened..we will send it to you!