25 km left to Kuri Bay…I had to paddle against the tide in this sheltered Port George IV area, and then through Roger’s Strait. But I rather left Umbanganan Island to the south, and paddled along the southern side of Augustus Island until it was time to cross Brecknock Harbour to head into Kuri Bay.

There were quite some working platforms and working boats of all sizes moored in the shelter of the big cliff marking the beginning of the pearl farm area. One boat was passing me at around 7am, but they didn’t stop.

I was pulling up my kayak besides the floating landing jetty, and walked up the hill to find someone to talk to.

Sam Marshall, the manager of the pearl farm, welcomed me, and offered me a shower, a room and a good feed, just what the doctor ordered! He gave me as well some anti itching treatment for my damaged skin. Thanks for looking after me, Sam!

The shower felt after 19 days of continuous paddling like heaven on earth, and was balsam for my damaged skin.

I had lunch in the canteen, when Fox, one of the “long term workers” of the farm, asked me to join him to “feed the fish”…I couldn’t imagine what the meant until we drove out for 5 min into the bay with a small motor boat, loaded with a garbage bin.

A small crocodile was sunning himself on an unused pontoon close to the jetty. He must have leaped on it with quite a jump!

The bin was full of food scarps from the last day! A big mob of birds knew already he was coming, and flew around the boat until he pulled up to a buoy to stop. It didn’t take long when the fish came…about 15 smaller and quite big sharks and different fat fish I couldn’t tell the name of.

Fox dumped the content of the bin, plastic bag after plastic bag, in the water. This was really “Outback Aussie Recycling”! The sharks and fish made quite a wet mess in the water snapping for the food scraps, they were obviously were used to be fed every day like that! It was very spectacular for me watching this! Fox petted the sharks on the back, and held one of them at his fin. I dared to touch one of them as well, it felt like leather!

I finished my pre-writing-up of the last eventful days on my computer in the afternoon, and asked sam for internet access in his office.

I started with reading all the piled up 169 e-mails from the last days since my last internet access in Bulgul and answered the most important ones, but this was as far as I got. Sorry I couldn’t post any new blog updates at that point!

I made a few important phone calls as well, and fell asleep late, at 10pm.

Text message from Freya via satellite phone:

I’m at the Kuri Bay pearl farm, but very bad internet connection. I made no progress updating anything so far, sorry.  I’m ok and will keep on paddling tomorrow. I hope to make in in 5 days to Cape Leveque.

(photo courtesy of Karel Vissel)