Day 82, Thursday, 09.04.2009

14.20 144.38 West Barrow Island. 65km 6:30 am to 5:00 pm.  Most beautiful granite boulder island. I got hit hard on the stern by something but didn’t get a glimpse of whatever it was…

(SORRY, NO PICTURES, MY CAMERA SUNK AT CAPE MELVILLE :-((  )

I got scared to death this morning, as after 5 km leaving west Petherbridge Island, something large bumped into my stern of my kayak…I reckon it was either a turtle scare to death as well I was unintentionally running over or a curious shark…no damage, but it left me with a thought what to do in case…

 

There was the same trawler as yesterday coming back the other way that morning, passing me with no sign, but when they were about 1 km behind me, they decided for some reason to give it a full circle to take a closer look on me…but they didn’t come up to me at all.

 

I decided to paddle through the gap of Murdoch Island and the mainland, it was high tide, but I felt not comfortable in there…Murdoch Island was a mangrove island, perfect croc habitat…it was flat water in the gap, and quite a relaxing change after rough water. But the relaxing was only physically, not mentally… I kept paddling in the middle and looking everywhere, but besides the usual turtles there was nothing…I think mangrove islands like that one are better to avoid fully and kept in good distance.

 

Behind the very inviting looking Leggatt Island with it’s nice sandy spit in the near distance, there was a tiny little reef sandbank showing out on the high tide. I had fun to land on it briefly, although it was coral and not that easy to land on in strong winds! I took heaps of funny pictures, but they were all gone later with my lost camera 🙁

 

Noble Island with it’s remarkable conical peak passed to the left, and Barrow Point with the two rocky Barrow islands came close.

 

Again, I didn’t know what to expect, as I haven’t checked on that island before and my original plan was to go to Ingram’s Island.

 

Both Barrow Island showed up high and with plenty of rocky granite boulders, but with no landing in sight…there was an inviting sandy beach on Cape Barrow, but for some safety feeling reason I wanted to stay on the islands…so I kept on paddling, and sighted a sandy patch on the north-western side of the East Barrow Island, but it was inaccessible through the gap of both islands on low tide. I paddled towards the northern tip, and voilá! A perfect bright yellow sandspit showed up as usual…landing was easy, though a dugeon was scaring me a bit…

 

Climbing the steep sandspit, I realized this one won’t stay dry on high tide! It was beautiful though, with huge surrounding granite boulders. I took some pictures, and gave it another try rounding the island a bit further on the lee side.

There it was, my safe landing! Someone obviously spent some time there building kind of a low harbour wall, and a big metal wreck stuck out of the sand on low tide. It was a great campsite below huge granite boulders, and I enjoyed a walk up to the gap of both islands.

 

The “beach” on the other island I spotted through the gap didn’t look mor inviting than this one, it had mangroves and was later disappearing actually on high tide.

 

The solitude mangrove tree in the low tide of my island water was a real beauty…thanks to Dave Winkworth who will borrow me a picture of that one, as my own pictures are all gone from this island as well. 

 

A tiny snake trail made me carefully walking in the grass, this whole continent is full of nature traps! And beauties…

3 comments on “Day 82, Thursday, 09.04.2009

joe

freya, here’s a fun bit of history on an island you should pass in the next day or so….pirates, kangeroos and rich bachelors….

Restoration Island is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 1928 km northwest of Brisbane and a few hundred metres from Cape Weymouth and the Iron Range National Park.

On 29 May 1789, after the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Bligh and the men who remained loyal to him arrived on the island in the ship’s boat. This was the first island they came to, and he named it Restoration Island because the food they found greatly restored their spirits and because that date was the anniversary of the restoration of King Charles II (in 1660).[1]

Bligh saw evidence of the local aborigines using the island (rough huts and places fires had been made). He also saw kangaroo tracks and wondered if the aborigines brought them from the mainland to breed, since they’d be easier to catch later in the confined space of an island. (When leaving the following day he saw aborigines on an opposite shore, but didn’t communicate with them.)

Today Restoration Island is not just a National Park, one third of the island is leased to David Glasheen, a former businessman who moved to the island in 1993[1]. Visitors who want to see the island and live there for a while firstly have to go to Lockhart River and try to get in contact with friends of the caretaker to arrange a meeting. In December 2008, Mr Glasheen advertised on an internet dating site for a female companion to join him and his dog living on the island.

Heiko

Sorry for all another people but I will write few sentences in Germany to Freya.
Hallo Freya, ich habe heute einen Bericht in der Norddeutschen- Rundschau über dich gelesen…ich muß sagen ich bewundere dich sehr.. mein Respekt! Ich bin zwar auch ein Extremsportler ( Triathlet Ironmandistanzen) aber das ist nichts dagegen was du zur Zeit machst.
Du wirst es schaffen….! Pass auf dich auch…den das ist das wichtigste das du gesund zurück kommst. Ich werde dein Tagebuch verfolgen..
schöne Grüße aus Itzehoe …… Heiko (PS: ich denke ich werde mal ein Eis essen in Husum )

joe

hear no evil, see no evil…must be no evil…making impressive progress island hoping. well done!

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