Sunday 22 August, 2004
Port Douglas to Darwin
We had a fantastic sail up the final leg of the Australian East Coast from Port Douglas to Cape York, which is the very northeastern tip of Australia. It was some of the best sailing we have had on our entire voyage with SE winds of 15-25 knots pushing us from behind and the Great Barrier Reef providing protection from the ocean swell presenting us with flat-water sailing. Two weeks of ideal sailing conditions giving us high mileage days with the ability to anchor each night either in the lee of one of the many small islets scattered along the Great Barrier Reef or tucked in behind the protection of a cape on the mainland side. The shipping channel is well marked but we still elected to travel only in daylight to better avoid the ‘bits of real estate’. There is a surprising amount of freighter traffic along this stretch of coast and lots of fishing trawlers to watch out for as well.
Our favorite stop was Lizard Island, the largest island in this northern section of the Great Barrier Reef. Lizard has wonderful beaches, crystal clear water, and good hikes over diverse terrain with the possibility of day trips to the outer reef in calm weather. There is research station here for the study of the reef and coral life that opens their doors each Monday offering an informative tour for the public. The snorkeling was excellent, with giant clams you could almost fit inside of and large variety of colorful fish. Besides the visiting yachts, Lizard Island offers two accommodation options but at opposite extremes – either a five star resort at $1,000 per night (all meals included) or camping at $8 per night (propane stove provided). One evening we went to the “local pub” and watched a rugby game. There were 60 to 80 local resort staff and research workers hooting and hollering for their favorite team. Our friends explained the game rules so we actually understood what was taking place on the field and had a great time.
The tides in Darwin are HUGE! ranging from a low of 1.5 feet to a high of 24 feet at spring tides during a full moon. With the shallow depths at the anchorage at Fannie Bay this means anchoring almost a mile off shore and a long dinghy ride. For any of you thinking about going cruising, we highly recommend big wheels for your dinghy as this has made all the difference in taking our dinghy ashore. We are happy with our “Happy Wheels” made in Sequim, Washington. During the full moon, we came home near midnight and found the tide was so low we had to walk the dinghy almost half a mile before the water was deep enough to start the outboard. With dinghy wheels this was an easy task and we laughed at how absurd it all was instead of struggling to carry the dinghy and motor. On the beach at Fannie Bay is the Darwin Sailing Club, which offers an address for mail, showers, laundry, restaurant and bar plus a big screen TV for watching the Olympics. The staffs is great and have made us feel very welcome. And if you’re feeling lucky they even have slot machines! We have found that sailing clubs in Australia offer a much larger social venue than those in the states and they have members that are not necessarily sailors but joining for the social aspect.
The tremendous tidal variation also makes it challenging for marinas necessitating them each having their own lock chamber to get in and out. Yes, like the Ballard Locks in Seattle or the Panama Canal only smaller. You have to make an appointment with the Lockmaster to enter or depart at the higher tides. The marinas all seem to be dual purpose, building the locks to create a body of water for the marina but also serving to create “waterfront” on which to then build expensive houses so all of the marinas are surrounded by residential enclaves. We spent a week at Tipperary Waters Marina while we did a “land trip” and had some work done on the dinghy. We had a great stay although it was the most heavily populated marina we have been in. Nearly every boat was occupied either with cruisers passing through or locals living on their boats. You could always pick out the local boats as they had large air conditioner units attached over a hatch. We are here in winter and its 85-90, in summer it gets to 115.
While we have been in Darwin they have begun laying an underwater pipeline for natural gas from Darwin to Timor in Indonesia, some 300 miles and $7 Billion dollars. We have watched while this huge platform marches across the bay and wonder if it will make it out of the harbor before we do.
Each Thursday and Sunday the Mindil Sunset Markets are held just down the shore from our anchorage. The markets run from 4:00 to 9:00pm and have all manner of food and craft stalls. You can nibble your way through as you stroll along but many families bring tables and chairs to set up dinner parties under the palms with the dramatic red Darwin sunsets in the background. The variety of food offered represents the international population of Darwin and ranges from Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Greek, Indian, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Malaysian to local “road kill”. Stalls offer crafts ranging from anything you can imagine made from crocodile, to Aboriginal art, didgeridoos, and pearls to folding Barbie Doll tents. And if you want you can have a hair cut, massage or have your palm read. There are also street performers and musicians to entertain you throughout the evening.
We have been working on trying all the ‘must eat local foods’ and have checked off most things. We have had Barramundi a wonderful local white fish only found in the Northern Territory. We have also tried kangaroo, which was good, and when the waitress brought it to our table she asked, “which one of you is having skippy?” We tried crocodile on a stick and guess what, it tasted a bit like chicken.
We grouped up with two other boats to rent a minivan for a four-day road trip to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. Kakadu is the largest park in Australia and with its stunning diversity of stony plateau, red escarpment cliffs, waterfalls, billabongs, long twisting rivers, flood plains and coastal flats. A UNESCO World Heritage Area, Kakadu encompasses both scenic wonders and huge galleries of Aboriginal rock art. It was magical to see the original rock art of so many paintings we have seen previously only in books or on post cards. Australia has the largest number of rock art paintings in the world, some more than 20,000 years old. One morning we arose early to take a cruise on the Yellow Water, starting in the dark at 6:45am with mist floating above the wetlands. It was a great experience to watch the sun rise over this section of wetlands showing Kakadu in all its glory with lotus lilies, kookaburras, magpie geese, jabirus and multitudes other bird species. We also saw numerous crocodiles swimming in the water and beginning to come out on the riverbanks to sun themselves and warm up. Kakadu receives over six feet of water in the wet season, November to April, which leaves much of the area flooded for months. At the end of the dry season the ground is parched and cracked and the surviving wild life is dug in awaiting the rains. We saw a great film at the visitor center that made it easier to imagine the dramatic seasonal changes of the area.
The last day we went to Litchfield Park and swam in three of it’s six beautiful waterfalls. Litchfield is only an hour drive from Darwin and therefore quite popular with it’s waterfalls, gorges and deep crocodile-free pools for swimming. The park has some amazing giant magnetic termite mounds so called because the are aligned north-south in an effort by the termites to control temperature by having only the thinnest part exposed to the sun. We all had a good time and we are still on speaking terms at the end.
We enjoy the Australians with their relaxed approach to life; they just seem to take life in stride. You constantly hear “no worries mate” and realize there is not much in life to get overly worked up about. As in New Zealand everyone seems to have a nickname we have even heard Olympic swimmer Ian Thorp referred to as “Thorpie” on the radio.
We are waiting for a wind generator that we have just ordered from Trinidad and once it arrives, is installed and working we will buy our final provisions and head off across the Indian Ocean to South Africa, arriving there sometime in November. Then we will work our way around the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town. Early in 2005 we hope to sail up the Atlantic to the Caribbean arriving there some time in the March to June range. We obliviously still need to fine-tune some of the timing details for the next 12 months. The only thing we know for certain is that we will be sailing more than half way around the world during the next nine months, which seems a long way considering we are not even half way around the world yet! There will be lots of sea miles with lots of books to read and hopefully a few fish to catch.
We received the gift of a digital camera from good friends Leni and Jay while we were home in the US. We have spent the last months playing with it and finally have a group of photos we will be sending off in the next couple of days. So watch your inboxes.
Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the summer or looking forward to spring for those friends in the Southern Hemisphere.
Suzette and Paul
Yacht Altair
Darwin, Northern Territories, Australia