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| View of Steep Island from the top of Raft Point. |
We had arrived back at Raft Point a safe and familiar anchorage, and it was time to check out the remaining caves that we had missed on the way over. We had been told that the indigenous art work here was spectacular. We had seen some great stuff last time but we still needed to find two other caves, to finish the job.
After a 30 minute climb we reached the top we were breathless as we were quite deconditioned. Though our arm muscles were toned there is not much aerobic exercise to be had on a boat, as you can imagine walking around the deck just doesn't cut it.
The view of Collier Bay from the top is spectacular and after walking through scrub and climbing over boulders we came across the other two caves. Peaking underneath the ledges revealed the mother load of all indigenous art.
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| Human??? |
The amount of art displayed was astounding and covered every possible part of the roof surface. It depicted everything you would want to know about Raft Point. This is one of the functions of indigenous art, to display all the food sources that could be found in the region. There were turtles, bats, dugong, wallaby, birds, barramundi and numerous other fishes.
It also gave an insight into their spiritual beliefs. We got the impression that life here was good. There was water and plenty of food sources so they had time to pursue more esoteric, spiritual and artistic endeavours.
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| The spirit - Wandjina. |
Plus it is one of the few sites that are still active - meaning the art is still being made and the older art is regularly touched up.
Back on the boat the weather report wasn't what we had hoped for. We already had three days of really windy weather but more was predicted for the rest of the week. This meant getting out to Montgomery's Reef would be easy. However, finding the narrow channel in the south east corner of the extensive reef system, that we were told existed but was not charted, was very worrisome. Then staying there some hours while the tide dropped 12m and then another six hours till it rose again before we could safely leave, would not only be uncomfortable but potentially hazardous. We would have gone if following someone, or had some coordinates or even a mud map but no we were blind as to what to find and where to find it. Bad weather just ruled this option out for us - yet again.
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| Montgomery's Reef exposed as LWS arrives. |
On the plus side the wind and the ebb (outgoing) tide would help propel us north up and safely out of Collier Bay. It would also take us along the eastern side of Montgomery's Reef, and if we sailed close enough we would get a good view as we headed north. Decision made, that was what we did.
Montgomery's Reef is extensive but at high tide you could sail right past and not see anything but a few small islets, because it is covered by at least 10m of water. After high tide the water level begins to drop and eventually the reef rises out of the water. The water cascades off in all directions and it looks like mini waterfalls everywhere. This is what people come to see as it is quite a spectacle.
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| Kid Island Beach, off Deception Bay. |
We also had a good and quick sail north and arrived back at Kidd Island, just outside Deception Bay. We retraced our steps after this and quickly ticked off Sampson's Inlet, Roger's Strait, Tenggara Bay, and out of Port George IV, as we had seen them on the pilgrimage south to Derby.
We then took a detour south down towards the Prince Regent River. We were not going right up the extensive river system for numerous reasons. Firstly, it is really difficult to navigate down through the narrow passages and Whirlpool Pass just to get to the Saint George Basin. Then get across the Basin and into the river system. Secondly, the river can get quite shallow in several places so we would have to anchor just inside the river. That would mean a very long trip to get 17 nautical miles up to the waterfalls and back to the boat during one high tide period in the dinghy with a 3 horsepower engine - almost impossible. Lastly, it was mid-August and the chance that water would be still flowing over the waterfall would be exceedingly low. As it was definitely late in the dry season and most other waterfalls we had come across in July were completely dry or only a trickle was flowing over them.
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| The mouth of Hanover Bay Inlet. |
Decision made we thought we would head down to lovely Hanover Bay. The passage down was a great sail with help from the flood (incoming) tide and we noticed several other narrow river passages that had cut their way into the flat topped red cliffs. They were indeed tempting to go into and have a look around but with no charts, it would be impossible to know the depths and any hazards that lie in wait.
On reaching the inlet the view was spectacular. Huge red cliffs flanked the inlet on both sides. There were some lovely beaches just outside the inlet and we anchored just off the largest and whitest beach in the area.
Then we took the dinghy up the inlet that evening and also the next day to check out its many river systems and potential anchorages. All this beauty around and we had it to ourselves.
Then it was time to return to our pilgrimage north. We headed across York Sound, rounding Bat Island and Cape Brewster. We anchored overnight in the lee of Cape Brewster and planned on how we would get to Careening Bay the next day.
On our way south we had come through the narrow but deep passage that exists between Glauert and Grey Islands, called Ivy Cove. This time we wanted to attempt the narrow but shallow rock strewn passage between the southern end of Glauert Island and the northern end of the mainland. Again we planned for slack water, so we set out the next morning at low tide.
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| Denise at the Mermaid tree. |
This was a nervous time but we cajoled ourselves with the thought that if we beached ourselves on a rock the flood tide that was now coming in would set us free. Well that was the plan at least. Luckily we safely made it through and anchored on the beautiful beach that is Careening Bay.
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| 'Reverie' anchored in Careening Bay. Glauert Island in the background. |
The beach got its name when the 'HMC Mermaid' spent 16 days careened here on the beach while extensive repairs were undertaken to fix the boat. The iron nails that had been used to build the boat in 1816 had well - rusted. The Captain, Philip Parker King and crew carved the ships name in the large boab tree near the beach in 1820.
After checking out the Mermaid tree Peter accidently dropped the left arm of his sunglasses through the grating on the boardwalk. He jumped off and peered underneath and located the item. He was just about to reach in when the large brown highly venomous snake made a lunge for him. Luckily his reflexes were good and he managed to avoid being bitten and we both quickly ran back towards the beach, worrying the snake maybe persuing us. Feeling safe enough we took a picture of the snake again back to catching rays under the boardwalk. Lucky escape for Peter. His fate certain death in about 20 minutes as there is no medical assistance out here.
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| The large brown snake soaking up the sun. |
Once back on board a few calming beers were had and he could finally laugh about his near death experience.
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