Harmonie - Over the Top - Seisia, Queensland, Australia

Over the Top - Seisia, Queensland, Australia

Harmonie

Don and Anne Myers

Thu 22 Jul 2010 02:22

10:50.927S 142:21.754E

June 18th. Sailing frenzy day 6. 7 hours, 45 miles. Perfect wind. Flat water. And....we finally made it over the top of Australia - a fairly momentous occasion.

The trick to this short passage was leaving Escape River as the tide was going out, but arriving at the entrance to the Albany Passage (narrow strait between Cape York on the mainland and Albany Island) in time for the flood tide so we could ride it through the passage and down the other side of Cape York. Done. Just like that. We left Escape River with the outgoing tide and just as we crossed into the Albany Passage, the tide turned in our favor. Life was good. We had a serene sail through the passage with the wind directly behind us and sandy beaches on either side as we slid quietly by. Shortly thereafter we rounded Cape York with a big sigh of relief. Finally! - that particular mass of Australia was no longer in the way of our westward progress.

We arrived at the surprisingly delightful anchorage off the tiny town of Seisia and stayed two nights - long enough to rest up for our first overnight sail of the season across the Gulf of Carpentaria, and long enough for me to see the sights while Don, once again, toiled in the engine compartment. I honestly don't remember what exactly needed to be fixed, but there was something. There is always something.

Almost immediately after we set down the anchor, a local sailor came by in his dinghy to have a chat. I worried at first that he was going to whinge about our close proximity to his boat (we anchored a bit close, but the place was a tad tight overall). Instead, he welcomed us to the anchorage in true Aussie fashion and invited us to the 'do' at the local boating club that evening. After our six-day sailing frenzy, we were good and ready for a 'do'. He then moved on to Storyteller and we could hear them asking about crocs in the area. "Oh yeah, he said, there's a four meter beauty that likes to hang around under the jetty." This while gesturing to the jetty that was not more than 200 yards away from our anchored boats. Noticing that his dinghy was a hefty 'tinny' and not the usual blow-up rubber variety, Sue asked how blow-up dinghies fared with crocs around. "Ah well" he drawled, "crocs'll use'm for teething rings." Hmmmm, comforting. Nonetheless, come six o'clock, prime feeding time for crocs, all six of us piled into Storyteller's heftier-than-Harmonie's blow-up dinghy and went to shore for the 'do'. We didn't see any crocs while getting out of or into the dinghy, but we did try to go about our business at a faster than usual pace. During the time we spent at the 'do', John checked on the dinghy at least once to be sure it hadn't turned into a very large reptile teething ring. It hadn't.

The boating club (or was it a fishing club?) consisted of a mean-looking turquoise-painted rectangle of a building - half enclosed and half open-air with plastic tables and chairs set up for the 'do'. While the first band warmed up, we ordered our Aussie burgers (giant burgers served with greens, tomato and signature beetroot, yes a pickled beet slice, on top) and beer. Seisia is an interesting place with an interesting mix of people - white Australians, Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders - and the bands were a reflection of this. The music, however, was a surprise. The first song? Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight'. No matter where we go, we just can't get away from the good 'ole classics. Later, however, we were lucky enough to witness a guest performance by a local celebrity, Seaman Dan. Now in his 80's, Seaman Dan was once a 'pearler', a Torres Strait pearl diver in the '50's and '60's (before the oysters were all fished out - now the pearls are cultured and grow in oyster farms). After his pearling days, Seaman Dan turned to music and is famous in Australia for his blues/reggae/Pacific island/folk singer style.

Seisia was the first truly 'outback' town we'd seen so far in our travels around Australia. The place is hot, and dusty. Red dirt dusty. It is the dry season now, so presumably the wet season turns the red dust town into a red mud town starting in November. The roads are red dirt and the collection of four-wheel-drive vehicles with spare tires and gasoline or diesel jugs strapped to roof racks, and with air intake snorkels positioned well above hoods in the likely event of a water crossing, was impressive. For backpackers and hearty 4WD outback camping people, Seisia is the end of the road. Any further north and they'd fall into the Torres Strait (body of water that connects the Pacific Ocean on the east side of Australia with the Arafura Sea to the west). Any further west and they'd need a special permit to enter Aboriginal land. A short trip to the east and they'd fall into the Pacific Ocean. So, they park their red dust covered mega machines in Seisia and take a ferry to Thursday Island, just like we did.

Or just like some of us did. As usual, John and Don stayed behind to work on the boats while Sue, Helen, Ray and I gallivanted off to Thursday Island on the ferry. Home to Seaman Dan, Thursday Island is positioned in the Torres Strait, but not far from the Australian mainland. It's a port of entry for Australia and is also the administration headquarters for the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of Australia. The Torres Strait Islanders are mostly Melanesian like Fijians and Papua-New Guinea and Vanuatu people and their culture is significantly different than that of the Aboriginal people of mainland Australia. Visiting Thursday Island was a little like a step back in time for us as the people are so much like many of the Pacific Islanders we've seen along the way. Of course the Torres Strait Islanders don't live in traditional thatch huts any more, but they still retain much of their native culture and Thursday Island seems less a part of Australia and more the administrative hub of an island nation. Not that it's a bustling hub. The place is tiny and a bit third-world drab-looking, but there were quite a few Australian construction workers feverishly finishing beautification projects while we were there.

Thursday Island and its neighboring islands played an important role in WWII fending off the Japanese. We took a short bus tour and one of the highlights was the fort-turned-museum that was built in the late 1800's to fend off the Russians and used through WWII.

Picture 1 - Cape York. It doesn't look all that impressive, but passing it by was a huge relief.

Picture 2 - GPS position while rounding Cape York. 10 degrees, 40 minutes south latitude. Won't be long now before we cross back into the land of clockwise-twirling drains (or is it counter-clockwise?).

Picture 3 - The Thursday Island ferry approaching the Seisia jetty under which the 'four meter beauty' likes to hang out.

Picture 4 - Aborigines fishing off the jetty at high tide.

Picture 5 - Looking east at the Torres Strait from the fort museum on Thursday Island.

Picture 6 - Australia's northern-most pub located on Thursday Island. We didn't go in. Instead we opted for the posh cafe adjacent to the cultural center.

Pictures 3, 4 and 6 courtesy of Helen.

Anne