Sailing from Cairnes to Darwin and exloring the Top End.

Sadly we said goodbye to Hanna and Richard who flew home on the 12th of September. It has been a great three weeks; we have loved having them with us. Following their departure we turned our attention to boat repairs, the wires attaching the dinghy to its davits had broken and the alternator had packed up. On Monday after a lot of legwork literally, we found a garage that could mend the alternator. This and the chandlers were miles from the marina, so on Tuesday we hired a car for the day. After collecting the alternator we spent the rest of the day visiting the nearby Atherton tableland.

The tableland is comprised of several national parks and forest reserves. There is a patchwork of forest types from dry eucalypt woodlands to tropical forest. It is a great place for walking with numerous trails; you could spend weeks exploring them. Or first stop was Lake Barrine, a crater lake surrounded by rainforest, with two exceptionally large kauri pines. Continuing the giant tree theme our next stop was Curtain Fig national park where a boardwalk leads to a magnificent strangler fig featuring an extensive curtain of aerial roots that drop 15m from the canopy to the ground. Of geological interest was a volcanic pipe, the crater of mount Hypipamee, a cylindrical hole with sheer granite walls. Fifty-eight metres below the rim is a lake about 82m deep, which is covered by a layer of waterweed.

On Thursday we sailed out of Cairns heading north up the Queensland coast. We stopped at Low Islands, a most uncomfortable rolly anchorage. We left next day, making the most of good wind and doing an overnight sail to the Flinders group of islands. William saw a Dugong, a sea cow, on the way. We anchored between Flinders and Stanley islands, sharing the anchorage with two motor cruisers and a trawler. A local couple from one of the cruisers visited us and imparted some very useful local knowledge and warned us not to go swimming anywhere up the coast, including the islands, that is unless we wanted to feed the local handbags (crocodiles). Another day sail took us to Morris Island, a coral cay recommended by our locals as being the best anchorage. It is an idyllic looking island with a sandy beach; two palm trees and reputedly a crocodile. We continued up the coast, stopping overnight at Portland road. From here we did another overnight sail to Escape River. There is a pearl farm at the mouth of the river and the pearl farmer came out to greet us in his tinny (an aluminium dinghy). He warned us not to go in the water, as there are some very big crocs around. We saw two swimming across the estuary on our way out.

Next day we rounded Cape York and anchored off Seisia, a small settlement with a surprisingly well stocked supermarket. There is a monument for a man eaten by a crocodile in 1982. We stayed a few days and spent an enjoyable evening socializing at the Seisia fishing club. We left on the 27th and sailed across the Gulf of Carpentaria past Cape Wessel and on to Cape Crocker, anchoring in Coral bay, since the wind had completely died.

We arrived in Darwin on the 5th of October and anchored in Fannie bay. The bay is very shallow at low tide, especially as it was springs; hence we had to anchor a long way out. We dinghied ashore at the sailing club, a beach landing which was no fun considering the 7-metre tide. Wading about in the water trying to launch the dinghy after dark was not a good idea; especially as we were right next to a warning sign, beware of crocodiles. It was over a mile by dinghy into Cullen bay and the marina was closed until November for repairs to the lock. We decided to stay at anchor but were advised to move to Frances Bay, just off Stokes Hill Wharf. This was excellent advice; it is a calm anchorage only a short distance from a jetty where the dinghy can be left. From here it is a fairly short walk into town. We spent the next few days sorting out our Clearance Approval for Indonesian Territory, which we must have before leaving for Bali. This has to be through an agent in Indonesia but can be done by email. It can take up to 3 weeks. We have some boat maintenance of course to keep us busy and there's plenty to see in and around Darwin.

Darwin is a pleasant city with waterfront parks and plenty of shops and restaurants. It is however very hot (35C) and humid. We went to Mindil beach sunset market, which is on Thursday and Sunday evenings. Here you can buy a large selection of local crafts and aboriginal art. The many food stalls offer a fair choice of cuisine at reasonable prices.

While we were waiting for the cruising permit we hired a car and went exploring the 'top end' as it's known. We visited Kakadu national park, which is about 40 miles from Darwin. Ubirr rock art sites were very interesting; with lots of Aboriginal rock paintings dating back thousands of years. The view from the lookout across the wetland is spectacular. Our next stop was the Alligator River. No Alligators but infested with very large salt-water crocodiles, as were all the lakes, rivers, billabongs and creeks. We stayed overnight in Katherine and visited the famous Katherine gorge next day. It was too hot to do much walking, 40C in the shade and up to 50C in the sun. So we got back in the air-conditioned car and drove back towards Darwin, stopping for the night at a caravan park in Batchelor. We stayed in a small cabin and during the night there was an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, measuring 7.3, which woke many people in the Northern Territory and made the morning news. We slept through it, being used to a moving boat.

Next day we went to Litchfield national park. Here there are lots of waterfalls, which are fed by underground springs, hence are still flowing now, the end of the dry season. The fire risk is extreme at the moment, with long dry spear grass in the eucalypt forest. The Aboriginals manage the forest by small controlled fires, which stimulate new growth and hopefully prevent large infernos. In Litchfield it is safe to swim in the many plunge pools, as salties are trapped and removed. There are fresh water crocodiles but they eat fish not people. In one area of the park there are hundreds of magnetic termite mounds. Magnetic termites align their mounds from north to south. The mounds are flattened to allow maximum heating from the sun on the eastern face in the morning. Clever these termites, solar heating and air conditioning! There are lots of huge mounds made by cathedral termites, so called because of the vaulting shapes. The one I am pictured next to is 5 metres high and 50 years old.

Well we have survived all the dangerous creatures and are all set to go. The new crew has arrived, two young Frenchmen, Gabriel and David who will be sailing with us to Bali. They have already made themselves very useful, Gabrielle went to the top of the mast to change the anchor light bulb. David is a chef and has cooked some great meals on board. We have really enjoyed life down under but its time to sail on.