Day Two - Torres Strait
The day began with an early departure from Horn Island with an plan for a clockwise tour around the strait.
Firstly, we planned to overfly Badu Island then turn east for Yam and then on to Yorke Island. We all landed on Yorke while Garrick, Lance and Nev flew on out to Darnley Island to meet with a mate of Lance's who had a crate of crayfish and some coral trout for us.
Once the seafood was collected they came back to Yorke Island and met up with the rest and then we headed back to Horn Island.
For most of us this was our first or longest flight out over open ocean. Despite the modern navigation aids like GPS it still left a nervous feeling in the pit of the stomach as the shoreline slipped behind and the featureless water replaced it. The distances however were not great and before long the next waypoints hove into view.
We had no navigation problems but Horn Island was a welcome sight.
After a quick lunch we boarded the ferry and were taken over to Thursday Island which is the "capital" of the straits.
Our guide met us at the jetty and then showed us around the island. Our first stop was the cemetery which has a monument to the Japanese pearl divers who occupy a fairly significant portion of the graveyard.
Then on to the top of Grassy Hill to look at the old gun emplacements and the view to the nearby islands.
As well as the guns there is a nice little museum there which houses memorabilia from the old diving days and some post-war history.
After the museum we were all pretty thirsty and with a hour or so till the return ferry we didn't need much coaxing. The Grand Hotel has a great outlook from the verandah (and we could see when the ferry was arriving)
Back to Horn Island for a huge feed of Crayfish, done to perfection by the Gateway Resort chef.
Scenes on Thursday Island - The memorial to the Japanese Pearl Divers at the Cemetery.
The big guns on Grassy Hill T.I. - The yellow sign says "No Access - Improper use may cause injury!" Signs to explain the bleedin' obvious!
