If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Thursday*: Australia’s Northern Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef

 “[Australia] has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures - the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish - are the most lethal of their type in the world..” ― Bill Bryson, “In a Sunburned Country”

We have left behind Australia’s more populous southeastern cities, and have the Gold Coast in our rear. We are now in the sparser northern territory, having spent the past couple of days on or near the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living object, and a thing visible from space.

If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef, do not do it via cruise ship.  Beth and I were there in 2010, and stayed in a coastal town called Palm Cove.  We used Port Douglas as our jumping-off point and caught a dive/snorkel boat from there to go to several different spots on the reef.  It was spectacular.  See my blog of that trip.

This time, we arrived Sunday morning in the Whitsunday Islands, in a town called Hamilton, where people who wanted to snorkel could catch a boat out to a pontoon some two hours away.  There, they and several hundred others snorkeled or dived to see a reef that is in distress.  Most who went came back disappointed.  Unfortunately, because of our brief time in the area, that truly was the only opportunity to see the reef, and they were unable to go to the parts that are still vibrant.  For my part, I wandered around Hamilton, a pretty little resort town with nice views and a decent beach, since I already was aware of the realities of the snorkel trip being offered.                                                            

On Monday, the ship “cruised the Great Barrier Reef.”  While of course one could not see the reef itself from a ship, we could at least see the shades and shadows of the waters and islands, which in themselves were mesmerizing.  Shades of blue I have never seen segued into other shades of blue both serene and spectacular.

The next day, we were scheduled to visit Thursday Island, a remote island 1.3 square miles in size and having a population in the neighborhood of 2,000.  Situated north of mainland Australia’s northernmost point, it is a last stop in Australia en route to Papua New Guinea (to which we are not going—we still have one more Aussie port).  It was of strategic importance during World War II, and of interest from that perspective and because if its pearl diving history.

But, alas, our Tuesday in Thursday was not to be.  We arrived in rainy weather and choppy seas, and dropped anchor a distance off the island, with the notion that we would tender over to the island.  Our own tender boats (which actually are the life boats) were too small for this task, so the island sent over a couple of ferries.  Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for the ferries to come alongside the ship, so after about 45 minutes of trying, the captain gave up and set sail for the next port. 

Our missed visit to Thursday Island was likely more disappointing to the island’s handful of merchants than to any of us, as 800-900 people from a cruise ship can bring a nice infusion of cash, however brief the visit.

Next up:  Darwin, Australia

*Confession: I stole the title from the onboard newsletter, which of course in turn stole it from the old movie.