Day 406 | Bamaga: slipping in some island tourism for the day

rest day

Having reached the most northernmost point on the Australian continent there’s only one more thing to do: take a boat trip further north to Thursday Island to have a beer in the most northerly pub in Australia, that’s the Torres Hotel if you were wondering.

It’s an hour or so ferry trip on that curiously vivid water, a few puffy clouds decorate the sky and I spot a Green turtle far out to sea.

One thing I find this day not twirling those pedals, my body is somewhat exhausted from my Cape York efforts, I lack my normal levels of enthusiasm to take in every aspect of island life, just managing to spend an hour or two watching that ridiculously azure sea from the 1893 fort up on Green Hill and then wandering through the old, overgrown cemetery where many Japanese style monuments celebrate the too brief lives of pearl shell divers in those days before plastic buttons.

Life up here is all about the water and fishing, seems most houses on TI have two means of transportation for the sea, a small tinnie and a more substantial boat for longer distance travel. They also have the usual suburban car fleet which may seem surprising considering the island is way less than 2 square miles in size.

Seems latitude 10° 34′ S is as far north as I will get this trip.

A fun day out doing something completely different for a change and revelling in being a pure tourist for the day.