Seisia - Thursday Island return – 64 km by ferry

 

Last night we had hoped to be visited by the wild horses they say frequent the campground but none showed up. There is lots of evidence of their past visits. Maybe tonight. The wild brush turkeys are here though and hopeful for a handout. We did manage to see a pair of frogmouths (owl-like birds) in a tree near our camp spot when we were out for our evening walk.

It has been another very nice day, a bit windy but warm and dry. We are not able to get an internet connections as they say it keeps cutting out. Could be due to the wind. We will try again in the morning.

This morning we set off on a one hour ferry ride to Thursday Island (TI). The terminal is just a short walk from our camp ground. The ferry captain gave a very good detailed description and history of the surrounding islands. There are over 100 islands in the Torres Strait, of which only 30 are inhabited. The Torres Strait (Coral Sea) area was famous for the pearl shell industry, making buttons, mother of pearl jewellery, etc. but with the introduction of plastic buttons the industry folded.

Once we arrived on the island we took a short bus tour of the island. Our first stop was the Green Hill Fort, which was established in 1898 during a period when there were fears of a Russian invasion. There are 6 huge cannons, each pointed to a different channel of the strait.

It was very windy up there but a great visit. There was also a very good display of the pearling industry artifacts, including a diver’s suit and the 1100 kg (!) light from one of the lighthouses.

 

We continued around the island (it is only 3 km around) to the cemetery where they have erected a memorial to the over 700 Japanese divers who lost their lives diving for pearl shells. We noticed the graves were all above ground, probably due to the fact the entire island is rock, and once the person has been buried the grave sits with a white fence around it waiting for the arrival of an ultra-fancy granite headstone which can take as much as 10 years to be delivered as the family saves the money to pay for it.

We had free time to wander about after the tour and prior to our return ferry trip. We went into the Gab Titui Cultural Centre and purchased a souvenir containing some seed pods so we had to go to the quarantine office and have it inspected, sprayed for insects and tagged with an inspection sticker. Various agricultural plant diseases are threatening mainland Australia so great caution is exhibited.

Today was the “under 8 in the park” day which means all the little kids under 8 have a day of activities in the park. The teachers had taken some of the kids to the cultural centre and while they were taking small groups of them into the center the remainder were dancing and playing an outdoor stage, pretty cute to watch.

Cultural Center Mask Display

 

The ferry ride back was very rough with big waves but they just go full throttle and over the waves we went.

We keep seeing the same people in the various campgrounds as we travel. This area is great for fishing and we have been seeing lots of people trying their hand. The aboriginals just use a large spool of fishing line with a hook that they throw out into the water. I imagine it could be hard on the hands if you caught a big one.