Day eleven
Taken to see the horizontal waterfall, it occurs between two cliffs and tossed the boat about jauntily from side to side. The fall is not that great, but the power of it means that the Lady Christine could not pass through!
Next we visited Silver Gull, a home built by an adventuring husband and wife team that are 'squatting' on an island with the best fresh water supply for many miles. Vessels pull in there for water and buy the souvenirs that the couple sells. Their most unique items are carved pendants made from mother of Pearl. I toured their compound and they have quite a good set up, with an exquisite garden of native plants and an outside 'dunny' with one of the best views of the ocean.
Horizontal Waterfall. We went up close and had a rough ride on its currents, but could not pass through.
Later we stopped at the luxury resort on Cockatoo Island. Alas, we saw no cockatoos, but they did have a nice resort clubhouse where
Younger Sister and her husband met a fishing celebrity (apparently this was something of a thrill) and had pictures taken with the exalted man and autographs were signed.We ended the day in Strickland Bay at Bower Bird Beach. While some fished from The Lady Christine's deck, others went oystering on the rocks. The gathering of oysters was going well for two of the group when they noticed the other two's bucket was still mostly empty. They went to offer assistance and point out where oysters were to be found, when they noted how the others were gathering the oysters. It went something like this - one oyster for the bucket, two oysters each slurped raw from the shell. Mmm. I really am missing the guys terribly, this story makes me feel quite homesick!
There were enough oysters for everyone later that night, I am pleased to report.
Uh, yes, well, that is Bunky besides
my head. I, ah, was using him to keep my ears warm.
A three-man tent complete with Swag
and fly sheet, which came in handy for keeping the incessant midges at bay.
I tried an experiment and slept this last night wrapped in bark from the paperbark tree. It did indeed have insulating properties and was quite soft and comfortable. The only drawback was the fibril nature of the bark, which soon coated me with a fine powder. Still, an excellent nights sleep.
On my travels today I have seen - Whales, dolphins, oysters, white headed petrels, black winged stilts, pied oystercatchers, sooty oystercatchers, Pacificguls, Silverguls. And I felt the bite of the sand dune midge.
