Billabongs & Boats in the Northern Territories

Our final destination in the Northern Territories was Darwin, where we finally met up with 5 other boats to join part 2 of the World ARC, only two years behind schedule!

We had planned to relax at Thursday Island over the weekend, but strong winds were forecast for the coming Wednesday. We either had to leave early or much later to miss it, bearing in mind we were discussing this at midday on the Sunday 21st August and the laundry was already soaking in a bucket, so after re running options and various forecasts we decided to leave as soon as the washing was dry! What we hadn’t noticed was the gathering clouds followed by the first rain we had seen for weeks! Finally, around 5 pm, with sheets and towels draped about below decks, we raised the anchor and headed out through the islands. It was breezy at first, but we thought the wind was being funnelled between the islands and would settle down once we were clear. The wind actually built to 30 knots which wasn’t forecast and the seas became rather confused, which the auto helm didn’t like. It took us half an hour to get our sails set comfortably, in which time it had become dark and one of the numerous large cargo ships had radioed us to find out whether we intended to cross their bows or not! By morning the weather had settled down, we had shaken out the reefs and were cruising along under full sail across the Gulf of Carpentaria to a remote place called Gove Harbour. We arrived 50 hours later on Tuesday night, which was perfect timing for avoiding the strong winds on Wednesday and to finish drying the laundry! Gove Harbour is the site of a Bauxite mine and there is not a lot to see, so we stayed aboard and caught up with some planning, emails and watched a movie. After we left Gove on Thursday 25th we sailed between several islands and the gaps between them became progressively narrower until we approached the Gugari Rip, or “Hole in the Wall” a 100 metre wide gap between Wigram and Cotton Island, which was fun! We had carefully planned the tides and flew through at 7 knots, 3 knots being the tide! A bit like the Swellies in the Menai Straits! These lands belong to the Aboriginal people and a permit is required to land.

We sailed onwards and westwards until we finally arrived outside Darwin in the early hours of Monday 29th August to receive mandatory Biosecurity treatment before we were allowed in the marina at Tipperary Waters! During our final 12 hours at sea, as we crossed Van Diemen’s Gulf the wind died away completely so we had to use the engine. Unnervingly, the engine revs started to drop intermittently and progressively more frequently until it stalled completely, leaving us drifting along with the tide, the sails hanging limply, trying to avoid hitting one of the numerous reefs, until Richard eventually traced the problem to a brittle, split fuel pipe which was letting air into the mix. Once sorted we were good to go and continued to the “waiting pontoon” outside the marina, where we were to have the treatment. It was low tide by now and due to the delay and big spring tide, we didn’t have enough depth and to avoid going aground, we anchored in nearby Fannie Bay at 0315. We had to be alongside at 0800 hours so we were both groggy when our alarm went off at 0700 to raise the anchor. At this moment the anchor windlass stopped working so we had to hand haul 30 metres of chain and use the rope winches to get the anchor up in time! One of the many trials and tribulations experienced while sailing around the world! It was of course worth it, for the fantastic trips out we experienced.

First to Kakadu National Park and then to Adelaide River to see the Jumping Crocs! These ambush predators can grow very big, we saw Dominator which was over 6 metres and about 90 years old! They don’t get sick, but usually die when their teeth fall out. However they have 66 teeth, each one is replaced 44 times, so they continue to grow and get older and older until they have no teeth left, then they starve to death or get eaten by another crocodile. Not surprising that their egg to adult survival rate is only 1%, but they lay about 60 eggs at a time, so the population numbers are self limiting.

On the trip to Kakadu we visited a beautiful wetland area and learnt about the flora, fauna and the harsh climate in the Northern Territories (NT). The rainy season had just started, apparently a little early, and Northern Territories get 1700 mls in a 5 month period, extending these areas and making many roads and other places inaccessible. However, the resulting wetlands, creeks and billabongs provide a rich habitat for huge numbers of diverse and wondrous life forms.

Aboriginal communities have lived in the Northern Territories for over 75,000 years. Their sustainable lifestyle, culture and laws pre date and post date the Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilisations. We visited Ubirr to see the extensive Rock Art, which describes in pictures, laws of living and which foods are good, how to prepare and eat them because the communities move around with the seasons, so they leave notes or reminders to inform future visitors.

In the afternoon our guide Tyro, took us on a boat ride up East Alligator Water, which is inhabited by many crocodiles that the explorers mistook for Alligators! He explained about his community which is based in the area called Arnhem, and showed us how the different gum trees, acacia and tea tree are used in cooking, for making spears and medicinal use.

We have really enjoyed our visit to NT and driving through the vast landscape which seems so alien to us.

Our final days in Tipperary Waters Marina were spent provisioning and preparing for our rally to start on 6th September. Our crew Mick and Paul arrived on Sunday 4th September and we are thrilled to be heading towards the Indian Ocean to Lombok in Indonesia. We will be sad to say farewell, again, to our Australian friend Pete, who lives on his boat "Ta". Pete helped us to tie up when we came into the marina at Darwin, just as he had taken our lines in March 2020, in Pape'ete, French Polynesia, after a month at sea. Just like old times!

The world famous boxing crocodile at Humpty Doo!