Island hopping with friends

We have been chasing Neville and Sally from the yacht Hau Korahi up the coast of Australia since we reached Queensland, having met them last year anchored behind Fraser Island. At Magnetic Island we finally found them and before we were even anchored were invited to an evening on their boat with dinner and card games.

Our friends told us of a fantastic walk through the national park on the island so the next day we set off in to the bush. The path began by climbing over a pass with lots of steps. Luckily we met a variety of interesting people who all offered an excuse for a rest. Having viewed and photographed the beautiful Radical Bay, we climbed a huge staircase set in the forest to the top of a hill. On the way we saw a total of four koalas including a mother with baby. All the koalas were chilling in trees while a gaggle of tourists photographed them. At the top there were old fortifications and a stunning view back to where we had come from and out to sea. Our route is at Alltrails.

After another night of food and games, Sally and Nev then took us to Palm Island where the population is mostly aborigine. We visited the cultural center and learned about the horrific regime that sent people here for such awful crimes as cheeking a teacher or getting pregnant without being married. The first of those two was there at least ten years, the second never left and we met her daughter. The government deported aborigines who “wouldn’t fit in” to this island for 70 years before abandoning them to run the place themselves. Unsurprisingly the island has a lot of social problems but surprisingly we met and talked to locals who were convinced that things would get better. It was a very friendly island with a bad reputation.

Tom Morgan was sent as a teenage for cheeking the teacher of State School at Gordonvale. Placed in handcuffs at Gordonvale police station, he’s sentenced to Palm Island was for a two year period. Ten years later Tom Morgan was still on Palm Island.

Palm Island cultural center

More wine, more snacks and more games and then we were off to Orpheus Island where Sally organized an extremely knowledgeable guide to explain about the work of the Orpheus Island Research Station which is a part of the James Cook University. We could get a really close look at corals in a huge salt water tank and learn how they live, what stresses them and a plethora of other marine information.

A final enjoyable evening together and the next day we sailed north while our friends turned back south. But the world is round so we bid each other “until the next time” rather than “goodbye”.