Hello from a hot and humid Croker Island.
All this last week the forecasts were predicting maximums of 39 combined with high humidity. Nancy arrived in Darwin last Monday greeted by this 'warm' welcome. She will fly out to Croker Island next Monday, in the meantime she is catching up with our two sons in Darwin and other friends.
One of the aspects of the Garngi Rangers work is coastal patrols. We have contracts with both the Commonwealth and NT governments to do this work. Recently we have done patrols to both the northern and southern parts of the island. Even though the temperatures have been high, the seas have been very flat making for great days on the water.
Below we are approaching Cape Croker, the northern most point of the island.
Cape Croker has a small lighthouse - Nancy has a thing about lighthouses so will be keen to see this very remote one.
At lunch time we found a shady spot at the mouth of a creek that also provided a good anchorage for the vessel.
Leaving the creek we were joined by these playful and acrobatic creatures.
PK found a dead leaf on the beach and amused herself for quite while.
Ranger Charlie and his family recently took advantage of the calm conditions and went turtle hunting. On one of the turtles they caught they noticed a metal tag. Charlie brought it in to the ranger base office and we contacted the department who originally attached the tag to the turtle in Karratha, WA.
It turns out that this Green Turtle was tagged in 2010 nesting at Scott's Reef off the Kimberley coast. It has swum well over 1200 kms to get to Croker Island. Since 2010 it would have returned to Scott's Reef several times to nest. We have spoken with a couple of the turtle researchers. We still have much to learn about these creatures and how they live.
The next patrol we conducted was around the southern part of Croker Island and up the Bowen Strait to Danger point. The water was still glassy at 10 am. Here Charlie is looking for signs of illegal fishing activity or any quarantine risks.
If possible we have some of the traditional owners accompany us. This day we had Ronnie Waraludj with us as much of the area we passed through was his estate. He told us many very interesting stories throughout the day and also passed on much information to the younger rangers.
At one point we saw a little 'bump' on the horizon so decided to take a close look. As we came closer the 'bump' turned out to be one of the coastal barges heading east (see photo below). No it wasn't sinking. The glassy sea and the mirage playing tricks.
Turning northern west up the Bowen Strait the water still glassy provided some great cloud reflections. The rangers tell me that there are very few days when the conditions are like this.
At the top of the Bowen Strait we passed a Sea Swift barge. This is one of the barges that services Croker Island.
As a part of our contract work for the Northern Territory Government Fisheries department we have to report any illegal fishing by both the commercial and recreational sectors. Most do the right thing however there are always a few who will break the laws.
In the photo below we are approaching Sandy Island near Danger Point. At a different time of the year it is a sea gull nesting area. Old Ronnie wanted to check this island as it is a part of his estate.
We went ashore here and also had some lunch - tough life!!! Apart from some plastic bottles (some from Indonesia which can present a biosecurity issue) all was OK.
From Sandy island we ran down into Port Bremer to where there was an old pearl farm. The infrastructure is still there slowly rusting away.
This coming week we have the NT Water Police coming to Croker Island for a couple of weeks. We will be doing some patrols with them. Anyway, that will have to wait until the next blog.
Stay safe and God bless.
Bryan
Comments
Enjoyed the photos and videos. Life is much more relaxed.
I remember beryl telling us how you two boys ate gonna and drank from the aboriginals billy. Avery different childhood to the average suburban student.
Was good having a chat today. You asked me what my mum was like. Well she was known to bake a cake ready for all the children as they walked past our little house on their way home friend school. We were the first family to have a kerosene fridge so the ice locks created with one part cream to 2 parts milk ec was very popular.in the cool of the evening when the milking (by hand) was over mum was known to play leap frog with us.she loved her garden and had a lovely cooking tressel you walked under to the house.
Mum and uncle Cyril were the two youngest children and were always very close and lived just a mike apart so we grew up spending time with these cousins. Mum and auntie Alice, uncle Cyril’s wife we’re closer than most sisters and they consulted one another on most things.they must have been a comfort to each other milestones in life.
Well Bryan I’d better stop. You have me reminiscing on what life was like 80 odd years ago. I’ll keep reading your blogs and trust we will keep in touch.
Beryl