Well what will today bring ? Everyday so far has been amazing scenery and experiences - will we come down from this in a bump or a crash - we’ll just have to wait & see .
Talbot Bay was a hive of activity this morning , one boat was taking the overnight guests for an early pass through the falls before they leave for home , then the first seaplane arrived with todays guests , then the 2nd & 3rd , then the 4th , 5th and 6th plane arrived . About 20 mins later 3 seaplanes departed with the overnight guests and would then be on their way back with more paying customers .
A cruise boat had arrived during the night as well .
Here’s a map of our track log .
Today we are headed to Raft Point , our location for tonight , but with a scenic out to Ruby Falls . Our time is spent watching the ever changing sea and landscape , being in awe of what we are seeing - It’s hard to drag myself away and doing the blog - it’s taken 8 days of the cruise so far to get these blogs done - I didn’t want to miss out on anything !!
We approached these 2 islands , one a very small rocky outcrop with no name and a much larger one , Steep Island - and it is , at 149m tall .
Further to the right was Raft Point , our anchorage for the night . Raft Point is 189m tall and looks like an explosion of rock .
Further around from Raft Point is another rock , almost resembling the shape of Uluru .
Here’s another track log
We have been promised a swim at Ruby Falls , after arriving at Red Cone Hill and motoring up the estuary for a few kilometres , we anchored and got in the tenders for the rest of the journey through a forest of mangroves , twisting and turning before coming to a gorge section .
Rounding another corner we were presented with this view of Ruby Falls .
They even had the welcoming committee out to greet us , not sure it was overly happy with us , but bad luck for it .
That meant the bottom pool was out of bounds for swimming - the crocs could be in there - if you look in the bottom right corner you can see the murky tidal water mixing with the freshwater .
We climbed up the rocks , not the easiest to climb , but there was plenty of incentive to hold on with old mate basking in the sun below us . As we got higher and further in , it flattened out and led us to this pool , looking very inviting - I was the first to slide into the water . It was crystal clear and beautiful temperature and we could swim ( actual exercise ) something that we’d been missing out on , apart from going up & down the stairs in the boat about 30 times a day . At the end of this pool was a rock shelf with the water running over it from another pool above .
That pool also looking spectacular .
It was over all too soon and we made our back down to the top of the falls for a quick photo or 2 .
Here’s a better view of the fresh & seawater mixing together - and old mate has moved a few metres closer as well .
Back to the boat and a cruise back to Raft Point for our overnight anchorage . But before kicking back with a drink , there’s another scenic to be done around Steep Island .
Our anchorage view .
Into the tenders and away we go again . This is Steep Island from a different angle .
The eastern side of the island is quite steep , with cliffs that have been gouged and eroded , splits from top to bottom . Surprisingly there is a lack of seabirds here , I was expecting to see plenty as there are so many protected nesting sites !
Out of the shadows and around the northern end of the island we were surprised to find a cave , then a more protected bay , before coming round the western side into bright sunlight .
The tidal movements up here are amazing creating eddies & whirlpools , water moving in all directions , makes for an interesting boat ride . These are some smaller ones .
The island with no name was next , surprisingly it had a lot of birdlife unlike Steep Island a few hundred metres away .
Not such a bad spot for the night and sunset of course .
An answer to the question I asked at the start - the bar was set pretty high at the start , and it has stayed there , no day better or worse than the other - what an awesome time we are having !!
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