Another dawn casts it's light over the rocks at Black Lip Bay , as we cast our eyes over this beautiful landscape . We're probably only awake because we don't want to miss out on anything , the cruise has been awesome but we're getting close to the pointy end now !!
We keep looking toward the rocks now , looking for more caves and wondering how many there are out there waiting to be explored .
A bit of spare time this morning , so we went down to the engine room for a tour . Adjat is from Indonesia and he's the engineer in charge of this area . He hasn't seen his family for over a year and a half now due to Covid , he can't go back home because he won't get back into Australia , but still needs his job to keep them all surviving . He keeps everything very , very clean - all around & under the engines as well . There are two CAT turbo diesel motors keeping us motoring along , two 105 kva generators keeping everything powered up , a desalination plant , water pumps , filters etc etc - everything worked , no breakdowns . They carry 25,000 litres of fuel at the start of the trip , which is enough to get us to the end of our trip and the trip back to Derby .
Here's our track log , and this is the furthest north that we go on this trip , today after a scenic tour we head back towards the Hunter River - our Captain has a few more spots up his sleeve for us to visit .
It's a much more relaxed day today - waiting for the tide to be right . After the engine room tours we head out for our scenic - we're at the stage now that we don't even expect to see something amazing , we know it's going to happen!
Okay onto the tenders and away we go , another Osprey nest .
More rugged cliffs and some beaches at low tide .
Another large hole through the cliffs .
Then we pull up at this beach , then wander up this bay , that's only revealed at low tide - that's why we're having a relaxed morning , waiting for the tide to be right - we do have a clever Captain !
Back in the tenders and continue on our merry way around the bay , pulling up at a nice beach for a swim , but first we had to do a bit of a rock hop to check out some lines of crystals in the rocky cliffs .
Everyone was looking at the crystals while I took this photo , could be some rock art either side of the crystal line ???
We clambered about the rocks checking out the lines of crystals , there were also pockets of crystal in the rocks .
Some were crystal clear almost like glass .
Then it was time for a swim - love this place one surprise after another !!
Back to the boat and lunch , then a relaxing cruise back around , then into Prince Frederick Harbour . Here's another track log .
Scenery started to change a bit , the land around us started to get higher , there were still islands , but the scale of this new part is amazing . Apologies if you're getting sick of amazing and awesome etc but we're not haha . This is Naturaliste Island - we will be leaving from there in a few days time - bummer !
There wasn't time to think about that , there was too much to see . As we cruised into the Hunter River , you could not be anything , but in awe of the two rock sentinels guarding the entrance to the river .
Either side of the river are high red cliffs .
Trees grow in some amazing spots , and the cliff looks to be crumbling away - the car sized white rock has fallen from the cliff just above it .
Above the mangroves are pockets of rainforest .
Something we didn't expect to see was a fishing trawler !
We spotted a few crocs , and had some great views .
The clouds were making for some great photos as well .
The boat had gone and anchored up in Porosus Creek at our overnight anchorage . We had to put up with views like this .
This is were we stopped . Looking North .
Looking South
Then had to put up with this .
Mitch had another visitor while he was doing the logbooks & M&R .
Another big day , yep , another awesome day !!
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