Another Abandoned Resort...

Sunday 25^th June

We just sailed past Hay Point Coal Loading Facility – and – got a call from the authorities to tell us it is an offence for us to sail in Restricted Area Alpha – OOPS.

Anyway, to backtrack, we got off the hardstand at 11am last Monday, (uneventfully thank goodness). The strange thing about the hard stand – after years of living on land we must have transitioned to this sea life fast as it was so odd to be on land!!! We have these hatches in the hulls – ostensibly they are escape hatches so should the boat ever turn over (it better bloody not!!) there is a way to get out of the hulls, anyway, normally of course there is sea under them, you look through this window to the ever-changing colour of the sea. However, when on the hard stand, each time we went up the steps to the saloon from the hulls all we saw was concrete – which is pretty unsettling when you have gotten used to seeing aqua, green or blue water, even though we have only been on board for just a couple of months it was a shock each time.

Deserted runway, Brampton Island

Welcome to Brampton, how may we help you?

Well, with the repairs we wanted done completed and a nice clean anti-fouled bottom, we pulled up the screecher and had a magic sail out to Brampton Island, where we spent another couple of lovely days, this time in the company of Olaf & Annie (Kathamaria II) and Peter & Toni (Heatwave). This trip we walked the length of the old runway, which is still in surprisingly good order, then past the plane hangar and around the back of the now abandoned resort – how very sad to see all this wasted infrastructure. The buildings here have been left just as if the apocalypse has happened – with the people just disappeared – the office, for example has stationary still sitting on the shelves, tennis racquets and balls in a basket waiting to be handed out to happy and excited players, the kettle still plugged in and coffee cups ready on the counter in the staff area. The harsh reality is that it will not happen, and these lovely places are doomed to crumble over time.  I am a romantic and would like to see these abandoned resorts restored and once again filled with joyous holidaymakers and as I walk around my mind is filled with pictures of how it was – and how it could be.

We caught just one fish this trip – a nice golden trevally, smallish but tasty. This lack of fish however is very disappointing, we had to have a chicken curry for tea last night!!

Newry Anchorage

Wednesday mid-morning we said goodbye to Olaf & Annie and Peter & Toni and had an even better sail to Newry Island – we flew along achieving boat speeds of 14 to 15 knots (managing to miss photographing the 15kn of course) and were anchored between Newry and Outer Newry by lunchtime. Tidal range in these parts of the coast are pretty big, being 6.5 metres here and about an hour before low tide we went ashore to Newry for a look. Again, there was once a resort which operated from the 1930’s closing in 2001. Now National Parks maintain the area with fences around the remains of some of the older buildings and signs telling the history. It has been done very well. One of Newry Island Resorts famous guests was a lady by the name of Annette Kellerman, the Marrickville born marathon swimmer (3 English Channel attempts) and star of vaudeville and Hollywood back in the 1900-1920’s. She was the sister of the wife of one of the earliest island lessees and they built a special cabin for her overlooking the bay, which still remains.

From this, to this, to this - coconuts from Newry - Yum

We walked up to the lookout on the point then back to the open-air beachfront bar, it would have been very pleasant sitting enjoying a drink in the afternoon sun back in the day. We collected a few coconuts from the trees lining the beach then made our way back to our dinghy where we had left it at the end of the railway tracks that had been installed by another island resort lessee in the 1960’s to make an all tide access for guests’ arrival and that of supplies as the sand only reaches halfway to the water at low tide then becoming mudflats. Back on SOL we put out the fishing lines once more, but again it was chicken for tea - something large and strong making off with all the line from one reel and twice taking the hook from another.

Mangroves, a haven for crocs!!

Thursday, we went back to Newry Island at high tide and took the walking track to Sunset Beach and around the island, looking for evidence of the orchard and vege garden from resort days but not finding any. In the couple of hours we were gone the tide had fallen significantly – meaning we had to lower the wheels on the dinghy and then we could pull it down to the water – these same wheels that in the beginning we had both slammed as being “for old people” and “hrumph, we’ll never need these” yet which were coming in incredibly handy with the huge tidal ranges we were encountering. We also went across to Outer Newry where we went up the little inlet through the mangroves to find a track up to the “Fishing Hut”, a structure erected by a man named Fred Lapsley who leased this island for at least 30 years. We entered our names in the diary that serves as a visitors book there, had a bit of a walk around then left before we could be stranded by the fast dropping tide – the mudflats already looking like good crocodile havens to me.

A great sail back to Mackay on Friday where we had hired the car for a few hours so we could go and reprovision – I wanted to get enough supplies to last for at least a month as we really weren’t sure once we left Mackay to head south if we would actually want to make the trek north again and lose the ground we had covered which with the winds persistently from the south-east, so the car was an essential for this. The Mackay Marina hires out a car for just $30 for the night, picking it up at 415pm and dropping it back at 830am which is perfect as all the shops we could get to in that time, with most being open to 9pm.

I had ordered the game Finska and discovered to my delight that it had arrived at the marina office that morning. Saturday evening, we set it up on the grass and along with Pete and Lizzie (Windana) spent a couple of great fun hours playing – laughing a lot, drinking a little, finishing with fish and chips from the Lighthouse Takeaways – an excellent evening.

Sunrise leaving Newry

Early Sunday morning we left Mackay and watched the sun rise as we made our way south passing Hay Point (and getting the aforementioned call from officialdom at the Coal Terminal) under sail but soon we started the starboard engine and motor sailed as the wind dropped to below 10 knots.
We have had our lure out but with no success, I am sure that we have now proven the old salts tale that having bananas on board means that no fish will be caught so today Jamie and I have eaten 3 bananas each to get rid of them!!!