Birthday at the tip

The alarm goes off at 5am and a sibilant curse from my life partner pierces the darkness. An hour later we trudge the dark, dimly lit streets to the wharf. Our captain, Dirk, is  all chipper and has the mariner’s enthusiasm for sailing in the early mornings. Seated at the bow I close my eyes and experience the whooshing of the sea air as the dinghy accelerates. Fifteen minutes later I open my eyes and the soft dawnlight is already competing with the darkness.

Our boat sped over the glassy flat seas, clearly Neptune was smiling on us, perhaps an acknowledgement that today is July 4 and my birthday.  Multiple uninhabited islands are all around. As the sun rose we slowed down beside one of the larger islands with a white sand beach. Perched on a rocky ledge above the beach is a metal cairn commemorating the landing of James Cook in 1770. On this spot he claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain. We have arrived at Posession Island!   

The sea opens up and islands become fewer as we head eastward through the Coral Sea. Twenty minutes later we arrive at the tip as the locals call this spot. We are at Cape York, the northernmost point of Australia. The sun is shining, it is early morning and we have the place to ourselves.  We take pictures from the boat before the walk through mangrove flats and over the rocks to reach the understated metallic sign that confirms our arrival at the tip. We have a magic time at the tip before the tourist hordes arrive and is back on our dinghy speeding across the calm sea.

Rounding off the day is a visit to Friday Island the home of the last remaining pearl farm in the Torres strait. The late 19th century had pearl fishing as the major industry here and it attracted divers from all over the world especially Asia. It was a dangerous occupation if the bends didn’t get you the sharks often did. These days the pearls are cultured and farmed. A Japanese family own this farm and one of the owners related their story over refreshments. In the meanwhile she who must be obeyed gave the credit card a working over.

Our final island for the day was Prince of Wales Island where those of us who were able to undertook the 2 hour round trip up the highest peak to a lookout. All in all a magic birthday in this off the beaten track slice of paradise.