Weekend on Coconut Island

We chartered a plane with Cape Air Transport for $1,680 return for the 4 of us to get to & from Poruma (Coconut Island) for the weekend of Friday 6th - Sunday 8th September.

Dwayne and pilot in cockpit

Jayne and girls with the plane and pilot at Horn Island airport

Flying over one of many small islets en route to Poruma

Main intersection of Poruma from the air

Coming in over Poruma...

                    

Poruma airstrip and our single engine, 4 seater plane

Milly and Evy enjoying our adventure!

We stayed with teacher friends we had met on our way to the Torres Straits at our teacher induction conference in Cairns - Gaye & Tim McKee & their 4 year old daughter Tia. They hosted us for the weekend in their lovely little teacher's cottage set in the grounds of Tagai State College - Coconut Island Primary Campus.

The McKee's house & veggie garden...

Tim, Tia & Gaye on the beach...

We went beach walking; collected shells, coral & dugong bones; swam in the ocean; relaxed on the McKee's deck; walked around town; popped into the little supermarket; toured classrooms & had afternoon naps!  Perfect!

 Thanks McKees - we had a great weekend visiting you on Poruma!

August 2013
Views and Activities this month around Thursday Island...

The "Gab Titui" Cultural Centre on T.I. re-opened in mid 2013.  This is the cafe with it's lovely grassy area - great for kids to run around.

The front entrance of Gab Titui (called 'the Gab' for short).

View of front beach, T.I., from Victoria Parade...

View from our deck South-East towards Horn Island & Cape York on a beautiful August day.

Some of the houses available for private rentals on Loban Rd facing the Tagai Primary school.  I think each duplex costs around $500/wk.

A boating trip to Friday Island on the weekend with the Hubbert family...

Friday Island weekend picnic, sand, swimming, exploring rock pools...

Milly's Cross Country inter-house carnival at Tagai Primary.

T.I.'s Front Beach on a gorgeous day, looking towards Prince of Wales Island (P.O.W.).

T.I.'s Front Beach on a photographic moment...

T.I.'s Front Beach looking towards Engineers Wharf, Horn Island in the background.

The pearl shell sculptures along the Victoria Parade promenade on Thursday Island's Front Beach.  A good place for strolling, bike riding, scooting & picnics with kids when the weather is calm.

Picnicing at Bach (pronounced 'back') beach with other families on the weekend.

Sand play at Bach Beach with Friday and Goods Islands in the distance.

Morning Tea on Goods Island

Had trouble deciding where to take the boat this morning.  When we saw Dwayne's Uncle & cousins at the boat ramp on their way to Hammond Island, he suggested Goods Island - a 15 min boat ride North-West of T.I.  So off we went, only to find the normally deserted beach speckled with visitors.  Some locals were camping in one the the corrugated iron shacks, others were strolling up to the far end of the beach past the shipwreck, and a group of Qld Health families were gathering under the sea almond tree, waiting for the rest of their party to arrive via charter boat for some bush walking.  

We were collecting our girls and gear ready for departure when one of the bush walkers climbing out of the charter boat strolled up the beach towards us smiling and waving...it was Rosie, the daughter of Jayne's work colleague, Fiona, from the Gold Coast!  A totally random meeting on an uninhabited island in the Straits - how weird!  Rosie had arrived on T.I. a few days ago to be the nanny for a Qld Health family.  She knew that we were living on T.I., and had even read this blog before travelling here, but decided not to contact us before hand, hoping to bump into & surprise us --- she sure did!  Finding her in the IBIS supermarket or Uncle Frankie's Cafe would have surprising enough, but on Goods Island - totally random!

I called her mum, Fiona, that arvo to let her know & have a laugh about it...sorry Fiona - I should have thought to take some photos of your adventurous daughter conquering Far North Queensland!  I only thought to take this shot as we left in our boat...

I know you can't see Rosie, but she is there - under the tree - on the beach - smiling as always!

Here are some more photos of our morning spent on Goods...

Milly, Evy, Dwayne checking out the ruins of an old shack

Shack on Goods

Milly found a log she carried around all morning...shack, coconut palms and beach in background

Pandanus and Coconuts

Daddy and Evy - Shipwreck in water in background

Goods Island looking towards Friday Island

Our first family camping trip

2 nights on Prince of Wales Island in the June-July school holidays...

     When we went back to Brisbane in the Easter holidays, we bought our boat & lots of camping gear.  These holidays, we stayed on T.I. for the full 2 weeks & filled our time with local activities.  2 nights camping on P.O.W. was the highlight!
     We asked permission from Tanya & Dirk Laifoo (their daughter is in Milly's prep class & they are P.O.W. locals) & set off the first Monday of the holidays with enough supplies for 2 days, but ready to bail after 1 if necessary!  We went to Little Butter Tin beach on advice from other camping families - it's a close trip form T.I., has a lovely sheltered North-facing beach & plenty of sandy flat areas or tents.
     Setting up camp was extremely challenging - the tide was very low & poor Dwayne made many trips loaded with heavy gear across the wide mudflats between the anchored boat & the beach, while I supervised the girls & put up the tent.  Next time - we'll definitely arrive & set up during high tide!

     We spent the rest of the day playing in the tent & on the beach, eating dinner with sunset views & sitting by a campfire.  We showered under a tree beneath the stars and enjoyed the bright light of the full moon in the evening.  

     Dwayne & I slept terribly - constantly worried about the boat, which was anchored far from shore because of the crazy low tide.  We checked it was still there 100 times during the night & for a while thought it was floating away & that we would need to flag down a passing boat in the morning...
     ...but the boat was still there in the morning, & as the tide slowly came in during the day, we kept pulling the boat closer in, eventually anchoring it right by the campsite - phew!  
     We found our groove the second day.  We walked & did yoga & rested & found shells & collected firewood & enjoyed time as a family.  By sunset the girls were rolling in the sand  - it was like sharing a tent with 2 pieces of sandpaper!  We slept very soundly the 2nd night & were so happy we'd stayed.

     We left after breakfast on the third day while the tide was high.  The ocean was as smooth as glass all the way back to T.I. - beautiful & calm.
     We parked the boat & trailer, washed our hands & headed immediately to Uncle Frankie's Cafe for 4x thickshakes, 2x choc chip cookies, 1 cappuccino & a serve of raisin toast - fantastic!  
     Felt like champions - an empowering camping experience!