Nara Inlet, Hook Island - July 15, 1999

Nara Inlet, Hook Island - July 15, 1999

We spent all day at anchor in Nara Inlet.  After a leisurely breakfast, we took the dinghy to the waterfall at the head of the inlet.  In fact, the inlet is like a fiord with its very steep sides and deep water to the very end.  It was shallow along the sides, but only because of the fringing coral reef.

We climbed up the dry waterfall, it only has water falling after a rain, and found the trail toward the aboriginal cave paintings.  We passed two couples on the trail and spoke at length with the older couple.  Their boat is a steel-hulled ketch painted a deep blue with an after cabin under the cockpit that seemed like a small version of the old sailing barq's captain's cabin.

After visiting the aboriginal cave and seeing the paintings, we ran into Peter and Ann.  They are the couple with "High Noon," the steel, blue hulled ketch, that we met on the trail an hour earlier.  When we explained we were hiking back to our dinghy at the waterfall, they said they'd like to see the waterfall, but the hike to the water was shorter going below the cave and following the path.  We had to agree since we had hiked overland without a path until we were almost at the aboriginal cave.  Peter and Ann offered us a ride in their 12 foot "AL-you-MIN-eeum" dinghy which is big enough for all six of us.  So we got a nice ride with them back to our dinghy.  Our dinghy is a bright red NAIAD, made in Australia.  It has inflatable tubes around the gunwale with an aluminum hull and a 6 hp motor.

After lunch aboard "Temptress" we took the dinghy south to the reef at Refuge Bay off Nara Inlet.  It was our first snorkeling since the Florida Keys a year ago, so we enjoyed ourselves.  We saw a nice variety of coral and fish, but not the color of the Molasses Reef in the Keys.

Dinghy in Refuge Bay

We are pleasantly surprised at the weather.  Since arriving in Queensland, it has been sunny, little or no clouds, temps seem about 65-75F.  Although the sun is very bright, warm and very directly overhead, it is just warm enough.  The breeze is variable from 0 to 10 knots.

Dad plotted our course to Cataeran Bay for tomorrow and programmed the waypoints into the GPS.