The south-east winds eased a little overnight, but picked up where they left off just after dawn. The leaves (or are they branches?) of the coconut palms exaggerate the sound of the wind through the trees, making it seem more windy than it actually is. The overnight temperature didn’t seem to drop much below 25C and the humidity remained constantly high. It was an “on top of the doona” night.
There are two walks to follow at Chilli Beach – one to the north towards Cape Weymouth; another south to Chilli Creek, over 5 kms away. Having covered the northern walk yesterday, today we set off in a southerly direction – with the arc of white sandy stretching almost all the way around to Cape Griffith. The tide was on the way out, exposing an ever-increasing beach of firmly packed sand as we set off.
It wasn’t long before we were wading through the shallows, enjoying the warm waters of the Coral Sea as they lapped the shore. The small waves and dappled sunlight in the water helped with the mind games – every time a long length of seaweed floated by it initially took on crocodile features. None were sighted, but our diligence never diminished as we splashed through the crystal-clear shallows.
The walk extended around a small headland, then into another bay broken by an outcrop of smooth granite boulders with oysters clinging to the ocean-facing side of them. Photo opportunities were seized before we continued on our way. Sea birds fossicked in the exposed sand flats ahead of us but took to the air as we drew closer. A couple caught up with us and the usual “Where’s home?” query confirmed they were also from Melbourne, on an extended trip that would have them return home around the start of October.
Our walk south came to an abrupt end when we reached Chilli Creek and an estuary that looked like the perfect home for the apex predator in these parts. Linda and her favourite hat were briefly parted by a slightly stronger gust of wind. There was a moment of consternation as the hat rolled towards the murky waters of the estuary where it would be lost without a trace; Linda caught it not too far from the water’s edge and normality was restored.
Our steps were retraced back along the beach at a slightly slower pace as we enjoyed walking through the shallows. Wendy spotted a school of large fish chasing bait fish; we stopped to watch them for a while. As best we could tell the larger fish looked like they were small shark of about 60 cm in length.
An afternoon of rest was in order, as we had walked in excess of 14 kms since breakfast. We sat, enjoyed a slow lunch and talked while brush turkeys scratched around in the undergrowth near our campsite. Eventually the time came to drive over to Portland Roads where we had a dinner booking.
The Portland Roads community is located approximately 12 kms north of Chilli Beach but to the west of Cape Weymouth; the cape shelters the bay from the south easterlies. It has featured through history, with the Kennedy expedition leaving a number of its team here because they were too weak to continue on. Most subsequently went missing or were speared, with only one eventually making it to a ship waiting for their arrival at the tip.
After the Coral Sea battle in WWII, the existing jetty at Portland Roads was extended to allow for the staging of troops fighting on the New Guinea front, as well as to land machinery and supplies to build and support an airfield that launched bomber attacks on Japanese forces in the islands to the north of Australia. The jetty has gone, but the airfield remains in use near Lockhart River.
We arrived at Portland Roads well before dinner to have a look around, ending up down near the remains of the jetty where people were returning from a day’s fishing while others fished from the rocks. A large (2.5 metre by our estimate) shark was circling in the shallows around a moored boat. When asked, two leathery-skinned guys who were doing their best to lose lures on the rocks explained that it was what they called a “sleepy shark”, with a very small mouth about the size of a tennis ball. It was primarily looking for squid and other other sea creatures it could suck up through its vacuum cleaner mouth. We joked that it was one of the few harmless creatures in these parts.
Stories were traded and it turned out these fishermen were pig shooters from South Australia, up here to help keep the pig numbers under control (wild pigs tend to take too keen an interest in turtle eggs laid along the beaches). They also mentioned that it you tied a pig’s leg to a piece of rope (securing the other end to a solid object), then cast the leg into the ocean, it would be gone with 24 hours courtesy of the local crocodiles.
The ‘Out of the Blue’ café was a real find; Sheree (who appeared to undertake all roles – maître’d, head chef, waitress and cashier) did a fantastic job in this remote location. We shared a seafood platter with local prawns, squid, fish, scallops and bugs, all capped off with a fresh salad and house specialty desserts. The outlook from the verandah over the sheltered harbour, with the sun setting in the west, made for a very enjoyable evening.
