Saying Goodbye to Australia

On Saturday, we came upon Thursday Island in Australia, one of only 17 inhabited islands out of 100 islands in the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait is a channel located between Cape York on the mainland of Australia and the southern coast of Papua, New Guinea. “T.I.”, as Thursday Island is known, was settled in 1877 and has a population of about 3,500; the majority are native islanders, with a mix of Malay, Polynesian, Chinese and Japanese.

The ship anchored in the lee of Black Rock, and we decided not to go ashore, but rather to enjoy the view of the surrounding islands from the vantage point of our balcony. There was not a heck of a lot we missed seeing on Thursday Island other than some shops, an old fortress, and an historic cemetery. And there were no water sports offered as the channel is loaded with alligators! Nevertheless, we had a relaxing afternoon taking in the last beautiful sights of Australia, and we are now at sea for three days headed to our next destination: Komodo Island, Indonesia.