I have to admit, that this small island in the background disappointed me a bit.
The walk to the tip was short, but interesting - some rocks of fantastic shapes and mangrove trees...
Next place we visited were the remains of Somerset. Linked page contains information, which troubled me for some time. It says, that Jardine brothers drove here a mob of cattle from Rockhampton. Just 16 years earlier, Edmund Kennedy, most experienced explorer, well equipped and prepared, vanished on this track, and here they come with a mob of cattle. How was it possible?
There was nobody around to answer this question, but after return to Melbourne I asked the best expert in the field - Wendy Kozicki - co-owner of Bramwell station - see my previous entries.
- Kennedy was a fool - Wendy cut me short. - He slavishly kept close to the East shore where the grass is poor and has no nutritional value. But just few miles to the centre of the peninsula we have quite good grass. I can easily feed here some 10,000 cattle.
It sounds almost like a story from the Bible. A man obsessed with an idea of reaching some geographical point failed. Good shepherds caring about their cattle succeeded.
At the time of Palmer River gold discovery Somerset was expected to grow into the second Singapore. It ended as just few graves. One of them is quite memorable...
Symbolic grave of Edmund Kennedy. Only symbolic as his body was never found. And here is the view he missed...
Our next stop was Punsand Bay Resort. Beer, coffee, ice cream and another great attraction - a small swimming pool...
Just few metres from a beautiful beach. But there was a mandatory crocodile warning and a familiar story.. this morning someone saw here a crocodile, even two.
So, protected from crocodiles by a human shield of juicy and tasty children playing in the pool, we could safely enjoy our afternoon tea.
22 August - time to return. Coincidentally it was a 243rd anniversary of declaring East Coast of Australia a British colony. It happened on Possession Island - just a stone throw from our campsite at Loyalty Beach.
I declared a Possession Day, but my initiative did not ignite any enthusiasm. We hit the road again. Dust...
.. and water...
It was not easy, almost asked for a trouble and here it was...
Bolt connecting trailer to the bus broke. And our tour operator - Frontier Safaris - did not bother about a spare. Fortunately there were around some people with more imagination. First passing vehicle had a spare and gave it to us - so simple.
Finally we reached Twin Falls. After 10 days touring across delightful rivers and around enchanted beaches, we found a waterhole where we could jump in...
There were still some dangers around. Such as this carnivorous plant...
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