All Shook Up (Lacepede Islands)

This photo is not relevant to this post, but I love it.

We celebrated Jayne's birthday quietly at the downstairs restaurant with a bottle of French red - not the complimentary offering. It was lovely. We chatted with an American couple from Seattle. Scott has a serious camera and I have serious camera envy. Changing lenses is problematic when you are bouncing around in a zodiac and you have to time your movements with the rise and fall of the waves. The old Canon 1000D has given good service but it is time to look to a camera with one lens.

A restful sleep was not on the cards as the swell gradually got bigger. It was a rough night with the ship rolling with the waves. There were occasional bangs and scrapes as furniture moved around. We were fortunate to be in bed because it would have been very difficult to move around. It was still not smooth sailing at breakfast. Hence today's title, we were all shook up by the constant rocking of the ship.

A Booby teasing me with island beyond

It is our last full day on the ship and we have to complete the usual Australian Border Force paperwork. The amusing thing is that although we did leave Australian waters and enter Indonesian waters, it happened while we slept. Indonesian Immigration boarded the ship and checked the paperwork but we never left our stateroom. Answering the question: Country where you spent most time abroad? Australia - looks a little strange. The same applied for the bio issues associated with fresh water, animals and soil - all of that occurred in Australia as well.


The Captain has just announced that as the swell is still running at 1 metre, they will be sending an exploratory group to the islands to assess the conditions before they make a final decision as to whether we get into the zodiacs for one last time. I watched the zodiac return to the ship and it wasn't an easy journey so I will be surprised if we it make over to the islands. It's not just the smash and crash trip through the swell that presents a problem, it is getting people onto and off the zodiacs safely in the swell.

Famous people on board? Well no-one that I recognise, although there are a number of people who look familiar. There are two notable doppelgangers: Ivan Milat and Shane Warne. Picture Milat at the time of his trial and you have the perfect image. As for Warnie, I could see it if I squinted my eyes after several champagnes. The similarity began and ended with blonde hair, although I overheard a number people make comments about the bloke that looked like Warnie.

The Expedition Leader has just announced that it is still intended for us to head across the Lacepede Islands although we will be commencing later in the day and the length of the tour will be reduced by 30 minutes. We are scheduled to leave at 2:45pm which means it is champagne time.

Boobies everywhere! Enough said.

The islands are little more than a sand spit with some low scrubby vegetation. There are four of them,  making a 12km long chain, originally named Napoleon, Grant and Victoria - not sure what happened to the fourth name. Anyway, they were not good enough for the Australian cartographers who renamed them with flair and imagination: East, West, Sandy and Middle. The eradication of rats in 1986 made the islands a safe haven for birds and green sea turtles. The islands are home to one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Brown Booby - 18,000 pairs n fact. I've never seen so many Boobies. No really. Oh, stop it.

As today was our colour group's "sleep in" day, we are the last to depart and in fact our zodiac is the final one to be deployed for this entire expedition. The sea is almost smooth by the time we head off for the islands and as we approach, droves of Boobies swoop and glide over us - no sign of any fear about their behaviour.  They are so numerous in the skies that there are times when they almost collide into each other over head. While the birds look like they are coloured an iridescent blue under their wings, the vibrant hue is simply a reflection of the water as they fly above it.

Back in the day you could camp on the island.

We were warned to keep our mouths closed when looking up, but the worst we scored were some drips of water as they flew low over us. There were a few other bird varieties: sand plovers, oyster catchers, gulls, terns and herons. There were also turtles playing hide and seek. Up would pop a head, then down it would go as soon as it saw us. No chance to get the camera in position. No point either in telling anyone else in the zodiac about the lucky spotting.


It was a very pleasant afternoon on the water, particularly given what the morning wind and swell had promised.

Back to the cabin for showers and to dress for the final dinner. We had a table of 8 on the 4th deck but outside and shared the table with 2 people from Adelaide we hadn't met previously - which was a shame because we really enjoyed their company.

What are you looking at?

Tomorrow is disembarkation at Broome so the next post will probably cover that and our first impressions of the pearl town. It may also answer the question: was the cruise worth it? Of course, I may choose to string you along dear reader and not answer the question. You'll need to wait and read.

I'm coming for you. Mouths closed!

Until next time, internet willing.