Sunday on Thursday Island

 We reached the northern tip of the Australian continent and turned west into the Torres Strait on our way toward Darwin, Australia.  The Torres Strait, named for the Spanish explorer who sailed through it in 1605, lies between Cape York Peninsula, the northern-most tip of Queensland, Australia and Papua New Guinea.  The strait is 93 miles wide and contains 274 islands, 17 of which have permanent settlements. The Torres Strait islands are considered part of Australia and administered from Thursday Island,  called TI by the inhabitants.  Torres Strait Islanders are distinct from both the Papuans to the north and the Aboriginal groups of Australia, but are related to both.  Thursday Island is 1.4 square miles in area and home to around 2,600 people.  The residents of TI change often as government heath, education, and community services employees come and go on assignment.

Originally, our day on Thursday Island was billed by Viking as a "beach day" and there were no excursions planned.  It was anticipated that we would just walk around, visit the local cultural center and the few small shops, and enjoy the beach.  Then several weeks ago Viking found out one could not swim around the island because of the sharks and the crocodiles.  Further, on Sunday TI closes down and nothing would be open.  In a rush, Viking arranged for three optional activities, including a 40 minute helicopter ride and an impromptu cultural event in  the local park.  We had planned to attend church so we didn't pay much attention to the other opportunities.

 The meetinghouse locator on the LDS Church's website told us there was a small unit that met at 9:00 am.  The Viking Sun anchored in the bay.  The tender operation started at 8:00 and we were told it would take 45 minutes.  In fact, it was less than 20 minutes before we were at the pier on TI.  We met a woman named Liz and asked how we could get a taxi.  Even though the island is very small, the distance to the church was farther than we wanted to walk in the 86 degree heat and 77% humidity.  She asked one taxi driver to call for another and within 5 minutes we were picked up.  We arrived at the building by 8:45, feeling good about being on time.  However, there were no cars in the parking lot, which made us a little uneasy.  (The picture above is on the street side of the parking lot which would have held no more than about 8-10 cars.)

We sat down on the steps to wait and soon found that we were attacked by biting ants.  We listened for awhile to the cacophony of birdsong from the woods across the road.  

I enjoyed the construction of their steeple.

We peeked into the windows to find that the chapel had accordion doors that could divide it into three rooms.  There was another room at one end of the building and the men's and ladies restrooms at the opposite end, accessed from the outside porch.  When no one came by 9:30, I walked to a neighboring house and asked when the people usually came to the church.  The man of the house said that they usually came around 10-10:30, so we sat down again to wait.  About 10:15, our original taxi driver came into the parking lot and asked if we wanted him to take us to one of the other 14 churches on the island.  We thanked him for checking on us, but told him we would wait a little longer.   

At 10:45, a car came into the parking lot and Liz got out.  She and another islander named Judy were giving a private tour to a couple from the ship and asked if we would like to join them.  Liz climbed into the jump seat in the back of the small SUV and we headed out.  We were glad of the air-conditioning first of all, but as we went, we were so grateful to be treated to such a thorough and gracious tour of their lovely little island.  One of the first places we went was to the cemetery.  Starting in the late 1800s, diving for the Golden Lip Oyster shell for export to London's button making industry became a lucrative business.  Many indentured Japanese divers were involved in this industry and many died from the bends due to the depths they dove.  This picture is of the Japanese memorial to those who perished.   

The headstones in the newer part of the cemetery were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.  They were of polished black marble with gold lettering and many had photographs of the deceased person.  In addition to the vital statistics, there was information about the person's life, occupation, and family.  Judy told us that they were very expensive, but the whole extended family contributes to them.  The grave itself is maintained by all the family members on a rotating basis.  She said, "The dead are still with us, so we visit and honor them as if they were still alive."

The photo above shows the headstone of the man who designed the Torres Strait flag shown in the center.  The top green band represents Papua New Guinea, the bottom green band is for Australia.  The blue center band is the strait between them.  The star represents the five islander groups and the black bands are the people themselves.  The arched white design is a stylized depiction of the "dhari" or feathered headdress worn by traditional dancers.  

From the cemetery, Judy and Liz took us to the highest point on the island,  the Green Hill Fort, built from 1891-1893 in response to a perceived threat of a Russian invasion.  

It was decommissioned, then later brought back into service in WWII.  Thursday Island was never bombed by the Japanese and it is thought that the Japanese left it unharmed out of honor for the spirits of the dead pearl divers buried there.  The neighboring Horn Island was extensively  bombed.

This is the township of Thursday Island from the Green Hill Fort.

Even Judy remarked that the color of the water was particularly beautiful today.  That's our ship just below the horizon.

Liz and Judy continued to drive us around the island, pointing out the various boarding schools, government buildings, small stores and housing areas.  We found out that Judy (on the right) is the superintendent of all the 17 schools in the Torres Strait.  We were flabbergasted that she chose to spend her day off driving strangers around as an act of hospitality.  We finally got her to accept some money from us as a contribution to the schools.  The kindness of strangers...

The townspeople had set up a few booths in the park with locally produced art and craft works for sale.  They put up a tent with chairs and entertained with traditional dancing by some of their young people. 

  

 The mothers and grandmothers played drums and sang as accompaniment.

  A week before we landed on TI, I told David that I had never been in a helicopter and he said this would be one of the best places to experience that thrill, so I signed up for the excursion.  The pilot was a lovely young man named Jake.  I got to sit in the co-pilot seat.  He gave us a thorough commentary during the entire flight.  We looked for turtles, sharks or crocodiles, but didn't see any.  The following photos are just a few of those that I took on this thrilling ride.

The point of land coming from the left of the photo is Cape York Peninsula--the tippety-top of Australia.

We looked for wildlife in this area, but the pilot reminded us that the helicopter spooked them.

 Although the advent of plastic buttons severely curtailed the pearl shell industry, there is still some in operation today.  The structures in the water suspend the pearl beds.

It was fun to see our ship and it's tender from the air.

Thursday Island

Back on the ship and heading west, we passed Booby Island, the last of the Torres Strait islands.  It was so named because European explorers, including Captain Cook, noted seeing Boobie birds.  In the 19th century, so many ships were lost in the area, they began to stock the island with provisions for shipwrecked sailors.  It is also known for the Indigenous rock art and graffiti in shoreline caves.  

Now we have two days at sea to reach our last Australian port, Darwin.