Monkey Mia
Well, we hadn’t watched a game of AFL since last year’s grand final and, after a week in the quiet of Herald Bight, we were up for a beer and some pub atmosphere!
The iconic Monkey Mia sits about 14nm to our south east - so it was an easy passage for us to accomplish. Nicky was a new arrival to Australia for her first and only visit to MM circa 1984 - four days waiting for the dolphins who never showed up; and Pete’s only visit was 1989 whilst on a road trip when working in Roebourne. We were sure that a lot had changed since our last visit and whilst the dolphins weren’t our reason to go, we were interested to see what sort of experience it was in 2022.
We planned to sail the short passage up on Thursday afternoon, taking advantage of a lighter wind day - although we would be beating into wind to get there. First, we had to clear the sandbar at the end of Guichenault Point which extends for nearly five miles from the edge of the mangrove creek system. With the wind on our beam, we were travelling a cracking 7.5knots with only the screecher up - made all the more exciting by the shallow water (4 - 6 metres) and abundant wildlife including pelicans, cormorants, turtles, sting rays and the odd dolphin.
Once we thought we had enough depth, we turned east to cut across the top of the sandbar - still quite shallow in parts (2metres!) and then turned south east to run back down the peninsula towards Cape Rose and ultimately Monkey Mia. Of course, the wind was dead on the nose so we had furled the screecher and were running the jib - it wasn’t doing too much, but it does help balance the boat.
The colours are stunning with ocre-red headlands and cliffs running down to small sandy beaches as you make your way along the coast. The water clarity is the polar opposite to Ningaloo - almost a milky green here with visibility of about 1 metre - quite a contrast to some of the places we have visited over the past 4 months.
We were soon on the final approach into Monkey Mia and, like all new anchorages, were studying where the navigation markers were as well as a final consult of the WA Cruising guide for any special notes. The final port marker takes you within 50 metres of the beach - so quite close to shore and as we were on low tide a bit tricky trying to exactly work out the deeper areas. We made our way in to the anchorage and found ourselves a spot about 200 metres from the main jetty and boat ramp and adjacent to another cruising cat ‘Sojourn’.
After securing Singularity, we decided to go for a quick walk and check out the resort facilities and the general lay of the land. Needless to say, we were impressed with the resort and how it has been set up with a mix of units and caravan park - as well as bar, restaurant and a small shop. It was late in the afternoon, so we availed ourselves of a couple of empty seats outside at the Boughshed Restaurant and enjoyed a couple of pints of ginger beer before returning to Singularity for the night.
The next morning, we awoke to a gathering crowd in front of us for the arrival of the dolphins - who are contracted to be at work at 7.45am each morning to entertain the humans. It was a sizeable crowd, but we knew that it would get bigger with school holidays only a few days away. We watched with interest from the front deck of the boat and listened intently to the show - and sure enough the dolphins (about four of them) turned up and cruised at the feet of the punters lined up on the waters edge. All very well managed and plenty of opportunity for everyone to get a close look at our favourite creatures.
For us, it was walk time which is a little limited in Monkey Mia, so we legged it up the hill to the telephone tower and then went bush south east towards the coastline. Red dirt country with a lot of native flowers in bloom. As we walked quietly through the bush we came across an emu and four or five chicks. The chicks ran off startled and we pressed a little closer before sparking the interest of mum - after us standing completely still for a minute or two, she decided she didn’t need to take us on and wandered off, leaving us to continue off the other way. Down to the beach and then walk back around to the resort area and the beachfront.
We met Kevin and Janie off SV Sojourn, our neighbours, who have spent the last ten years cruising the coast with a lot of time spent in the Kimberleys. Like all the cruisers we have met, Kevin and Janie are a fantastic couple who were more than willing to pass over information and tips about cruising WA, particularly the Kimberley region.
Late in the afternoon, we headed back to shore and took advantage of the facilities to have a ‘warm’ shower and a scrub – always a blessing when you are not trying to overly conserve water. Of course, a quick couple of pints of Byron Bay Lager on the way back to the boat was also necessary. When you spend as much time as us in isolated areas, it is actually enjoyable people watching. We have, however, both realised that we have become a bit ‘crowd averse’ so it will be interesting to see how we slot back into the craziness of Rotto at the peak of summer!
We spent some time doing some maintenance jobs on Singularity and then it was time to head for the pub to take in the grand final. Not used to being on any time schedules or routines for a while, we got there about twenty minutes after kick off – and it was all over!!! Bit of an anti-climax (understatement of the year), but still good to hang out with the Sojourn crew over a few beers.
Our plans were to head back to Herald Bight on Monday, then onwards to Dirk Hartog Island on Tuesday. So, on Monday morning it was an early rise for another walk (gotta keep those legs moving) – this time west along the beach. As we were pulling Bob up the beach, we were greeted by Chris and Jo, a police buddy of Pete’s who we had run into at Longreach last summer. It was good to catch up – Chris having just retired after 43 years with WAPOL – a long career and Pete first met him whilst working at Water Police in 1988! We shared some travel stories and then bade farewell with our next catch up set for Longreach this summer.
A quick walk, pick up a couple of litres of milk, a bag of spinach and rocket from the shop and then back and prep Singularity for passage back to Herald Bight. After negotiating our way out of the anchorage, it was up with the mainsail, unfurl the jib and then a run back up the peninsula with a healthy 18 – 20 knots of wind behind us.
We cut north initially then tacked back in close to the coast at Cape Rose and then turned north again, running parallel with the shoreline. Again, beautiful azure colours of the sea a stark contrast with the red cliffs and headlands of the land. Before we knew it, we were tacking back down the sandbar at Guichenault Point heading for our previous anchor spot. We waypoint all of our anchor spots for future reference – it is always good knowing you can go back to a spot where you have been as it takes away the element of wondering if the holding is good; is it rocky and rolly and to be avoided or is it somewhere we can anchor knowing we’ll be protected from winds and swell?
We had literally dropped the anchor and were putting Singularity to bed when the wind swung to the south and went to 25 – 30 knots! Great timing as this spot is super calm and we were straight into the cabin, kettle on and ready to chillax!