WORLD CRUISE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22512, 1 September 1936, Page 17

WORLD CRUISE

IDLE houe^pkogeess SAI UNO IN. PAPUAN WATERS gathering seabirds- eggs THURSDAY island reached m the following article an Auckland nkft of the crew of the 32ft. Ameri- ■/ „ Idle Hour describes a trip w . the GuM of Papua and on to Thnraday Island, in continuation of a wo rld cruise. BY IVAN FALMEK THURSDAY ISLAND, July IS jr or the first time since Idle Hour left Seattle 22 months ago the tiny ft is leaving the broad Pacific be5. J her to cross the Arafura Sea to Koepang. Timor ' V uu of aboUt 1100 miies— the longest since the Tasrnan crossing. . , . , After a stay of six days at Yule Island, at the eastern side of the Gulf of Papua, including a four-day expedi- . tion inland, wo g6t Idle Hour under Tra;y again for the 200-mile trip westward across tho gulf to Daru Island, 8 flat, mangrove-covered place not far from the mouth of the famous Fly Kiver. At Yule Island we had been twice the guests at dinner of Mr. W. 0. H. Thompson, assistant resident magistrate, who has many friends in Auckland. He was extremely hospitable tons. ' . • y With the south-east trade wind on our quarter we made good progress and after 36 hours made a perfect landfall at Bramble Cay, the most northerly formation of the Great Barrier Reef, 40 miles from Daru Island. Exactly six weeks beforo we were off Lady Elliot Islet, the southern extremity of the Great Barrier Reef, 1500 miles sway. Thousands of Birds We reached Bramble Cay in middle afternoon and anchored in its lee, as it. was impossible to make Daru Island before nightfall. Although less than 40 miles from the Papuan coast, the cay is nart of Australia, being officially in Queensland waters. There is a 40ft. /• unlighted beacon on it to guide vessels taking the Bligh entrance to Torres Straits. ' The island is the haunt or tens or thousands of Beabird». For several hours we roamed the islet, gathering seabirds' eggs to oat, and with a small automatic pistol—the first item of equipment Dwight Long purchased ' when he originally ,'planned his trip—we shot a few birds for the evening meal. The pistol had never been used before. Those few glorious hours on that island were one of the experiences that make a cruise like this seem worth while. But it nearly had ail unpleasant anti-climax. When we returned to where we had hauled the dinghy up on the sand we found it almost awash. The tide had risen more quickly than we had anticipated. Archbold Expedition Arriving at Daru Island the following afternoon, we had our first visitor in the person of Dr. Richard Archbold, a 30-year-old American oil millionaire, who is financing a £30,000 scientific expedition to study the mammals, birds 'and plants of the' upper Fly River district, on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Archbold came aboard clad in singlet and siorts aud an old straw hat. Twice we were guests at dinner of Dr. -Irciifcold and" two of his companions, Mr. "R. Rogers, His air pilot, and Mr. Ewing Julstedt,. radio operator. Cto the second occasion it napBmed to be Independence Day. At afu Island we saw the Fairchild amphibian aircraft which was being used to drop food and equipment _to members of the expedition 300 miles inland. * ' In contrast to this modern flying machine was ft hug& double outrigger canoe from Kiwai Island, which looked for ail the world .like - the ancient counterpart of the present-day flyingboat. Hollowed out of a single 60ft. log, with a greatest width of sft., the Canoe was ketch-rigged, complete with bowsprit. Each of the outriggers was J about Bft. long and set about 2') ft. from the centre of the main canoc. Winds and Currents Taking advantage of an offer by the skipper of an auxiliary ketch to lead us through a "short cut" through the shoals and reefs near the Papuan coast to the North-east Channel through Torres Straits, we weighed anchor after a stay of two and a-half days at Daru. On the entire 120-rnile • run to Thursday Island we had to battle against an adverse wind and strong currents, which swept us miles off our course. We had to wend our -, f wav through a treacherous maze_ of feefs and islands; striving to get further to windward we crossed and recrossed Captain Bligh's route on his famous open-boat passage from near Tonga to Timor. Finally, by anchoring when the tidal current was against / hs and sailing only when it favoured us, we were able to make the Northeast Channel and then the Flinders Passage. We dropped anchor at Port Kennedy. Thursday Island Scenes • Thursday Island is not unlike Port Moresby; it has the same scorched, barren hills, but the buildings are much ®ore dilapidated. It is a decayed town: where once 300 pearling luggers had their headquarters now less than 100 operate. The white population has '"runk from 1000 to 250. Many disused luggers lie at anchor and two out every three shops lining the waterfront appear to be unoccupied. Howler, with recent increases in the price of pearl shell, residents are hopeful /or the future. - . "w tiny double-ended skiff figured n two exciting incidents in the hartrin/ Dwight Long got adrift without oars in the strong current and ne next day he upset the dinghy while m into it and wag swept aguarter of a mile in the tide rip before ,? was rescued. On both occasions ngmes from the pearling luggers fint to his assistance. »Ja Ur ' at Thursday Island was P otracted to 10 clays, during a week which I was ill with malaria, having to hospital for five clays. On the •. our departure, Lord Gowrie Jiuw Thursday Island on his . aßs, ime the Govrrnor-General-ttnf,- Australia, and Dwight Long 8 his guest at dinner that evening.