Arnhemland 2016 Tour - Seven Spirit Bay and Darwin

Day 10 - Seven Spirit Bay and Port Essington

For me, today promised to deliver one of the highlights of the trip: a visit to the Victoria Settlement, popularly known as Port Essington. This is the ruins of a fort established in1837 to protect Britain’s claim to Australia against the French and the Dutch. It was established strictly as a garrison town, as opposed to a free settler town. The idea was that it would be easier to maintain discipline and morale if they excluded free settlers who would want to by freehold land and indulge in commerce. As it was, the position was strategically chosen: the guns were mounted on a not-so-high cliff overlooking the water course, with a reef on the other side, thus forcing any vessel entering to come into range of this guns. Not that they were ever used in anger; now there’s a recurring theme in Australia's defence history.

Anyhow, it was established and many prefabricated building erected on stone bases, such as the store, the married mens quarters, the kitchen, hospital and commandants house. They survived quite well on locally grown and imported produce, withstood cyclones that wanted to blow them back into the ocean, termites that ate the timber faster than they could cut it and various bouts of illness associated with living in primitive conditions in a remote and harsh environment.

Ludwig Leichardt and party staggered into Port Essington in 1845, all but dead, after spending 14 months wandering through the bush. After 10 years morale was lower than a snakes belly and disillusionment had set in. Orders arrived from London to abandon, so they packed it all up and left; some to Sydney, some back to home, others to further postings in the British Empire.

The ruins have been used over the years by others, especially in the late 1800s, mostly by some who were keeping a low profile from authorities in the now bustling town of Palmerston. For most of the intervening 170 years, it has just lain idle, being slowly but relentlessly reclaimed by the scrub.

Thanks to the NT Command (Army?) there was some restoration work carried out in 1968, which is why there is so much to take snaps of.

Our day trip starts with an hours boat ride to get there, lunch on the beach, 2 hours of walking around the headland gawping at the ruins and listening to the guide’s yarns, and of course a fast boat ride back home.

Here are some snaps:

 Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Gunpowder magazine. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Brian getting snap-happy. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Married officers quarters. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

The wharf.  Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Bakery. Croissant anyone?  Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Blacksmith's hearth. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Hospital kitchen. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Hospital footings. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

Brick kiln. Victoria Settlement, Port Essington NT

The day ends with more swims, naturally, dinner and an early night. We have to ‘check out’ by 7:30am, so that they can get the rooms ready for the next mob, due in at 1 today. Pity that having checked out, you can't actually leave until after lunch when the plane arrives from Darwin. I start humming ‘Hotel California.’

Ah, that pool.  Seven Spirit Bay Resort. NT

Day 11 - Seven Spirit Bay and travel to Darwin

As we are already up and checked-out, we may as well have breakfast as well. The first of two flights to Darwin isn't until 1245, so there is some serious time to fill in. They have catered for the wait time and there is a choice: go out fishing for  few hours or do a small tour to Kennedy Bay. We take the tour option.

They take a small group of us in  4x4 bus out along a dirt road, past the turn off to the airport, and down an even smaller dirt track to a beach: Kennedy Bay. Our driver / guide leads us off down the beach pointing out various features as we wander along. On arrival at SSBay we are told not to walk on the beach and if we do, the rule is stay at least 5m from the water. This appears not to apply here. Some way along the shore we take a turn inland and follow a track into the now dry billabong, home to numerous crocodiles during the ‘wet’, but now thankfully, and hopefully, deserted. Our guide is new to this and is practicing his chat on us, claiming to be learning one new tree a week. He points out some tree orchids he discovered on a previous walk and a few other things, but misses the Forest Kingfisher, which Judy ‘Eagle-eye’ Black has spotted. We all stop and take photos. The bird in question obligingly sits and sits for us for ages, most unusual.

 Kennedy Bay NT

The group strolling along the beach. Kennedy Bay NT

Arty party shot. Kennedy Bay NT

Forest Kingfisher. Kennedy Bay NT

We break out of the dry swamp back out onto the beach and head toward the other end, which appears to be mangroves and a rock shelf. When we are almost they we see a ‘croc-slide’, an unmistakeable impression in the sand where a croc has been snoozing before heading back to the water. We still don't move any further away, the guide seems to be unperturbed about its potential presence. Past the mangroves we come to the remains of a banteng, a small Indonesian cow. Obviously the croc, or at least a croc, has had lunch already!

'Probably only 2 metres of so'. Last known address of the neighbourhood crocodile. Kennedy Bay NT

Banteng. Crocodile snack food. Kennedy Bay NT

Eventually we arrive back at the bus where we have a cool drink and some fruit before heading back to the lodge. I head straight for the pool, getting 20 minutes of refreshment before lunch is served at 11:30. Finally, the flight manifests are posted and we luck into the early flight, so there is only a short wait until we head off for the airport. The term ‘airport’ seems a bit grandiose given what we find: a dirt strip and a sign telling us we are at Seven Spirit Bay International Airport, and a rough looking single-engined thing that could at a pinch, pass as air transport.

Our transport back to civilisation. Well, Darwin at least.  Seven Spirit Bay NT

 Seven Spirit Bay International!

Is this thing really going down that, with 12 on board?  Seven Spirit Bay NT

Last sight of Seven Spirit Bay, NT

We are given designated seats to give the pilot proper weight distribution. The cabin is about 1.2m high, I am 1.95. The seats are tiny and I am jammed in next to a biggish fellow. I felt uncomfortable to claustrophobic for the entire 45 minutes of the flight and was first out the door upon landing. We aren't at the proper terminal even, just some spot on the tarmac outside some hanger building.

The tour group is being picked up by yet-another-bus and taken to the Hilton for the night, and dinner at the poshest place in Darwin, Pee Wees East Point. Judy and I have cooked up another plan: I will abandon the bus and go and rescue our car from the long-stay car park. I am so sweaty and tired I don't even flinch when the machine takes $240 from my credit card. But, driving out of that carpark and onto the road, in control, in comfort, in cold air: pure bliss. I though the Territory the best vehicle I’d ever sat in!

The Hilton is fabulous, the dinner at Pee Wees divine. Now imagine this, we have carried camera with us at all times for the entire tour, snapping anything and everything and now here we all are sitting at these long tables out on the lawn overlooking Darwin Harbour and then the most extraordinary bright red full moon rises in the east and we are sans camera. Nothing to do but sit and admire it as it rises into the sky, barramundi, steaks and crocodile forgotten.

We are ferried back to the Hilton for our last night of the tour, with the group to disperse after breakfast in the morning. 

Day 12 - Darwin

We went down for breakfast about 830 or so. The meal was excellent, at least as good as any we have had in the last 11 days. We sat at a table by ourselves for a change but it wasn't long before others came drifting by to find out how we were and what we were planning to do from here-in. It always surprises me how a lot of people form strong attachments with perfect strangers in such a short time. 

Inevitably, we had to say our goodbyes and took ourselves out into the big bad world on our own, back to the reality of the caravan and our travelling life.

Liquid sunset. Seven Spirit Bay NT