Sea voyage.

Shona, what is the name of the shipping company and is it based in Cairns?. I'll make a note for future reference....... thanks........... s.

Hi Sarlie, yes it is based in Cairns but don't have the rest of the information for you at the present. Will get back to you after the trip. I can see the ship from my hotel balcony, she is loading at present, she looks so small. Weather here is just wonderful, actually a bit too hot for Sydneysiders. Have just been down to the docks to see the Duyfken, a magnificent replica of the 1606 Dutch ship of the same name. She puts all the modern cruisers to shame, with tall masts and miles of rope and great thick beams.

I'm guessing Shona is travelling on the 'Trinity Bay' operated by Seaswift.

Thanks ColinP. And Shona, I hope you will do a report for us when you are back. A short 5-nite sail sounds interesting (just long enough for me). I only made it north to Brisbane on last trip so, Cairns would be a goal for next time. Enjoy!!

What does passage cost?
What about meals?
Sounds like a cool trip.

I remember taking the ferry from Bombay to Goa (25 years ago, yikes) and stopping to unload passengers and freight along the way.

It was a neat way to travel

Sounds fascinating, would love details when you get back.

i'm signing on to learn more about this...always in the back of my mind to do a freighter some day

ColinP has stolen my thunder! Guess you know all about it now. Have just arrived back in Cairns this morning after 5 of the most fabulous days at sea I have experienced. Don't have much time, the queue in this Internet cafe is unbelievable! Promise that I will describe all when I get more time, having 2 weeks in Brisbane before I get home to Sydney. The voyage was even better than expected, the ship followed the coast all the way up, threading in between tiny islands and reefs. Very comfortable cabins and great food. The entertainment was watching the crew and the huge crane unload cargo at Lockhart River (onto a smaller barge-type vessel), we could not go in any closer because the water is too shallow. Great excitement rounding the "Tip" - the northern most point of Australia. Actually there are two small islands
just off the tip, so there was much debate about whether the mainland bit was the tip or the islands.
The weather was perfect, although we thought it too hot, the sort of climate that makes you want to sleep all the time. Seas were smooth, like oil. Docked at Horn Island, quite a large place, taken on a tour of WW2 sites, old trenches, plane wrecks and stuff like that and to a cultural museum. Didn't know before that the Japanese had bombed this area quite heavily. Took the little ferry over to Thursday Is. which although much smaller than Horn has a larger population and seems to be the centre of the area. Very quiet town with a main street so wide you could land a 737 along it. Being Sunday, nothing was open, but with a word here and there, they opened the newsagent for us at 6pm. Great views from Green Hill, 360 degrees over all the surrounding islands. Mango trees everywhere, spilling their overipe fruit onto the ground. Explored an old Fort which dated back to the 1800's, miles of underground tunnels and rooms.
Sailed over to Seisia during the night. The red soil here is striking, can hardly believe it. Lovely beaches, but no swimming because of the Salties (salt water crocodiles), they lurk in the shadows and shallows and they are monstrous in size. There is a decent camping ground in Seisia, and 2 shops, mainly for the 4WD tourists who have driven up Cape York from Cairns. Had the most fantastic Helicopter ride for one hour. Pilot plus 3 passengers. He took us over Bamaga, saw it's airstrip and then across the Cape peninsula where raging bushfires filled the air with smoke, across the Jacky Jacky River with it's twisting branches until they met in a great river. Saw grey sharks, sting rays and crashed WW2 aircraft from the air. Circled the Tip several times, then out to sea to look at some outlying tiny islands. A really great ride, at the end landing on a small beach just near to our ship. Others on the trip decided to do the 4WD tour. It lasted for 5 hours and they said there was not much to see along the way until they reached the Tip. They walked over rocks to the very end. I think our flight was much better value.
Sorry, gotta go. Will finish some time later.

That's another one added to the to do list and as its in the same country I might even manage to do it. Sounds great.