Day 10 - Saturday 9th July

It was an earlier start than usual today because breakfast was at 6:30 and the bus would leave the hotel at Bamaga at 7:00 to take us to the ferry for the trip to Thursday Island.

However, there was a significant change for our bags because tomorrow we would be flying back to Cairns from Horn Island and there was no capacity on the flight for our luggage. Mandy would be driving back to Cairns in the APT bus and taking our bags with her.

This also meant that we needed to take everything we needed for tonight and tomorrow in our backpacks.


The ferry, the Torres Magic, arrived soon after 7:30 and departed at 8am. It was a case of the quick and the dead because those who got on board first grabbed the best seats - outside the cabin at the front of the vessel. We got seats inside.

The Outback Spirit group that seems to be doing much the same trip as us were the ones who got the outside seats. There were plenty of other passengers apart from our two groups.

It was cloudy with some sunshine. During the journey, they showed an informative video about Thursday Island. The journey took us past several of the islands in the Torres Strait.

As we approached Thursday Island, my mobile phone sprung into life - I had reception and by the time we landed at 9:15, it was a strong signal. Suzy still did not have Vodafone reception - she hasn't had reception since we left Port Douglass at the start of our APT journey.


Near the wharf, a tourist bus was waiting to take us on a sightseeing trip around the island. Our driver guide, Sue, was excellent. Despite my poor hearing, I heard every word of her entertaining commentary. She had a strong clear voice with excellent diction.

She gave us information about the island's history including the bombing by the Japanese in WWII. The first stop was at the top of Green Hill where there was a military defence compound with weaponry to defend against attack from air and sea.

The main attraction was the underground museum which consists of several corridors and rooms that they have decorated with WWII memorabilia. Back on the surface, there were great views in every direction. The sea was a beautiful blue.


We took photos from the bus and towards the end stopped at a cemetery. After the tour, we left our backpacks in the reception area at the hotel and set off to look at the shops in the main street.

On the way back to the hotel, we called into the cultural centre. It was very well presented with indigenous artefacts including an explanation of the Torres Strait flag.

Lunch was in the pub area at the hotel. Everyone in our group was provided with fish and chips. After lunch, Suzy and I went down to a quiet beach while we waited for our hotel room to be ready (2pm). It was sunny and warm (29C).


Our room had a nice view of the ocean whereas most other people had a balcony where they could sit to admire the view. I looked around our room for places to put our bags until I realised they wouldn't  be coming because they were on their way back to Cairns with Mandy.

We had the afternoon to ourselves. The hotel WiFi was slow but reliable and the Optus WiFi was too slow to be useful. I caught up on emails and worked on my blog taking advantage of the hotel WiFi. Suzy did more research on our overseas holiday next year.

Dinner was at 6:30 in the hotel pub. We certainly have a lot in common with others in our tour group such as travel experience. We were back in our room at about 8pm. The pub had been showing football matches - league and then union. So in our room we watched the rugby match between England and the Wallabies.

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