Thursday Island, Australia
February 23, 2024 - Our final stop in Australia was Thursday Island, which we visited on Friday, the 23rd of February. It was another tender port, this time with what was predicted to be a 40 - 50 minute tender ride to get ashore. We anchored at about 9 AM and the last tender back to the ship from shore was scheduled for 1 PM — so not a lot of time. In the port talk two days before, the shore excursion manager really downplayed this stop — trying to set expectations for this being a small port, with not a lot to offer, but that they were trying to develop tourism. So the excursion was going to be only 1 hour, and primarily be a show by the locals, which they said would be like the quality of a school production. As in other port talks, they try to set expectations for those who have high expectations of everything and are quick to complain.
Our tour was scheduled to board the tenders at 10, begin at 11, which would leave no more than an hour of free time. Unfortunately the tenders were running late/slow, so by 10:50 we still hadn’t boarded the tenders. Ann Marie opted to skip it to enjoy some quiet time on the ship and Cathy proceeded on her own. And it was quite the experience - especially the tender ride back to the ship!
The show was performed by High School students, who board at the school, as they come from all the different Islands and it is the only High School available to them that covers 7th -12th grades. The students danced and chanted in their native language and they were shy but very proud of their heritage. I spoke with one of the students after the show and was asking if they go home on the weekends, but they only get to go home when the school is closed for the holidays. Such a different life they live and as I walked around the little village the small shops welcomed us all. There were also some very nice quotes etched into the walking paths like: “The Past must exist, for the Present to create the Future.” The people of Thursday Island are living that every day and trying to create a better future for themselves and share their culture with the world. It was so great to see another part of Australian life, many of the islanders have lived there their whole lives and wanted to share their story. I think it was a great way to end our time in Australia.
The tenders were taking a long time to come back to pick us up and I soon discovered why. I was on the last tender back and the ride back to the ship was an adventure in itself. The swells were only about a 1/2 meter high bit enough to have the tender going up and down and at times side to side, luckily no one on our tender got sea sick, but a lot of whoa’s were heard. Once we reached the ship we actually hit the ship very hard on our approach as the swells just pushed us right up against it. Once we lined up we and were secured to the ship we all applauded our driver, Neil, for getting us back safely.
