After a few nights in the Useless Loop, the threat of N weather had receded, so we decided we’d head to the top of Dirk Hartog Island to see Cape Inscription. We had an errand to run first, so we were up before dawn and made the 20nm to Denham easily before the post office opened. Errand run, we made it back onboard and in flat calm conditions motored around to the top of the island into Turtle Bay.

Not only did this bay have the same name as the one we left the Abrolhos from, it also had the same neighbour - our new friends on The Gathering. We dropped the hook in lovely sand by them, and put up with a slight roll until the wind shifted SE again. It remained light though. We were joined by 7 small fishing boats who all crowded in around us for the night too.

Next day, with the threat of thunderstorms, we headed over to Cape Inscription. The first part of the walk was up the cliff face, which was pretty steep.

This was where the material for the lighthouse that now stands at the cape was taken up. The remains of the old tramlines exist. Can’t have been an easy job! From the top it was a flat 3km walk to the cape itself.

The lighthouse is very much a product of the 20th centuary. Dirk Hartog landed here in 1616 and left an inscribed pewter plate detailing his visit. This was naturally removed by a subsequent (French) explorer, Freycinet. It was an interesting area to see - its not often visited - only 20 4wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the island at a time and most of those seem to stay further south. Its 50km up to the Cape. It is one of teh most significant sites relating to the discovery and exploration of Australia and yet so understated.

We returned to the boat, but couldn’t resist a photo from the top of the cliff.

The storm in the distance clobbered us just as we were having lunch. 46knot winds, lightning and thunder very close by, and torrential rain. The anchor held well and it was all over within 20minutes. Then the sun came out, so we went for an explore in the dinghy and snorkelled some of the rocks/reef. The water was surprisingly warm - at last, things are improving on the water temperature front! A final treat was seeing a couple of manta rays though we were back onboard by that point.

And that ended our stay in Shark bay. I must admit, I enjoyed it far more than I expected too. There was loads of marine life to see, some amazing anchorages, nice hikes and some good history. I highly recommend it!

The view as we left this morning….