A short sail takes one to the anchorage in Ellis Channel between Horn Island and Thursday island. The anchorage is sheltered if you exclude the fact that the 25 knot tradewinds blow here all the time, and the tide churns through at 2-3 knots. We finally got some rain which was quite nice. Daytime temperatures around 27 and night time about 22. Sleeping just with a sheet now and no jumpers at any time.
Our stay here has been interesting. Not very scenic in this anchorage at Horn Island but an amazing genetic mix of races in town. We catch a small ferry across the Ellis channel to Thursday Island. The Torres Strait Islanders seem much more Polynesian than anything else and a quite distinct from the Aborigines. We had good coffee at Uncle Frankie's place and sat there for an hour on Saturday morning watching the the town walk past. The churches are well represented here with a big Catholic presence and Jehovah's witness. There is a good hardware store. Col Jones is sort of the department store that sells a wide variety of products. Think Target taken off steroids. There are some local pearl farms on Friday Island and in the Escape River. There is a beautiful old Customs house which must be heritage listed. (We were able to claim back some GST on boat bits). Defence is here of course as it has always been. The airport is quite busy with Qantas flights. Supply ships come in regularly. More worrying is the presence of Harry. He is a resident 4 metre crocodile who lives in the mangroves just a stone's throw from the boat. Other smaller crocs are also nearby. This caused some angst for all the cruisers when in out and about in their little inflatable dinghies at night.
Hopefully leaving for Indonesia today, clearing in at Saumlaki on the spice island of Tanimbar. You can find it on Google Earth.