It was an interesting trip to TI, lots of History there. The Island is the main centre for all the Torres Strait Islands. Once we got off the boat we waited for our bus tour over the Island. The lady who drove the bus, her name was Christine and she was born on the Island. Our first stop on the tour was at the arm forte, where she explained to us that they built this to protect their Island. There were a few cannons up the top and a great view. Underneath the local historical society has turned the rooms into a museum, one side with all the Pearling History and the other side the Military History. On the pearling side Christine said the Japanese did much of the deep sea diving for the pearls and the shells. The shells were turned into buttons before the invention of plastic, that's when the diving stopped. She let the kids have a go at using the wheel that they used to pull the divers up from the ocean.
We then were taken all over town and she pointed out many of the old buildings and the new. Even told Maurice where the daycare centre was! Our other stop on the tour was at the local cemetery where she showed us the part of the cemetery that had been kept aside for the Japanese Pearl Divers who had lived, worked and died there. She also pointed out that there were some grave stones that were still covered over with plastic bags. This means that the family are still grieving and they hold a ceremony to take off the cover and then that signals the end of the mourning. After leaving there she told us more about the two different languages spoken there, the kids learn English as a second language at high school, there native tongue is always spoken first. She also showed us some traditional musical instruments. It was a good informative tour.
We had lunch and the kids had a play at the local cultural centre. Spent a good couple of hours there, it was warm in the sun and the breeze was blowing through here so we stayed a while. We took a walk around the main street before heading back the jetty to wait a little bit before getting onto the ferry. The wind had really picked up by now and it was a rough ride back, but Flick managed to catch 40 winks in my arms.
On our way to get the Ferry to TI.
Arriving at TI and waiting to go on our bus tour.
A view from the top of the forte.
Another view from the top!
Pheobe turning the Wheel.
Maurice turning the Wheel.
A traditional Pearl divers suit.
A sample of some of the pearls and shells and how they are made into buttons.
More pearling history.
Walking through the forte walls.
Trent checking out one of the 6 cannons.
Another view from the top.
So pretty are the views.
Krista, Pheobe, Maurice and Felicity.
Pheobe holding some of the traditional instruments.
Oppy - Trent took this pic for you! Don't think you want to pay this sort of price for a drink or two!
Maurice and Pheobe in the Hammock at the Cultural Centre.
So, we had a pretty good day here. Once we got back to camp we organised dinner and tried to get a reasonably early night. We did have a guest when organising dinner, see the next photo!
Renamed Mr. Ed!
Well, there you have it folks - our time at the top!
I will next blog with our marathon journey back down the cape.
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