Viv and I headed to the Torres Strait to ask for a Blessing from the Elders of the Torres Strait. We bought a Bus Ticket from the Airport to our Hotel and had no idea that we would meet the owners of the Bus & Ferry company later.
When we arrived to take the ferry across the first day we saw a big white boat called Queenslander.
Talking to the locals they mentioned it was either broken or they couldn’t get someone to skipper it and so we caught a little yellow Ferry which reminded us of all the Lifeboats we’ve been on our Cruise Ship Shore excursions.
The crossing was easy all the time. We got to meet Bani who is the Deputy Mayor of the Torres Strait and it was also his father that had a major role in creating a written language.
We wandered around for a while and admired the beach. So tempting but Crocs are in there somewhere.
Once Bani arrived we had a good chat and then he took us to Green Hill Fort which was built to repel the Russians back in 1891-93. Here is more info if you are interested https://www.ozatwar.com/bunkers/greenhillfort.htm
TI Town centre in the Background with Bani and his wife
The Sunday morning the next day I had a look around Horn Island and found this little beach a Grandmother had named for her Grand Daughter.
As we headed for the ferry again, we wondered where it was and discovered that on a Sunday Service only runs if you pre-book it. Viv was supposed to speak at church at 10 and the next ferry wasn’t due till 9:30. We met another lady as well that was going to a different church but was caught in the same pickle as us. So Viv prayed for an Angel with a Boat and not like 2 minutes later Duncan walks up to Viv and I, and asks where we are going. We explain our predicament and he offers to take the three of us across to TI. He was going fishing afterwards and later told us he felt good doing a good deed for the day. His boat was nice and fast. He caught a couple of Grand Trevallys he later told us.
We all went our separate ways, and he wouldn’t take any sort of payment. So, it was a real Blessing.
We had time for breakfast before heading to church. We were still the first ones there. I loved the church Alter floor spelling Jesus.
I can highly recommend Ma.Kai Café on the esplanade.
We were blessed at church and took Bani and his wife out for lunch.
The next day after arriving at Ma.Kai again Frazer who we had met the day before introduced us to Lisa who owned the big white boat with her hubby. We ended up spending the whole day with her and she showed us all around the island again in between picking up and dropping passengers and me helping people with their luggage. Viv and her were just on the same Spiritual page.
We organised with her to meet after dinner to pray for the Boat to be fixed. Her Hubby and three sons replaced a couple of parts while Viv prayed with her and shared for a few hours. I kept an eye on all the local kids who were either fishing or getting up to a bit of mischief and also jumping off the pier into the water.
Was so good to go home at 11:30 at night.
The next morning, we caught the White boat and she sailed across beautifully.
We visited the Cultural centre and really enjoyed the presentations. You could get involved in Basket Weaving. However, if you want to take them back to the Mainland you would have to wait 2 weeks and then go through quarantine in Cairns.
They also have a sculpture made out of Ghost nets.
Another interesting thing I found was that there are three different ways to speak depending on if you are from the East Central or Western island. The only word I remember was Wa for yes
I also saw signs that pointed to a place called Lions Lookout. I couldn’t see it on google maps and so got Lisa to drop me off at the start of a track. It was a fair walk from the Town end. If you want to visit, I suggest you go from the other end. I put it on Google maps.
I saw about 3 of these building on the way. I think they may date back to WWII
Going back to Horn that night we travelled on our 4th boat. Seems our repairs hadn’t quite worked out.
We then crossed again and met with the Elders of the island. It was such a blessing to be prayed for. We were very humbled when they decided they wanted to wash our feet. They also gave us a Traditional Mat which they explained was used all through a person’s life and then they would be buried in it at the end of their life. It was very touching.
We then left back for Horn our 5th different boat. The boat was called Israel and again it was such a blessing to travel with 5 of us in the boat. The boast was named after the skipper’s daughter.
We made it safely to the other side in the dark even after hitting a speed bump in the dark. More adventures.
Caught up with Lisa again on Friday morning and she showed us some other areas of Horn Island. You can see Wednesday Island in the background here.
Overall, a very special trip. The people of the Torres strait are so friendly and family oriented,
Winds of Change 