The next morning we find this emergency life raft washed up.

It had obviously broken off a ship as it is still intact and attached to its stainless steel ship support.

We remove it from its mounts and naturally can not just leave it.

We do as it is written

“Pull for emergency inflation”

It is a 12 person life raft.

Complete with:

small medical kit,

water collection provision.

light and reflective mirror

repair kit and pump

bailer

We have elected to do a big walk with only our day packs to reach Cape Grenville.

Three bays, an estuarine river and 12 kms of mangroves to cross...and return before the tide changes.

More boat wreckage.

A small crock skeleton

A bamboo raft.

We wait at this estuarine river to lower as the tide recede before a cautious crossing.

Now it is a 12km march across the sandy and muddy mangrove flats before our final beach.

The final beach is a hook shape forming Cape Grenville.

Here it collects all the flotsam from the Pacific.

With the tide change imminent it is  a quick lunch stop and explore before returning to Camp No2.

In one of the small estuarine creeks - an old glass fishing float floating on a pond of floating pumice stone.

I would have retrieved it except we would have to risk what is waiting below the surface, and then carry it 35kms back to the boat !

Hence there it stays.

Back safely at Camp 2 after a 28km sprint for the day.

The return journey is over the rocks again.

And down the beach.

Final beach camp is on top of one of the headlands

Our western view is over more white sands:

And down in the water we watch the sharks and turtles feed.

Found in that life raft are some flares that we decide to see what they are like.

( We did check there were no ships in the area and let the hand held one off where it could not be see from the ocean )

The parachute flares we reluctantly resisted !

The return journey required another forest walk for Rob and self, retrieving the boats and collecting John and the Girls.

Then with supplies used up ( water, food and fuel) we could all manage  in one trip back to the vehicle base camp.

Back at the vehicle base camp.

Notice our new bright shelter - complements of the life raft.

Total Boating: 45kms

Total Walking: 72kms

15 croc slides

1 close sighting of a 4 metre croc

Another isolated Cape York Beach explored and enjoyed.