Saltwater cruising
MARCHINBAR ISLAND IS about as far-flung as it gets. Halfway between Darwin and Cape York, it’s the largest of the Wessel Islands, which extend 130km from northeastern Arnhem Land like a row of pontoons. From afar, the sandy curve of Jensen Bay on Marchinbar’s west coast looks deserted. But as we step ashore on a warm October morning, we see two sets of tracks leading up the beach, marking a pair of recent arrivals. “Some leg-trimmers,” observes natural historian Ian Morris, powering over the dune.
This is the sixth morning of our 12-day Coral Expeditions voyage from Darwin to Cairns and my fellow passengers and I take Ian’s crocodile euphemism in our stride. We’ve eased into the sway of Arnhem Land life, due, in part, to Ian’s jaunty sharing of local lore and fervour for all things natural. So we too follow the tracks – eyes wide open – to the crocs’ daytime hideout, Nguy Nguy, a secluded lagoon abuzz with birdlife darting through paperbarks. It’s also dotted with waterlilies by the thousand. And somewhere, amid their magenta flowers, lurk an unknown number of the world’s largest living reptiles.
LIKE MANY OF the stops on this trip, Marchinbar and its freshwater oasis invite a closer look. Far from being a forsaken outpost, this northern coastline thrives as a leading is a bridge to another Australia, hiding in plain sight. Each shore journey reveals homelands tied to strong strands of Indigenous life, a weave of people and place threaded with a history of human arrivals and land upheavals spanning 70,000-plus years.
