Cape York -Thursday Island–6 August 2011

Nobody knows who named Thursday Island .

Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame named Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Islands but doesn't mention Thursday. Someone must have decided to continue the series.

Thursday Island was chosen as the administrative centre for the area as it has a good harbor. All the towns from Weipa up are supplied by boat so this is very important.

Australia's boundary goes nearly to New Guinea here and as it is a complex border to manage there are a lot of public servants in residence.

 

 

We went to Thursday Island from Seisia with Peddells Tours on the Strait Magic. They operate a bus tour around the Island. After that bus tour is finished one can also go to Horn Island to see the WW2 historic sites but we chose to remain on Thursday Island.

Pinctada Maxima and Trochus shell was harvested here for haberdashery with some pearl as a by product. We visited the cemetery and saw the Japanese Pearl Divers Memorial. The Japanese were brought in after the Samoans went on strike.

We then went to the Green Hill Fort. This was built to protect us from the Russians. It only ever fired one shot in anger across the bows of a ship who refused to declare her name during WWI. She promptly declared her name and things went back to normal.

Under the fort in the storerooms there is a very interesting small museum documenting the History of the area.

This was a very busy area during WW2. Horn Island , opposite Thursday was bombed 8 times. There were many planes in the area and dogfights going on frequently. Thursday Island was not bombed and rumor has it that this was because a Japanese Princess was buried in the Island’s cemetery.

After the tour we went to the markets, genuinely local, and bought some tea.

We then went to the Gab Titui Cultural Centre. This is well worth seeing. It is well curated and has interesting artifacts. It also showcases work by local artists which can be bought. Within the centre there is a lovely little cafe called Ilan Life. They have great coffee and a nice range of meal choices.
As Torres Strait is so dangerous ships going through it have a pilot. The pilots are based on Thursday Island.

The Island has three pubs, this one Australia’s northernmost hotel, and numerous churches.  This one an Anglican Cathedral built as a memorial to the 133 souls lost when the SS Quetta with a pilot in command sank in the Adolphus Channel on 28 February 1890 when it struck an uncharted rock.