Day 5 Hells Gate

With some excitement we head off to town, very early, for our Gordon River cruise in a light drizzle.
The first stage is a rather tame cruise up Macquarie Harbor to Hells Gate the opening into the bay, said to be only navigable on certain tides and winds in the early days of the colony. On this wet and windy day you can believe it but that doesn’t stop myself and Kiara from adventuring on deck for a better view of all around. As we approach the small gap between shore and island we can see the heavy surf pounding in from outside. Then we slip past the lighthouse on the guardian island. Looking back we see the brown wake of the boat as we squeeze through the tannin laden waters of the channel. We are now in the last smooth patch before passing the sand bars into the storm tossed water of the Southern Ocean. But even in our large modern boat with a relatively minor wind speed it is too chancy and after a few moments the captain decided and we turn around with much pitching and rolling. Cath tells Kiara a I latter that Siobhan spent the time we were on deck catching fruit and glasses as they rolled of the bar’s counter.
Having braved Hells Gate we now head back down the harbor to Sarah Island, were we would meet our friends from the Round Earth company again as they use their own inimitable style to tell the story of this prison colony from history and legend.