After a soft pearly dawn over Bathurst Harbour (refer photo below courtesy of fellow passenger Ralph), change was afoot with a plan to motor and anchor in Payne’s Bay within Port Davey before travelling northwards up the Davey River in the zodiacs.

It wasn’t long before the crew were up-anchoring gradually to remove the cloying mud. When the ship motored through the Bathurst Channel, as usual we were all on deck to watch the changes in the water, sky and land. “A lovely mild morning with sun straining washed-out yellow through the clouds. Went out on deck to watch the crevices as we passed Mt Rugby trying to see exactly where the walking track starts.”

Eventually we emerged from the Channel. Looking back I loved the silvery qualities of the water and sky in counterpoint to the sombre darkness of the land.

Ralph’s was lucky enough to be in the moment with his camera when the sun was breaking through.

The next photo by Ralph shows the Breaksea Islands after we travelled through the north passage.

The waves were choppy in Port Davey and created long slips of frothy foam.

We motored around the large expanse of water, marvelling at the size, colours and shapes of rocks and islands.

Meanwhile the Captain assessed the risks of tackling the Davey River. The decision was to forgo that anticipated trip because she thought that a sand bar would trap us either going or returning. The alternative was to motor elsewhere. The new destination was Bramble Cove.