From Bramble Cove we motored along the Bathurst Channel to Bathurst Harbour. I focused my attention on the clouds for most of the trip. White drama against the blue. Grey brooding over a silver sea.

When we returned to Bathurst Harbour, the Celery Top Islands were back by our side. These islands had been familiar territory for days and this was our last night so I felt compelled to absorb the view. The immensity of the sky overwhelmed the slips of land on the water.

I gave Mt Beattie on the skyline above Claytons Corner one last evening glance, and watched a pocket of sunshine pass over its flanks.

Edging the Bathurst Channel and Bathurst Harbour, Mt Rugby loomed high and presented mysteriously with a slight veil of wispy cloud masking its head.

And then I focused on the colour of the water, and looked south knowing that Melaleuca Inlet was nearby just beyond the land.

I began to take stock of the experiences at the end of Day 6. My experience had been of three days without leaving the ship and three days when visits on land had begun to open up the world of the south west of Tasmania. As much as I wanted more and never to leave, at the end of 6 days I was ready for time-out to remember, digest, organise my thoughts, and write down the details of my experience and the feelings that arose.

I particularly liked the fact that no sign of humans or their machinations or history was evident while we anchored in the Harbour. This absence was true for pockets of our landings as well. The geographical and physical space provided an escape from the visual noise which humans are want to make. Friends have marvelled about my coping with the tiny spaces of being on a small sailing ship with nineteen other people. However I never felt cramped and believe this is because I could always look out from the ship, and look out for long distances with an expansive sky above. There in front, below and above, expanded all the space I needed.