Location: Stanley Island, Australia
Today, we woke up surrounded by islands; the rock formations reminded me of Utah or the Red Rocks. After breakfast, we moved Argo closer to Stanley Island to make the choppy, dingy ride to shore a bit more reasonable. This was a rather interesting experience because there were three-foot swells. The dinghy would start 5 feet below the railing one moment, and the next moment, it would be 8 feet below the railing. After everyone was shuttled safely to Stanley Island, we hiked across to the opposite side of the island, up the beach to the trailhead, which leads to the aboriginal art. The art, which, as we later learned, was not called art but rather recordings, was primarily red with some browns and a little white. The drawings consisted of boats, stingrays, crocodiles, turtles, boomerangs, and other local animals. Concluding the hike, we had a small oceanography lab about how water tables work in parallel with beach slopes. We also looked at the different sediment types and sizes on the beach. After our lab, we got some free time on the beach. During this time, Charles, Alex, and Kyle went off and climbed to the top of a nearby rock outcropping. Kevin and Annie went off on another run, and the rest of us hung out on the beach and chatted. Some partook in some amateur yoga, and others buried Sean in the sand and turned him into a beautiful mermaid. We returned to the ship, had lunch, and then began to get the ship ready for our first multi-day passage to Thursday Island, where we would arrive on Wednesday morning.