It does not sound like much, but while closely reading a tide chart this section of navigable waterway is dry at low tide - that equates to about 12 hours a day when you can walk along the riverbed and kick dust (or more likely - mud). Sound weird? You should try sailing it! This journey took us through The Narrows, a short pass of about 12nm joining the waterways of southern Rockhampton to the busy port town of Gladstone, leaving Curtis Island to shelter the waterway from the ocean to the east.
The amount of preparation to make this passage without ending up leaning to one side was quite intense, it filled me with a sense of trepidation for the multiple scenarios of failure. It was less a fear for our safety, and more one for our pride. Being beached and leaning heavily to one side for the best part of 12 hours while the locals come past and have a good laugh as we wait for the tide to rise again to push us off our temporary mudbank home made me cringe. In terms of threat to our safety, we could just practically step off the boat and wade over to the river bank 10m away to watch the boat lean increase as the tide dropped, we would hardly need to launch flares or the life raft to mark our failure.
Embarrassing imaginative thoughts aside, Hugh meticulously assessed three different sources for tidal data to make sure that the data was consistent. We were at a waning gibbous moon which meant that the tides would be less dramatic every day as we approached the no moon phase, so we would be at a disadvantage to unbeach ourselves (should such a thing occur) because the high tides the day after would not be as high. We calculated overfalls - the delay for water to get upstream and vice versa as it travels the rivers' distance. We learnt that halfway through The Narrows the flooding tides will meet, as it comes from the south and from the north to reach the middle section before ebbing from the centre to the north and the south, rather than flooding one way and ebbing the other. That meant that we would catch a rising tide travelling south to the centre, then flow with an ebbing tide out the southern side of the waterway. It all sounded good.
So we started the passage, tinged with hints of peril, intending to reach the shallowest part of the passage just as the tide reached its high point. Apart from the low hum of our engine, we could hear the myriad of waterbirds, insects and the occasional jumping fish as we putted down the river. Low lying wetlands extended past the mangroves which licked the waters edge. It was not until we approached the centre part of the pass that we saw signs of modern life, with the concrete driveway indicating that at low tide, 4WDs access the riverbank and it became a thoroughfare. Just a few miles further downstream we passed the famous Monte Cristo cattle crossing, which until October 2014 was a working cattle crossing when the tide is low, enabling the passing of cattle across to the mainland for sale etc.
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| Cattle crossing which at low tide provides access for cattle across the river, but at this tide point is almost 4m under water |
It was a very spooky moment as we passed navigation markers which were lower than the boat it gave the feeling of being in a flooded street, with everything looking a bit low. And low it was, as the depth meter showed that there was 60cm of water under the keel. This was going to be tight. Hugh slowly weaved us through the tight section of the waterway, trying to stick to the deepest part of the channel and managing the increasing speed we were gaining as the tide gained pace. The serenity of the waterway was something to behold, nothing but nature getting about their business all around the boat.
We emerged from The Narrows and entered Port Curtis, the mind-bogglingly busy, noisy, dusty and shiny port, where there are three liquid natural gas processing plants, and the innumerable ship loading conveyor belts moving coal, iron ore and silica onto ships for international transport. The visual impact of the development on the landscape was obvious even from the water, with huge tracts of land cleared and gigantic machinery moving enormous quantities of mining products around the sites. It was a stark and not too pleasant way to emerge from a most splendid and quiet waterway, I would say next time we should do the journey in the northern direction to avoid such offence to the senses.
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| Conveyor belt for loading ships |
The bigger questions of what this port expansion means for Australia is a hot topic environmentally, but will soon become a bigger issue for the cost of production of anything in Australia as the market cost for natural gas increases for the consumer with the new export market just opening. Expanding economies in Asia demand secure gas and Australia put up its hand. What does it mean? Well the export market will be strong and the cost of the exported product will be cheaper than what is retained for domestic sale. Economists predict a 300% rise in the cost of natural gas in the Australian market. This in turn will significantly increase the cost of production of anything in Australia that uses gas as the energy source. Interestingly it was the LNG plants that also pushed out the Monte Cristo cattle station. The new Australia is impacting the old Australia in blindingly obvious ways.
1/12/2014
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