“Can we swim at the Thursday Island beach?” asked one of the guests. “No. If the crocodiles don’t get you the sharks will,” responded the Guest Services rep.

You guessed it.

I went swimming, well, wading, at Thursday Island. There were lots of locals, including little kids, so I figured the kids were slower than me and tastier than my old carcass, so I’d be safe. And indeed, I was.

Thursday Island is one of the Torres Straits islands, located between the northernmost tip of Queensland State and Papau New Guinea. The Torres Straits islands, 274 of them, depending on how you count ‘em, is home to an ethnically distinct group of Melanesian peoples. They figure the islands have been populated for 2,600 years or so, which is recent in comparison to mainland Australia, which has evidence of habitation 50,000 years ago. Today it’s a Shire of Queensland.

And yes, there is a Wednesday Island and a Friday Island, so named by the Brits who explored here in the second half of the 19^th century. They apparently ran out of dukes and lords and whatever, the names of whom they usually affixed to newly discovered lands. Sucking up to the boss is an old tradition.

Thursday Island has a history of being a center for pearl and shell harvesting, although those industries have declined significantly since WWII due to competition from Japan and cultured pearl farms. As the shire hub, public service is a significant source of income as is a developing tourist trade.

Speaking as a tourist, I’m glad we came here but Thursday’s got a ways to go to rival even Bali and Lombok. Not a single temple to be seen, just a Catholic Church (there are other churches, I believe). White tablecloth dining isn’t prevalent but the local hotel does sport the northerly most bar in all of Australia. They served beer and crisps and played rugby matches on the widescreen TV. We partook of all three after our walk around town.

Our walk covered the aforementioned crocodile beach and the Catholic church. The town cannot be termed picturesque by any stretch of the imagination, but it does sport some very friendly people. Most greeted us as we passed by. We had a nice conversation with a young couple with an eight-month-old son. They’re from Canberra, where they will be returning in a couple of weeks after his one-year deployment on Tuesday Island with the military.

The “included tour,” which we joined after our independent walk and beer stop, was the highlight. First, a Country elder, Uncle Willie, gave a welcoming speech, and gave us permission to enter tribal lands. Then, two local artists made presentations. The first, a young multi-talented artist/musician/dancer/palm oil salesman, gave a talk. The second was a man and his family – wife, two daughters and two sons – who gave a demonstration of aboriginal music and dance. The mom and dad and two daughters sang and played drums to accompany the sons who danced in traditional costumes.

The performance was quite good and, being the third or fourth of the day, the family was visibly tired. Performing for cruise boats is not their full time jobs. The really interesting thing was the dedication of Dad and Mom to instill the traditional culture into their kids. Song and dance is their chosen method.

We spoke briefly with the dad afterwards. I told him of the similarities to his culture and that of our First Nations friends Darryl and Andrea from New Brunswick, Canada: respect for elders, stewardship of the land, taking from the land only what is needed, not what produces the greatest profit. I could close my eyes and hear Darryl speaking the same words as he used to do on our all-day golf outings. It’s also the same message we heard from Polynesians this past summer in Hawaii with Esme.

After dinner we attended a video performance by the Metropolitan Opera – Mozart’s Magic Flute, translated into modern English. The words were hard for our hearing aids to report with great fidelity to our ancient ears and brains, but we got the drift. The costumes and scenery were worth the price of admission. And, spoiler alert, both guys, and arguably all three guys, got their girls before the final curtain fell. No one died in the third act.

Today, Monday, is another day at sea. We’ve been pretty lazy – it’s 5 PM and I’m just now writing up yesterday’s outing. We did attend a presentation by Viking’s guest astronomy lecturer on the birth and death of stars. Interesting, but pretty deep weeds for the uninitiated. Afterwards, I told her that her discussion of Maxwell’s Equations induced an episode of PTSD, flashing back to Lehigh University and the EE exam covering that subject.

Oh, and one other thing. We booked yet another trip, this time a Viking Expedition to Antarctic. Yes, that’s right, ice, penguins and barfing across the Drake Passage. We’ve talked to four couples on this trip who’ve told us to do it, so we’re doing it. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow we’re in Cains, Queensland where we will be going out to a floating platform for a day of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We don’t have another sea day for three days, so I’ll have to get cracking on the blog with greater energy.