16 June

We had a restless night up against the pontoon and dock at Friendly Cover what with the swell and the squeaking of the pontoon, as well as the rubbing of all our fenders against the rusty dock side!.  The weather wasn't bad thought and we went for another walk in the morning before departing.  I also had a little explore up to the site of the Spanish fort built in 1789.  After clambering around I found a likely position and would love to think that some of the regular holes in the bog on top of the rocks could have been the actual post holes from the fort.  At least my imagination could be sated!

Back at the boat we decided that we should do a bit more exploring and decided to head over to Bligh Island and seek out what looked like a sheltered spot right in the middle of the Island,  After slowly running up a central channel, we pulled inot a spot that proved truly wonderful.  Totally protected and surrounded on all sides it porvided a wonderful view across mountains to the South. We got the paddleboards out for the first time and I went around the bay in the calm of evening soaking up the stillness.  That night we slept well in silence.  

17 June - Exploring Bligh island and avoiding mutinies

Having found such a wonderful and isolated spot we decided to stick around for another day.  With good weather we kicked back, read and paddle boarded around.  Late morning I decided to go exploring and try and reach the freshwater lake about 3/4 mile from the boat.  I'd found a way into the bush the day before and, with this being old growth forest, the undergrowth was not too bad.  The climb to the lake though was incredibly steep and it took over 45 minutes of bushwacking to reach it.  When I arrived at the lake there was no clear shore to get into it and so, after dipping a toe, I turned round and headed back down to the boat.

In the afternoon, Club Paradise arrived and we were invited over to celebrate Bill's birthday with them.  They have been gifted some salmon from a fishing boat a couple of days earlier and we had a lovely evening with Bill and Leslie before heading back to Be True 2 on our paddleboards, being extra careful since we had had a few drinks by this time!