All aboard

Time to go to sea. First, a dinner cruise on a 21.6m motor sailing ketch called Cape Adieu.

The two and a half hour cruise leaves from Stokes Hill Wharf at the Waterfront and sails along the Darwin coastline to East Point. Then it tootles back along the same coastline as the sun sets. We cycle along this same route (on land, obviously) every Saturday, so we particularly enjoyed seeing the familiar places from the sea. Some spots, like the naval base at Larrakeyah, are actually better seen from the sea.

The owner of the Cape Adieu is a prawn trawlerman, and dinner is really good: smoked mackerel, prawns, oysters, a choice of freshly grilled barramundi or beef fillet, salads and fruit. It's BYO or you can buy drinks on the boat. All in all, a very civilised experience. Tip: Make sure you're seated on the top deck.

And Darwin sunsets? Tropical sunsets are wonderful.

Back in harbour.

For 'cruise' #2, here's a map. I'm quite proud of my drawing skills here (red line). The harbour to the west of Darwin harbour is called Bynoe Harbour. Have I mentioned previously that Darwin Harbour is five times bigger than Sydney Harbour? Take that, Sydders.

We took the Saturday afternoon ferry to Crab Claw Resort in Bynoe Harbour — two hours by ferry there, two hours back.

It was a pleasant trip, very sheltered until the ferry left Darwin Harbour and entered the Timor Sea. Then it was a bit rough until we rounded the Cox Peninsula and entered Bynoe Harbour. We passed a string of uninhabited small islands, which are national parks/nature reserves, including a turtle sanctuary. Mangroves featured pretty heavily too. And then, we hopped off onto Crab Claw Island.

There's not much to do other than eat and drink, but we took our books with us and we had a pleasant afternoon relaxing on the deck. Then it was time for the ferry trip back to Darwin.

On the trip back it's sunset, and the tropical sky was full of those brilliant orange and red hues that we've become used to.

We also passed the oldest lighthouse in the Territory. Manufactured in Birmingham and shipped to Adelaide in 1891, it made its way north and was opened officially in this spot in 1893. Today Point Charles Lighthouse is entirely solar powered, has a halogen globe and is visible from 30 km away. Bear in mind that if you were coming from the north — Timor, PNG or Indonesia, say, you'd want to be warned that land is imminent. Terrible photo, I know, but you can see the light ...

Another map, maybe, to see things in perspective?