Having settled into our comfortable camp at Gambanan located approximately 3km west of One Arm Point and having seen how the tide was running when we arrived, I immediately thought a “with the tide” paddle with the boys to Cape Leveque was in order. The tide changed around lunchtime and the boys were getting ratty and I knew they were in need of some activity. So we loaded the diving and fishing gear into the Mango (kayak) and set off on the 21km paddle with instructions to call Bridget on the radio in 3hrs time. We made great progress, with the tide all the way to Nellie Point where we snuck through a narrow channel between the Point and Swan Island. Here the tide was really moving with decent sized rapids, big eddies, boils and whirlpools. We stopped to take a pic and a short video as you could really hear the water pouring out what is one of the entrances to King Sound. (Note: Cape Cuvier, mentioned in the video, is not the correct name for the most northerly point – it is Nellie Point)

The boys were suitably impressed with the power of nature and we headed down the coast to Cape Leveque still some 13km away. We pulled in at a deserted beach for a swim and a snack and I also changed over lures as my patience for catching fish on a line was waning (I had been trawling a lure for the last 8km with no success).

We lost a lot of the ebb tide flow once around the Point but paddled on to the Leveque Lighthouse faintly showing in the distance. The boys’ paddling ability is really improving after initiating them with a 22km paddle on Katherine Gorge and a 42km paddle on the Ord River!

We arrived at the lighthouse with plenty of time to spare and pulled out the dive gear to see if any fish could be speared. No joy here either but at least we saw a big snapper and Harry was loving the tropical underwater world of corals, clams and bright coloured aquarium fish.
We located Bridget on the beach and pulled in with 20mins to spare to watch a fantastic west coast sunset and admire the rich red colours in the coastal cliffs. Another great day, apart from the fishing!