Passage To Torres Strait

Publisher: John Murray, 2005 £ 20

As an anthropological summary of the Western Pacific ‘beachcomber’ ethos this book is fascinating. We read of the 18^th and 19^th Century castaways, brigands, mutineers and other human flotsam that were assimilated into Melanesian culture. Many were killed by natives on the beaches, some achieved chiefly rank, but few returned successfully to European ways. Elements of this could survive to this day, the author suggests, by reference to the recent Pitcairn Island abuse trial.

I was less certain, however, with the author’s description of his own passage amongst the islands and eventually through the Torres Strait in his 28 foot Twister. At each place, mostly anchorages, he reflected on the turbulent past, but in so doing the narrative switches too abruptly from that to his own circumstances and back again. This was curiously disconcerting to read and perhaps more linking phrases, or even sub-paragraphs might stabilise the chronology. Nonetheless, the book reflects a daunting endeavour, and a completion for the author of a voyage interrupted 12 years earlier by settling in New Zealand. It is at its best when he describes with vivid imagery – but more of it is needed - his modern-day voyaging. I particularly enjoyed the haunting description of picking his way through the ‘ Labyrinth’ of the reef-strewn Torres Strait immediately to the west of the Great Barrier Reef.

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