Thursday Island Thursday Island and Portland Roads were real eye-openers for me and probably had more effect on me than most other places on the trip. We arrived here after visiting Portland Roads to be greeted by large gun emplacements from the war, see main photo above & right. Portland Roads, we had been informed, was central to the battle of the Coral Sea. There had been around 70,000 people stationed there supporting the war efforts. To look at the place now you wonder where it all went to.

Pearl Divers Something we did hear a lot about at school were the pearl divers and the very risky life they led. On Thursday Island there is a well-maintained memorial to them.