Axe here and I am so happy to say that finally our beautiful little donkey is safe and sound in Cullen Bay Marina. I will write more detail later about the last few days of the expedition however after finally arriving at the entrance to Cullen Bay Marina there were 24 hours of ‘issues’ to sort out with customs/immigration and quarantine. To cut a long story short – the boat was inspected by customs divers and a suspicious shell fish was found on the hull which meant we could not enter the marina last night and I spent one more night on the boat. Today we got the clearance to enter and at 1130hrs we finally moored Simpson’s Donkey securely to her berth. What a magical feeling to finally see this amazing little craft which has carried us so far, finally safe and secure at her mooring. I am also very much looking forward to having a nice rest in a proper bed this evening.

A massive thanks to our local Darwin hero Mr John Punch who guided us in from 30nm out in his yacht, seen here in this picture with us. And of course our trusty film producer Alistair Harding for superb efforts ensuring our arrival was captured.

It is with a mixture of fondness and sadness that I announce Charlie Smith my trusty rowing partner and friend will now leave the expedition. It was always the plan that Charlie would only join for the first phase from Singapore to Darwin, and he will shortly return to Singapore and back to work. His spirit of hard work, positive energy and determination will live on and I will miss him dearly. Go well my friend. With out you I could never have done this and together we made a great team.