Careening Bay

In September 1820, Lieutenant Philip Parker King pulled into a beach, now known as Careening Bay, to repair rotten timber in the hull of his 76-tonne cutter, the HMC Mermaid.

The bay provided good shelter and access to fresh water, and Parker King was able to utilise metal salvaged from a nearby shipwreck to conduct repairs. During this time, the ship’s carpenter carved the inscription “HMC Mermaid” into a nearby boab tree and, almost two centuries later, it is clearly visible today. The twin-trunked boab is now about 12 metres in circumference.

In 2011, Uunguu rangers helped construct a boardwalk to safeguard the tree’s root system from tourists’ trampling feet.