Wonderful Weather & Whitsunday Cruising 17th - 24th August

 

The weather forecast looked better than it had for weeks so we spent Sunday morning stocking up on food, water, Rene and Lily fuel, gas etc at the Abell Point Marina before heading off to Long Island for the night. Long Island is next to the mainland, not far from Shute Harbour and has three resorts and some very lovely walking tracks connecting the bays and resorts. Finding an anchorage was not necessarily easy as Happy Bay is dotted with resort moorings. Once outside of these the water quickly becomes deep and along with the strong currents of Long Island Sound swirling past just outside of the bay, it took us a while to find a spot where we anchored in 9m. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Happy Bay Resort and then walked along the track to Palm Bay Resort which has very pretty gardens and is set in the most beautiful little bay. Our night at Happy Bay was comfortable and as the next day dawned it was obvious that the weather was going to be perfect for Whitehaven Beach.

 

Whitsunday Peak from Long Island

We motor sailed across to Hamilton Island where we planned to travel through Fitzalan Pass and on to Solway Pass, a narrow passage between Whitsunday Island and Haslewood Island.
As with most of the passages between the islands it is best to judge the tides to be running with you as they can be turbulent and strong making forward movement difficult if timing is wrong. Hamilton Island Race Week was on and as we motored up the Fitzalan Channel we were able to see the start of one of the races. Peter, thinking that the race would be a windward start had us placed for a front row view, but then they all turned and sailed downwind towards us, spinnakers set and bearing down quickly. We made a hasty run for the shore to get out of the way. It was a colourful sight.

Whitehaven Beach

Location! Location! Location! This is it! What an amazing place to spend a few days. We had two nights here, anchored close to the beach and listening to the murmur of the water lapping at the white sand all night long. This is a very white beach (for the east coast - they are whiter on the south coast) which stretches along the island for several kms. Many boats were anchored in the bay and we found a good spot in the south eastern corner near C Dragon and Magnetic Attraction, two yachts from Townsville. We had met these two crews in Cid Harbour one day when we all decided to climb Whitsunday Peak, where we introduced ourselves and had a good old natter. Later in the day Peter and I, with Jenny and Milton from Magnetic Attraction, walked across the island to Chance Bay. It was an easy walk which took about an hour, with some time spent on the beach admiring the view. Whilst chatting and walking we discovered that Jenny and Milton knew Clive (Peter's brother) well. It's a small world.

Liz, Val, Ric & Peter on Whitehaven Beach

A dozen or so people congregated on the beach as the sun sank towards the distant hills for sundowners. It was a relaxed and happy bunch of people on shore as the crews from C Dragon, Magnetic Attraction, Arkaydes, Rene and one or two other boats enjoyed the sunset. Arkaydes was anchored close by and Tige, unhappy at being left on board (National Park) howled and yapped, not understanding why he had been left out of his favourite pastime all of a sudden.

 

Poor ol' Tige has to stay home

The next morning Peter and I were up early and walked the length of the beach to Hill Inlet and back. It took two hours and we felt we had done a decent amount of exercise. Boats were anchored all along the bay. Everyone was taking advantage of the fine weather to spend a few days at this lovely spot. During the afternoon Dave and Sue from Duet turned up and --- guess what, we all adjourned to the beach in the late afternoon for another sundowner session. This is a hard life!

Butterfly Bay, Hook Island

Early on Wednesday morning we pulled the anchor and set off in glorious weather for Tongue Bay, just around the corner from Whitehaven Beach. We set the anchor and walked up the track, along with many people from the tourist boats, to the lookout to view Whitehaven Beach from above. Border Island was not far away so motored over there, picked up a mooring and had lunch next to some colourful coral bommies. The wind picked up a little so we motor sailed, with just the headsail along Whitsunday Island and were able to find an vacant mooring tucked well into Butterfly Bay out of any swell. Mountains surround this bay and it is quite spectacular. We spent the rest of the day exploring Butterfly Bay and Maureen's Cove nearby. In the corner of Maureen's Cove we found a rocky creek and climbed up a short way where there was a steep cliff face and a fresh water pool at the bottom. Unfortunately it wasn't clear. Probably because of the recent rain. As we clambered up and over the boulders in the creek we disturbed thousands of blackish/blue and white butterflies. Now we know why this is called Butterfly Bay.

Back to South Molle Island

Having nearly completed our circuit, we decided to spend the night at South Molle Island so we could do the Mount Jeffrey's Walk the following day. We set off on Friday morning, at high tide to dinghy ashore before the fringing reef was exposed and then set off up the hill behind the resort. Peter and I were walking quietly along admiring the scenery when all of a sudden he leapt aside shouting, "Snake!" I wasn't far behind and the poor thing, trying to get away from this noisy monster, slid straight in my direction. I screeched and yelled and leapt in the air as it slithered between my feet and over the cliff and into the bushes and grass below. I don't think I have moved that fast for years. It was about a metre long, quite skinny and black with a yellow belly. From then on we kept our eyes peeled, but no more surprises, thank goodness. The view from Mt Jeffrey's is beautiful as expected and after an enjoyable walk we had lunch and pulled the anchor and made our way to Airlie Beach to do the chores ready for our trip to Gloucester Passage and on to Townsville in a week or so.

Mt Jeffrey's summit

 



Abell Point Marina

We have booked three nights in the Abell Point Marina to catch up on housekeeping chores and for Peter to give Rene an oil change. Yesterday Clive drove down from Townsville to spend the day with us. Together with Di and Russ from C Dragon we decided on a surprise lunch together. They hadn't seen Clive for some years and wanted to catch up. We all had a very nice lunch at Sorrento's at the marina. A very enjoyable day.

Wind and Rain Whitsundays 11th - 16th August

 

Bush Turkey nest Whitsunday Island

 

We have decided to park ourselves in Cid Harbour and see what happens with this windy weather. Each time we look at the forecast conditions change and the lovely weather window we saw a few days ago appears to have shrunk to only a couple of days. Tuesday dawned clear and sunny with little wind so we decided to motor over to Nara Inlet to take advantage of a beautiful day. We anchored in the corner at the head of the inlet and explored the Ngaro Aboriginal site up the hill. A short, steep walk up a well formed track brought us to a platform where there was a wall in which short anecdotes from local aboriginal women could be heard by pressing one of the buttons. It was very interesting listening to the positive comments of these people. A little further on was a rocky cave where paintings could be observed. We enjoyed this site and thought it was really well presented.

 

Listening to the Aboriginal women's stories

Later in the afternoon we made our way back to Cid Harbour as more wind was forecast. We anchored in our usual spot in Cowards Corner and watched many more boats come in for the night. One afternoon I counted nearly sixty boats in the bay sheltering from the wind and rain. We climbed Whitsunday Peak for the third time and it doesn't get any easier.

On Thursday Val came up with the idea of home cooked morning tea on Arkaydes. My allotted contribution was scones. I have not used the oven much on Rene as I can't seem to get the temperature right and also I think it would use a lot of gas. I agreed to give it a go, with the back up of Arnotts pillow biscuits if things went pear shaped. We had the oven on full and the scones still took a few minutes longer than they should have. They looked Ok until I turned them over. Burnt!!  Everyone was very complimentary though and no-one even cut the bottom off, which I suggested. What good friends.

We have met Milton and Jenny from Magnetic Attraction, a beautiful 39' mono from Townsville. We had drinks on board MA on Thursday evening with another Townsville couple. Lovely evening. Then it began to rain and rain and rain. Lily looked like a swimming pool on Saturday morning when we poked our head out of the companion way to check out the scene. Still raining, but at least we had some beautiful fresh drinking water. Peter bailed the dinghy and went to discuss the weather with Ric and Val. It looks like the rain will lift and there is a few days of quiet weather forecast. We decided to take the trip back to Airlie Beach to restock etc and hopefully at last be able to go to Whitehaven Beach and the outer bays on the eastern side of Whitsunday Island and nearby islands. We will be out of range for five days or so.

 

Our bucket is half full (We're still being positive!!)

Windy Whitdundays 4th to 10th August

Since I have been back in the Whitsundays after the trip to Perth and Albany it has been windy or very windy most of the time. We spent over a week anchored in front of the yacht club partly for the events of the Festival of the Sea and partly because it would have been even more uncomfortable sailing to another bay than remaining here. It wasn't such a bad place to stay either as once the splashy, wet dinghy trip ashore was accomplished we could walk, explore, sample the delights of the local coffee shops and keep up with the usual mundane daily tasks.

Beach front, Airlie

 

 Eventually we decided to move to Woodwark Bay, 6nm north of Airlie Beach, where we found many cruisers anchored in calm water at the head of the bay.  Bullets of strong wind blew consistently across the bay, but at least dinghy trips were not as wet as at Airlie Beach and the scenery was different. After two nights in Woodwark Bay the wind abated slightly and we motor sailed back to Airlie Beach for top ups of dinghy fuel, food, showers, laundry etc. We have checked the weather and have decided to take the one quiet day forecast to sail to Cid Harbour where we will sit out the next four or five days of strong winds. Here we will be able to walk, swim, fish, socialise and climb that challenging Whitsunday Peak for a bit of huffing and puffing when we feel we have over indulged and should do some serious exercise.  Cid Harbour, behind mountainous Cid Island, has suspect phone, radio and internet reception so we will probably be out of reach for a few days.

This week is Airlie Race Week and we have been watching the yachts racing in the distance. Ichi Ban, Condor and some serious racing yachts are taking part along with many smaller, but still very racy craft. We have been told that on the first day one yacht was dis-masted, one lost a keel and sank and many ended up with torn sails and broken gear. The strong winds are taking their toll! Hopefully we will still be able to see some of the action from Cid Harbour.

 

The Lagoon, Airlie Beach

Tige Sports a Mowhawk 3rd August

The Shag Island Cruising Yacht Club held a BBQ at the Abel Point Marina today. Peter and I both enjoyed catching up with people we had met along the way this year and also meeting new crews. Tiger was there with Ric and Val sporting a brand new haircut - a mowhawk. Very cute! One of Tiges favourite events is a BBQ. Much like all dogs he spends most of the time thinking of his tummy. After an hour or so, much to Tiges delight, nibbles began to appear and the lady with the dinner plate of tasty sausage bits wandered past. Tige began his doggie begging act - poor starving pooch! Ric sternly told him to 'sit and behave'! (No begging) As the lady and her plate moved by Tige stayed sitting, bum glued to the ground. He is a gentleman after all and he was obeying the rules. His bum slid across the ground as he stayed in front of the lady. "Pick me! Pick me! Sausage is my very favourite you know!," he seemed to say. What a character! He has provided us with lots of laughs this trip.

Whitsundays Continued 28th July to 2nd August 2014

Isabelle Rose Mitchell

 

 

Karin and Isabelle

Peter and I flew to Perth on 3rd July to check out our new granddaughter, Isabelle Rose Mitchell. She is of course gorgeous and we both enjoyed a week with Paul, Karin and baby. Greg came for a quick visit from Sydney to see his new niece, so we all caught up with the latest Scott family news. Peter then flew back to Airlie Beach and spent two weeks there before I joined him after a quick visit to Albany. My flight from Brisbane to Proserpine flew over many of the places we had recently visited on our way up the coast. Having a window seat afforded a fantastic view until clouds blotted out the landscape near Cape Townsend. I wondered how anyone crosses the Wide Bay Bar as breakers appeared to stretch across the whole entrance to the Great Sandy Strait.

For $18 (no Seniors discount) I secured a seat on the bus to Airlie Beach, about a 40 min trip through the cane fields and mountains to Abell Point Marina where Rene was berthed for 3 nights. Having joined the Shag Island Cruising Yacht Club we are entitled to 10 nights there at half price, $30 a night for Rene. We cleaned up, refuelled, restocked the galley and made ready for a trip to South Molle Is and Cid Harbour.

We motored to South Molle Island passing through Unsafe Passage, which is safe enough for yachts, following the leads on Daydream Island. We anchored in Bauer Bay on the Lamond Hill side of the bay and spent a peaceful night there. Coral bommies line the shore for some distance out so care is needed when choosing a spot to drop the anchor. No sooner had we dropped the anchor than a huge batfish swam by obviously looking for a feed. It invited two friends to join in and we soon had three large, grey, striped, restaurant dinner plate sized fish swimming around the boat. They hoovered up the 9 grains bread Peter threw to them and hung about for more. Later in the evening we found they love mushroom peelings, but show no interest in onion skins or broccoli.

In the late afternoon we went ashore, walked through the resort and found the path that wound up the bushy slopes to the eastern end of the island. Here clinging to the side of a steep hill known as Spion Kop, a scenic lookout gave us a great view of the surrounding islands. The National Park walk tracks are well maintained here and made walking pleasant and easy. We noticed that some burning had been done recently along the track.

We had decided to stay a second night and enjoy this lovely anchorage and island for another day so on Thursday we set off on the 4.5km walk down the island to Sandy Bay. Again the track is well maintained and the walk lovely. On the way back we diverted towards Paddle Bay on the northern end of  the island and came across some National Park workers who were preparing to begin a controlled burn to complete what had been started a few days before. They warned us that we might like to move as Bauer Bay would soon be filled with smoke and ash. We had a quick lunch and sure enough just as we were finishing our sandwiches dense smoke began billowing down towards us from the hillside. Time to make a hasty retreat to Cid Harbour.

Time to leave

Just over an hour later we arrived in Cid Harbour and spotted Arkaydes anchored close to the shore not far away. Ric came and invited us for sundowners so we caught up on the last three weeks activities. The next day Peter and I decided to tackle Whitsunday Peak for the second time. It seemed much harder this time as there was no breeze and the humidity was high, but once again we were able to appreciate the wonderful views from the rocky platform at the summit. Later in the afternoon, in glassy conditions, we motored in to Airlie Beach and dropped the anchor in front of the yacht club where we plan to stay for a few days. The Festival of the Sea is on and we would like to see some of the events. Also strong winds are predicted for 4/5 days and we will shelter there from the south easterly until kinder winds prevail.

Friday night found us on Arkaydes with two other couples enjoying Ric's amazing enchiladas for dinner. Afterwards we sat on the front of Arkaydes and watched the fireworks across the water. Tiger has become very 'woolly' and has been promised a haircut asap.

  

Whitsunday Peak