Back To Magnetic Island 9th - 17th June

We departed Abell Point Marina before 8am and sailed in windy conditions to Gloucester Island where we thought we'd make a decision as to whether we anchor there for the strong wind warning for the next few days or make for Cape Upstart or even continue on to Magnetic Island and hopefully get there before the real wind arrived. Rain soon set in behind us and continued to follow on our tail all day. As we passed Gloucester Island, on the offshore side, we noticed that the rain appeared to be following the mountainous terrain of the island and then begin to peter out as it went inland. We thought it a good idea to keep going to Cape Upstart. The wind against tide conditions kept us rolling and yawing along on a rough, uncomfortable sea for the whole day. Sometimes the seas broke on the tops of the waves and sent us bowling along in a cascade of foam and spray. We were doing so well, at times 8.2 knots, when the tide changed and the seas flattened out, that we decided to do the overnight and go for Maggie.  The sky in front turned a beautiful clear blue and that helped us make up our minds.

 

 

Leaving Cape Gloucester Behind

Overnight sails are always the hardest. Both of us are on deck and then tired at the same time. I tried to have a sleep after dinner at about 7pm, but of course that didn’t happen. I did rest I suppose and then was rudely shunted out of bed at 11pm by Peter wanting his turn in the bunk. By now Rene was still charging along on a reefed main sail alone and Peter informed me that we were frequently getting 30kn gusts. As I climbed out for my shift I noticed that a dark cloud bank was just visible behind us.  “Why do I always score the rain? “  As it happened the clouds sat there all night and never did seem to get any closer.  Just brooded there to boost my anxiety levels as rain squalls are usually accompanied by stronger winds, at least for a while.

Cape Bowling Green is a long low sand spit that seems to go on for ever, especially in the dark. I perched up there watching for what seemed like hours as first the lighthouse and then the cardinal marker slowly drifted past. “How long can a sand spit be?” We kept well outside of the shoals as we didn’t want to risk even worse sea conditions as we rounded the cape, however this put us on the edge of the shipping channel.  A faint light appeared up ahead and as I peered out into the dark I realised there was a ship in front of us. Luckily for chart plotters and AIS systems it didn’t take long to work out we were on a collision course. That little triangle on the screen had me shaking Peter out of bed to negotiate a safer route.  Not long after a huge dark shape glided past and was soon lost in the inky distance.  

It took just 21 ½ hours to sail from Airlie Beach to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. Not bad!

 

Magnetic Island Again

 

As close as you get to snow on Magnetic Island

We arrived in Horseshoe Bay at 6.30am, just as the light allowed enough visibility to find a good anchoring position amongst the 26 other vessels in the bay. After a bowl of hot porridge we fell into bed and later woke at 11.30am ready to face the day. As it turned out we were glad we did the overnight sail to Maggie as the weather deteriorated and strong winds and rain showers dominated for the next few days. 

Magnetic Island offers many activities and our favourite is walking, which of course leads to eating and these we did for the week we spent there.  Even in the windy weather the bay does not get overly choppy and it is easy to access the shore without getting wet. (My pet hate!!!)  We walked to all the bays, had coffee at various cafes and bussed back for lunch. Noodies on the Beach at Horseshoe Bay is a delightful place to eat – Mexican in orientation. Our favourite café for coffee turned out to be Adele’s, in the bus stop corner of Horseshoe Bay. The owner serves really nice coffee and ice-cream and as a bonus is a friendly, cheerful man who likes a chat.

 

 

Ready for lunch at Noodies, Horseshoe Bay

 

 

A walk that neither of us had done for many years was the Forts Walk, so we decided to start from Horseshoe Bay and continue on up to the forts. This walk is probably the most popular on the island and is an easy climb up a well maintained track to the  old forts buildings. The views are stunning and plentiful signs explaining the history make for an interesting walk. Not long after we left the top we came across a group of young men who had found a koala in a tree. Our first koala in the wild on this trip! He/she did not seem too worried about having its photo taken, but it was hard to concentrate as the lightly tanned English ‘eye candy’ in their boardies kept getting in the way. Peter wondered what I was on about. Well he would!!!  Our next spotter project is a cassowary in the wild. 

 

 

The Forts

 

 

 

 

On our final day for now, we decided to walk from Horseshoe Bay to Picnic Bay, about 10kms. When we arrived back we found that Magnetic Attraction (yacht) had anchored next to us in the bay. Later we had Milton and Jenny on board for sundowners and a catch up on the news of the last nine months. 

We have now taken Rene around to Nelly Bay Harbour for ten days while I go to WA for a break and Peter waits for his mate to arrive on 25^th June. They intend to travel north to the Palm Islands and probably Hinchinbrook Island. Before Mike arrives Peter has to do a motor service on Rene and some other small maintenance jobs. I suppose this blog will not be added to until after the 13^th July when I arrive back refreshed and ready for our trip north to Lizard Island.

 

 

Forts Walk

Fishy Tales 31st May - 7th June

We were up early and made Rene and Lily ready for the trip back to the Whitsundays. It is getting quite cool over night now.  With light winds and beautiful sunshine, we motored out of the anchorage at Port Newry, past the chunky rock on the northern end of Outer Newry Island, known as The Wedding Cake and into Repulse Bay. The wind soon ran out and we motored the whole way to Whitehaven Beach. The ebb tide helped us all morning and we just managed to make it through Solway Passage before the tide turned. We were actually headed for Long Island Resort, but found out that it had closed since last year for renovations when we tried to radio them for a mooring. A helpful sole radioed back and told us the news.

 

 

The Wedding Cake  Outer Newry Island

Since the beginning of June we have had gorgeous weather, so we took advantage of it and explored Whitehaven Beach again and Hook and Hayman Islands. Whitehaven Beach looked very enticing for a long walk and Peter pulled up Lily ready to go ashore. Then I heard, 'Quick! Liz quick get up here!' in hushed tones. Under the boat was an enormous fish. He just stayed there resting next to the hull. We think he may have been a Queensland Groper. Anyway he wasn't going anywhere and after we'd had a good look at him we went ashore for our long walk. Two hours later when we arrived back at the boat the fish was still there, but he disappeared soon afterwards. Later Karin told us that when she and Paul visited Whitehaven Beach two years ago on a tourist boat, the people fed a huge fish near their boat. Must be a common occurrence, but what a thrill!

 

The big fish Whitehaven Beach

 

On the way to Cid Harbour for the night we pulled in to Cateran Bay on Border Island for lunch. This bay is full of coral and coral bommies.  Great for snorkelling. I love Cid Harbour. It is interesting as lots of people end up there and the walks are delightful. We hiked up Whitsunday Peak again and discovered some enterprising young people camped on the rock at the top. (You wouldn't want to sleep walk there!)

The weather forecast was still good so we decided to sail to Stonehaven, on Hook Island, and hopefully get a mooring for the night. This anchorage is very deep and anchoring is not always easy to achieve. We did find a mooring and spent the night enduring strong bullets of wind. I wouldn't like to be there in strong winds, safe enough but annoyingly uncomfortable.

Sunset at Stonehaven

 



In the morning we decided to motor to Blue Pearl Bay, on the northern end of Hayman Island. We were on our way before most people got going and arrived in Blue Pearl Bay to have the pick of the mooring buoys. The beaches beckoned, so we took Lily ashore and there discovered a well used track up the steep, stony hill.  We had not read about any tracks coming into the bay and were not dressed for a long walk, (bathers and thongs don't cut it!) but decided to explore a bit. In the end we walked to the top of the hill and on to Whitsunday Lookout. The views were stunning, especially over the Hayman Resort. There is very little vegetation on this end of the island and most of the trees have been dead for a long time. We wondered what had caused this devastation. It didn't look like fire.  Eventually we came across a walking tour and Peter asked what had caused the deserty landscape. Apparently a cyclone many years ago wrecked the forest and since then almost no rain has fallen so the bush has not recovered. Hayman is a very dry island anyway.

Don't look down now!

 

 



The climb up the goat track, winding back and forth along the steep, rocky hillside was scary in places. Vegetation conceals how steep the slopes are on other walks. In places the hillside plunged from the side of the path straight into the ocean below. Dizzying!!

Blue Pearl Bay

 

 



Pearl Bay is full of the most beautiful coral in crystal clear water. The day was sunny and there was millions of colourful fish floating around the dinghy. Peter went for a snorkel and said that he had to push huge fish out of the way as he swam. They seem to realise that they are not going to be harmed. This is a national park green zone - No Fishing. While we were having lunch some huge Batfish swam around the boat begging for food. We sacrificed one of our bread wraps to the Batfish. What a truly beautiful place this is.

Hayman Island resort from Whitsunday Lookout

 



We decided not to spend the night here as it is a bit exposed and we wanted to anchor in Nara Inlet on Hook Island. Many boats were anchored in this fiord like bay, but with plenty of room for personal space. We had a lovely quiet night with a huge moon shining it's silvery light down on the scene.

Now we are in Abell Point Marina for five nights. It is supposed to be windy, but so far this has not eventuated. It probably will when we leave. Peter found a large, spotty, fish here having a great time eating the green scummy weed off Rene's waterline. We told it to keep up the good work and we might not have to antifoul the bottom for a bit longer.  We are leaving here on Tuesday and will begin to make our way back to Magnetic Island and Townsville ready for my departure to WA for a few weeks.

Peter on the 'Goat Track'  Blue Pearl Bay  Hayman Island

Mackay, Brampton Island & Port Newry 27th - 30th May

 

 

If your pot plants look like this you live in a windy place! Mackay Marina.

 

 

We woke up to strong winds again, but decided to go anyway. Peter radioed the Port Authority to find out if any shipping movements were expected within the harbour in the next half hour as it is impossible to see what is happening there before you make your way through. There is a red light on the marina wall that indicates you must wait, but in the wind we did not want to have to circle while a ship berthed. Two blokes from other boats came to help us off as the wind was side on and there is never enough room to get speed up and steerage in the small spaces in marinas. With their help and poor little Lily acting as a huge fender we eased our way out and finally headed towards the harbour entrance. Outside the wind settled to a steady 20kns and we set sail for Brampton Island. Now we were heading north again and with the wind behind we had a quick passage to the island.

Brampton Island

There was only a couple of boats at Brampton so we were able to tuck in close to the jetty out of the worst of the wind where we had a comfortable two nights. The defunct resort is even more run down than it was last year and the vegetation is gradually taking over. We took the walk up the hill to the lookouts and once again enjoyed those wonderful views. The 'cloudy crowns' that we noticed on the tops of the hills a few days ago make a perfect microclimate for ferns and at the top there were great clumps of birds nest, strap, maidenhair and many other types of ferns making up the lush undergrowth.

Port Newry

 

The anchorage at Port Newry

 



We left Brampton at 7.45am and had a lively sail towards the mainland and the group of small national park islands known as the Newry Group. Port Newry is a non-commercial anchorage and is located between Outer Newry and Newry Islands. It is very snug and surrounded by several other islands, the largest being Rabbit Island. We met some locals there who told us that it is a very safe and protected anchorage. It is also very beautiful. These are not tall islands like Brampton and Scawfell, but still quite hilly. Newry Island has the preserved remnants of a resort that closed in 2001. The site has been cleared of building rubbish apart from some stone foundations and walls and is kept mowed by the National Parks and Wildlife personnel. There are tables and seats, a rainwater tank, the old resort bar and composting toilets. Many of the resort plants are still growing and the whole place is a delightful camping area. Signs are erected at various building remains detailing what the building was used for and some interesting snippets of historic information. It can only be accessed by boat.

The Resort Bar  Newry Island

 

 

 

Ruins Newry Island

 



A walk track circumnavigates the island and we took advantage of high tide to land on the beach and do the walk. The only disadvantage of this anchorage is that at least half tide is necessary for going ashore otherwise there is only oyster covered rocks or mud to land on. Newry Island is covered with open eucalypt forest and the occasional small patch of rainforest. The tracks are well maintained and are a hilly, but easy 3km. We met Janelle and Colin on Eureka, (a big cat) and chatted for an hour or so. They are locals who have lived on their boat for many years and have sailed extensively along the northern coast of Australia from the Kimberley to Gladstone. They were interested when we said we hail from Albany as they had just met another couple from Albany sailing in a cat called Low Profile. We will have to keep a lookout for them.

 

Newry Island