Wandering Whitsunday

We are spending our time meandering around the Whitsunday Islands with no particular destination in mind. Each day we need to eventually choose a secure anchorage for the night. The wrong choice means a night of rock and rolling: no sleep on board: cranky crew! We chose Nara Inlet as our base for a few days. On the charts it looked rather cosy. It wasn't. 70 yachts were barely visible in the expanse of this inlet.

We rode our dinghy up into the upper reaches of Nara Inlet. We were keen to see ancient rock art: not the kind pictured below. Fortunately most of this vandalism was several decades old.

National Park graffiti.

This rock art belongs to the Ngaro people who have inhabited the area for thousands of years. Descendants now help in the preservation of traditions. A few simple images were visible from a viewing platform within a shallow cave. Archeological excavations have established that the Ngaro people had been living here prior to the fall in the sea level over 9,000 years ago.

On the way back down the rock stairs the stunning colours of water views again amazed us. How quickly our eyes and brains reverted to expecting the earthy colours of more familiar locations.

 

Glenn rushing down to save our dinghy from school kids

The Whitsunday Islands are close to the main land, and are much bigger and higher than we expected. They are actually part of the continent of Australia, and not coral islands as we imagined. This area was a mountain range prior to the end of the last ice age 9,000 years ago. The palm trees we saw were generally planted for the tourist. The Whitsunday Islands are mostly densely wooded with hoop pines and regular Aussie looking bush.

The main attraction of this area for boat owners is that it is a wonderful sailing area. The waters are flat without ocean swell, and anchorages are frequent. The snorkelling is good and the water is very clear. It is easy to find a quiet area all to yourself.

Australian magic!

Sea Trek III looking very relaxed.

Now here's a miracle. Jen decided that the water was warm enough and obviously "shark free" enough to go snorkelling! Yes folks, it has been years since this last happened. She wants to explore more sites for coral tomorrow!

Who is this woman?

Sailing creates opportunities to achieve personal goals. Hans and Burnie of SV Brahminy invited us over to share their special celebration. Today they have finally sailed into the Whitsundays. They are also happy and adventurous bird watchers who love to share their knowledge with us.

Bird fanciers: Full of happy chirps!

Finally: Oyster Pluckers (using new camera).

We don't eat oysters. Do you?

The next photos are included to help explain why I find Queensland all so crazy. Hamilton Island is just around the corner. It's a world away from our experiences of this area. These buildings are so inappropriate, and it's just a lazy form of architecture to have the international office-block style buildings here.

Glad not to be in there.

Glenn was excited by the prospect of "good fish and chips" at Hamilton Island but it's school holidays and the marina is booked out. Oh the tragedy of it all.

 

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Whitsunday Island, Whitehaven Beach, Hill Inlet.

Sailed to Whitehaven Beach today, just wanted to share these pics. Ill let them do the talking.

 

We picked up a visitor mooring, hope it holds!

 

Where are all these backpackers going?

All trying to get the perfect postcard to send home.

 

 

 

 

Backpacker departure lounge.

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Whitsundays: Turtle Bay,

We ventured around a headland of Hamilton Island to be unexpectedly greeted by high rise tourist resorts. Sea Trek III made a hasty retreat. We only needed to sail a little further north east to settle in Turtle Bay on the southern side of Whitsunday Island. Out and about on the shoreline again for explorations.

Oh what a site.

Turtle Bay.

Jen takes lots of photos and enjoys editing the results in the evenings. We have no TV viewing, because we have no time! This photo was thought to be of a tree trunk, but on closer examination she is not so sure. Is it a huge bone that has been dragged onto the shore?

What is this: it's large.

Out exploring in the dinghy and couldn't believe how picture perfect these boys were. That's the very imposing Pentecost Island in the background.

Red, yellow and blue.

Great excitement: Turtle tracks up into the sand dunes. In the water they occasionally pop their heads up as if to look around. That's just a second or two of viewing. We did see a moss covered shell descending.

Tracks: ? Goanna visiting the beach.

 

More to follow...

 

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Islands: Newry, Goldsmith, Thomas

 

 

We had heard about the fascinating Outer Newry Island. Decades ago it was a thriving resort. Now it is a national park. We anchored in the shadow of this island for a still night and good sleep. The remains of the resort that flourished in the 1940's onwards are now preserved. It makes for fascinating viewing.

Room with a view.

The main hub of entertainment used to be under a large concrete dome. Remains of the "club" still exist. We spent our time walking around the island and then waiting for the tide to return. We enjoyed the club's relaxed service. Not a beverage in site.

"The pub with no beer"

When the evening approached we found that our dinghy was still stranded. Luckily the crew of Ocean Child were on hand to help drag our dinghy into deeper water. The tidal extremes still take us by surprise.

We went ashore with substantial water under the keel.

Jen's new camera is getting a work-out. This is a "rainbow bee-eater" and it has a red eye. When it flies the under wings are seen: bright orange.

No bees seen for this bee-eater.

The weather is changing. We are starting to see clouds again. It's been months since we've experienced any rain, and the clear skies have been dazzling.

Change is in the air.

The season for safe cruising in these waters is coming to an end. Many cruisers are heading south, sailing with the northerly winds. We hope for a few more weeks of southerly trade winds: great for our sailing.

Someone else ending a perfect day and going south.

Goldsmith Island: We just had to stop here: it's Greg and Annie's name sake. I know that we have said it before but the water colour is unreal. As a bonus we had a fantastic smooth sail to get here. Non existent swell ....a pond of aqua.

Just enjoying blue.

For our blog followers who have not seen the water of the tropics, we try to convey our impressions. The photo below is truly as we saw it. No colour alteration. We just keep saying to each other " look at the colour of the water".

What can I say?

Another example.

A new camera for Jen. She was previously using the iphone. We both became aware that we haven't seen butterflies for many years. It's the sort of thing that seems to be a childhood memory. Now Jen is obsessed with photographing them. The trouble is that she is still fumbling with the controls, and the butterflies won't wait.

At last, a stationary butterfly, and it's spotted!

Thomas Island: just a few nautical miles from Goldsmith Island. We try to find out what makes each island special. We certainly weren't prepared for this!

"No way, not today"! Jen

Creative visitors have made low impact sculptures with bleached coral pieces. We found figurines and little characters in rock cavities.

Tom and also Tim.

Mr Snowman on summer holidays.

This shell, pictured below was buried in the sand and although no longer perfect is still considered a real find. And being law abiding citizens, we left it there for others to enjoy. ( also because it stinks!)

A natural treasure.

We have been sailing in the southern region of the Whitsunday islands. We are enjoying this area for many reasons, but mainly because it is rarely visited by the "tourist charter boats". Most of our anchorages have been deserted, but tomorrow we head into the Whitsundays Proper.We are expecting it to be busy. Strangely the activity is not far away; just over the other side of Shaw Island, which is close by.

By Jen: Meanwhile back at home:

We were sailing in the big aqua calm from Newry to Goldsmith Island when I received a Skype call from my daughter Brenna. After finishing her double degree at uni with distinctions, she been travelling for almost three years, self funded!! I last saw her when we lived in a house at Clifton Beach in Tasmania. Brenna and Joe are travelling from Vancouver to Mexico via the west coast, CYCLING. She was just north of San Fran, and have covered over 2000 ks. in a few weeks: 100 to 120ks a day. As a mother I was reassured to be told that they eat almost hourly where possible. Vegan and Vegetarians can find their nutrition a huge challenge when exercising so strenuously. Brenna is a resourceful and charming young woman, and has received so much kindness from Canadians and Americans. A big thank you from this humbled mother, to all of the wonderful people out there who lend a hand to young adventurous travellers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More Jams than the Cottee's factory, Mackay..

Cruising-sailing isn't all deserted tropical beaches, swaying palms and beautiful sunsets.

Unexpected moon rise.

There are always maintenance jobs to keep the yacht "ship shape". The marine environment is harsh and salt crystals eventually abrade many surfaces. Our stay at Mackay marina was a convenient time to attend to the 100 hour engine service, and to replace a slightly worn heat exchanger end cap. We quickly realised that any extra tools, equipment or food was best carried aboard at high tide. The 5 metre tidal range made for slippery and steeply angled ramps.

A good ski slope.(more like Mt Everest)

Mackay turned out to be another great place to catch up with friends, old and new. A previous work mate from 15 years ago, Dennis "Gilligan" now lives in Cairns, and just happened to arrive in Mackay on the same day as we did. He generously took us out to dinner. We look forward to catching up with him and Fiona at Airlie Beach in a week or so. We FINALLY caught up with Bruce and Sue from "Chilli Heat". (We had hoped to sail with them in the Whitsundays by the fourth week of August). Also in port were Jenny and Denis from Ocean Child as well as Hans and Bernise from Brahminy. What this all means is a concentration of incredible musical talent. We had 5 uke's, 2 guitars, various keys of harmonicas and a Dobro Comb. Musical mayhem at various locations.

Bruce and Hans bash it out!

Denis surprises everyone, with Bruce's encouragement.

Sue teasing the locals with aromas.

We ended up having two great nights of music. The first night aboard Sea Trek III, and the next at an impromptu BBQ. The music and the wine flowed freely. I bet the residents of the high rise near the BBQ area were very impressed. It was all a bit sad in the end because everyone was heading on their separate ways. We are not sure when we will catch up again.

Goodbye all.

By the time this blog is posted we will be in the Whitsunday Islands.

 

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