Tag: Whitsundays
Whitsundays – Hamilton Is to Airlie Beach
We had fallen in love with Hamilton Island, the facilities, the ambience, the food opportunities and the excellent service. There! All that and we aren’t even sponsored. It really is a great place to be. With great reluctance, we tore ourselves away to sail away for a day, while we waited for our booked helicopter flight out to the outer Great Barrier Reef.
Our sail took us through the Fitzalan Passage along the southern end of Whitsunday Island to Cid Harbour, a safe and calm anchorage in most winds. There are a number of suggested anchorages and shore based camp sites here, some connected by established walk trails. We went ashore to walk the Dugong Beach to Sawmill Beach trail, which snaked up and down the hill side through some really beautiful forest paths.
Cid Harbour, Whitsunday Island
The march flies saw us coming and prepared themselves. I had doused myself in insect repellant in case of sandflies so avoided most of the attacks. Christine, who is immune to the sandfly bite, hadn’t bothered and was subjected to wave after wave of kamikaze march flies. I had the wonderful experience of slapping Christine on the back with a thing every 30 seconds and killing dozens of the creatures. It was like a really good episode of “Buffey the March Fly Slayer”. The views were worth the effort, at least from my point of view. Christine was a little less impressed.
Sawmill Beach
The most amazing thing was the way Cid Harbour filled with boats. We are now well and truly in the heart of “bareboat charter country” and the number of boats on the water is beyond belief. We shared our anchorage with at least thirty boats. There is no going outside for a pee stark naked in this part of the world.
The next day we sailed back to Hamilton Island and resumed our decadent lifestyle, even taking a bus ride around the island to take in all the amazing apartments and properties.
Then it was off to Hardy Reef via helicopter. We had to go on separate flights because the best we could book at such short notice was the fill-in seats on booked flights. For me, this meant I got the front seat next to the pilot. Christine scored a second row seat but still with an excellent view. The flight proved a highlight of the entire trip. The Whitsundays are beautiful from the sea. From the air they are stunning. We got to fly over many of the places we would visit over the next week and get advance knowledge of the best spots to anchor and explore. It also brought home the sheer number of people and boats in the waters around the islands. Every protected anchorage had clusters of boats at anchor or on moorings and the various beaches had groups of people at play.
Christine’s chopper
Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet
Heart Reef
The flight over the Barrier Reef was even more impressive, bring in to sharp focus the amazing extent of the coral system. We did a couple of turns around the much publicised “Heart Reef”, more impressive in pictures than in reality. The reef platforms stretched endlessly in all directions, yet the Hardy-Hook system is just one of hundreds that make up the vast Great Barrier Reef. Our destination was Reef World, a floating platform anchored in the narrow channel between Hook Reef and Hardy Reef. It back right up onto the reef wall, rising steeply out of sixty feet to the exposed areas of the reef itself. This is where all the big fish live, with a huge 250kg groper, hump headed maori wrasse and 70kg giant trevally all living under the platform.
The Reef World platform
We joined the masses, who had arrived by boat, and donned stinger suits to snorkel over the corals. The danger from marine stingers at this time of year is probably low, the menace from sharks almost non-existent, but the danger from fellow snorkellers was extreme. We were kicked, bumped, head butted and ploughed into, all with much apology, but still very off-putting. There were simply too many people in the water, most with minimal swimming skills. The organisation was supberb, with all gear being washed throughly between uses, safety supervisors patrolling, lots of swimming aids and good safety briefings.
The crowds of snorkelers spread out along the reef wall.
Terry takes in the sights
A beautiful little butterfly fish
There is a semi-submersible coral viewing boat making continual 20 minute circuits of the reef wall, allowing those less confident swimmers a wonderful of the life of the coral community. When we went, the tide was quite high and we were able to get right over the reef top, providing a great view.
Lunch was a sumptuous affair, with a glorious smorgasbord of salads, meats and prawns. We were left with little choice but to do it justice. We even had an ice-cream to celebrate our successful sortie on the lunch.
The trip home was via the ferry, a large and fast catamaran. Once clear of the protection of the reef system, we had 20 nautical miles of open ocean to cross. The crew of the boat prepared themselves by stuffing their pockets full of sick bags and standing watch, trying to catch the suffering before they shared their smorgasbord with other travellers. It was rough, but relatively short lived, given the speed of the boat and soon we were inside the protection of Hook Island and swinging past Cid Harbour, where we had overnighted just a coupe of days before.
We left the joys of Hamilton Island once more and sailed off through the Fitzalan Passage to the famous Whitehaven Beach. This is a spectacular 7km long stretch of pure white silica sand and consistently scores in the top ranks of the “Best Beach in the World” ratings. It certainly was beautiful, with the hundreds of people lounging on the sands paying testimony to its many fine qualities. There were big private boats, small private boats (like us), big charter boats, big tour yachts, huge tour yachts, humungous tour boats, and them some that just defied description. The combined value of the boats anchored off Whitehaven Beach would have exceeded the GDP of some nations. Where the hell does all the money come from? The day trippers swarm like ants over the beach, ferried to and from the various yachts, oversize inflatable craft and luxury cruisers in small rubber ducks, crammed in to a point where a capsize seems inevitable.
Whitehaven Beach
The Whitsundays seems to be a bit of a retirement pasture for some of the famous 12 metre racing yachts. We saw Apollo, Southern Cross and Siska, each carrying groups of tourists sitting along the rail as the boats heeled under a full set of sails. They certainly looked good in the water, although the signs of age and wear were obvious.
Tongue Bay, Whitsunday Island
The next week was spent sailing from one incredible location to another, through numerous islands and bays, snorkelling across glorious corals and taking in the amazing ever changing vistas that the mountainous islands of the Whitsundays group offer. The amazing corals of Cateran Bay on the northern end of Border Island were a snorkelling highlight but then nowhere was a real disappointment. At Cateran Bay, we watched a beautiful big coal trout being picked clean of parasites by a couple of tiny cleaner wrasse and watched a gorgeous hawkesbill turtle swim by us totally unconcerned.
Hill Inlet
The sailing was generally easy, as long as we paid strict attention to the tides. The seas here can be really quite awful when the the wind is opposed to the tide, creating confused lumpy seas in areas one would otherwise expect to be protected. We sailed through areas of whirlpools and amazing tidal overfalls, all without mishap. Although these phenomena can look frightening and should not be treated lightly, their bark is usually worse than their bite and the experience of sailing through tidal rips is more exhilarating than scary.
Nara Inlet, Hook Island
When the weather turned a little nasty for three days or so, we holed up in the lovely Nara Inlet, a place that we came to know well. We even met a fellow West Aussie named Stewie and his two parents from Duncraig who were visiting at the time.
Collecting oysters
Oysters Kilpatrick at sunset
It was with great reluctance that we turned for the mainland, after 22 days at sea out of Mackay. The wonderful people at the Abel Point Marina at Airlie Beach made us feel most welcome and we certainly enjoyed the wonderful bar and restaurant facilities they offer.
Abel Point Marina, Airlie Beach
The final sunset, Airlie Beach
A day’s bus ride down to Mackay to retrieve the car and trailer and return saw our Whitsunday cruise at an end. It is hard to imagine that we had ever considered abandoning our long-held dream of sailing in these waters. I can see us coming back one day, probably renting a bareboat for a couple of weeks. The choice is unlimited, with catamarans seeming to be the most popular. Whether we return or not, this has been one big experience ticked off the long list.
We launched Sandpiper in Mackay Harbour, an excellent facility. Arrangements had been made with the Mackay Marine Tourist Park to take care of the car and trailer and a simple taxi ride brought me back to the marina to get us on our way. The first stop was the joint St Bees/Keswick Islands, a trip of some 17 nautical miles. The seas proved easy to handle, the trip totally enjoyable and the destination wonderful. We anchored in a gorgeous bay, with butterflies all around, a cacophony of bird calls coming from a heavily forested tropical beach. What more could anyone ask for.
The next few days followed the same pattern, sailing from island to island in calm seas with spectacular vistas all around.
A favourite was Brampton Island, once a glorious holiday resort, but now a sorry and abandoned shell of its former glory. A devastating cyclone in 2010 had wreaked damage on the jetty and adjoining light rail system, leaving the resort itself with a hefty repair bill. The high Aussie dollar and lure of cheap overseas holidays has obviously made investment in repairs too much. The resort sits waiting, with jet skis, surf cats, pool tables, made up rooms and all. All it needs is power, water and people.
Brampton Is
The once glorious pool.
The remains of the tramway that connected the jetty to the resort.
Later, we visited Lindeman Island and found it to be in much the same state, a piece of paradise awaiting a clientele. Apparently, there are more in the same situation, South Mole, Daydream etc. Perhaps the now falling Australian Dollar will help.
The empty Lindeman Island resort
The islands themselves are very scenic, most with mountain peaks 3-400 metres high. Ancient volcanic cores rise up out of some islands or sometimes straight from the sea, creating some stunning vista. Early morning often saw a cloud hanging off an island peak, creating a real South Seas effect. The vegetation ranges from tropical rainforest to dry scrub on some of the rockier islets. The hoop pine is common, a glorious tree reminiscent of a Norfolk Island pine but with fewer branches. The timber was prized as a boat building material and logging around 1900 saw the loss of much forest but after years of National Parks, many forests have come back well. Butterflies are everywhere, beautiful blue triangles, common swallowtails and monarchs. They are even common at sea.
The weather has been kind to us so far, with only one patch of rather blowy weather lasting three days out of our thirteen at sea and a couple of days of rain. During that time, we lay up in a lovely bay on Goldsmith Island, enjoying the company of Zane and Julie in their big catamaran. Their life was interesting, cruising with three dogs and two cats, which, unlike our cat Simon, were all well and truly alive.
High and dry, Goldsmith Island
The temperature has been beautiful and even the water is warm enough to swim in comfortably. We have bought ourselves some all over stinger suits to guard against the nasty jellyfish present in these waters. The real stinger season starts in November but stings have been recorded at other times. The pair of us encased in figure hugging body suits is not something that anyone else wants to share so we are fairly discreet.
Sailing through the southern islands was pretty quiet. Usually, we would share an anchorage with only one or two other boats, except at Brampton Island where we had a night with seven others. However, with school holidays on in Queensland, the northern islands around Whitsunday Island itself are very crowded, with more than thirty boats in Cid Harbour one night. Once north of Shaw Island, there was usually a sail or powerboat visible in every quarter of the horizon.
It is sad to say that large power boats have become the enemy. Even though we are power boat owners ourselves, it does seem that something happens to the psych of skippers. The more power they have, the less thoughtful they become. Some of the boats up here are more like small ships and they create really horrendous bow waves and wakes. In a narrow channel with limited manoeuvring space, a big vessel creating a series of breaking waves can wreak havoc with the small yachts like ours. Commercial operators too, seem to regard private vessels as fair game and that all channels belong exclusively to them.
Many of the boats we come across are bareboat charters, meaning that you hire the boat and skipper yourself. Amazingly, no qualifications are needed, other than to say that you have steered a boat before. We enjoy listening to the bareboat charter companies talk to their clients on the VHF. It goes something like this:
“Razzle Dazzle this is Fun Charters. What is your position? Over” “Gday mate. We are out at Border Island. It’s beautiful.” “Razzle Dazzle It might be nice now but there is no protection there. We have 15 to 20 knot south easterlies forecast.” “OK. We’ll think about it and see what happens this afternoon.” “Razzle Dazzle. I need you to move.” “Yes, we’ll discuss it. Where should we go?” “Razzle Dazzle, you might try Chalkies or anywhere that get protection from the south east. You can’t stay there.” “OK then and while we’ve got you, the fridge door catch is broken.”The radio operators for the charter companies have incredible patience.
The fishing has been ordinary. Despite the tropical climate and the abundance of coral, fish life seems scarce. The real fishing is much further out on the outer Barrier Reef but even that is only a shadow of its former glory days. I have managed to catch enough small reef fish to get us a feed when needed but as a sport is leaves a lot to be desired. According to locals, there are a lot of hours of input required to get much reward.
Navigating is all about the tides. The tidal range here is around 6 metres so the currents can run pretty quickly through the narrow channels between islands and reefs. If the wind is against the current, the waves build up rapidly so planning the trip accordingly is very important. So far, we haven’t had anything that has worried us so we must be doing something right.
As always, Christine has revelled in her cooking. She has a new addition to the arsenal in the form of a thermal cooker. It is like a large thermos flask that surrounds a couple of inner pots. She prepares the ingredients in the pots, fills the thermos with boiling water and lower the pots inside. Over the next six hours or so, the meal cooks itself. The system works very well and is ideal for sailing and camping. She also uses the thermal cooker as proving environment for bread making and the dough rises magnificently. There has been no shortage of great meals.
Lamb shanks done in the new thermal cooker.
Lamb burgers with boat baked whole grain buns.
Sandflies have been a bit friendly in places and I always seem to be nursing a few bites. I use Vicks Vapour rub to sooth the itching and it works well but after applying insect repellent, sun screen and Vicks Vapour Rub, the pores of my skin take a hammering.
A two day stay in the Marina at Hamilton Island was wonderful. After twelve days on the boat, a bit of luxury was most welcome and there is plenty of that available on Hamilton. A berth in the marina buys access to the whole island, including the facilities at the resort. The shops are varied, the bakery first rate and the prices quite acceptable. Regular free shuttle buses run around the island, making al parts easily accessible or electric golf carts can be hired by the day. Everyone was so helpful and friendly. There is no comparison with Rottnest. Hamilton rules.
Tiny Sandpiper nestled amongst the big boys at Hamilton Island
Relaxing at the pool, Hamilton Resort.
Overlooking Fitzalan Passage between Hamilton and Whitsunday Islands
We were very taken with an advertised helicopter flight and snorkelling trip out to Hardy Reef, one of the outer reefs. We organised a trip and booked a berth to return after a cays exploring Cid Harbour. More about that next time.
So far, the trip has been everything that we had dreamed of and has made the whole big trip over here so worthwhile. It is going to be very hard to tear ourselves away and leave. Fortunately, we still have time and there are lots more islands to visit.
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