Traveling back up the coast of Queensland, we spent a couple of days visiting Hervey Bay and 1770.
The girls loved Hervey bay for its giant Hamster Wheel and for it Ice Cream Parlour with a massive 72 flavours to choose from!! Yum!!!
1770 was lovely also. We spent 3 days in a great little camp there, and also took the boat out to explore the surrounding coast.
From there we headed up to the stunning Airlie Beach. We had organised to hire "Little Jeannie," a 32ft Catalina for the next week!
The rest of this first day we spent sailing across to the Islands. The girls explored every inch of the yacht, and we all took turns at the helm steering the yacht.
Pulling into Nara Inlet just before 4pm, we soon anchored up and celebrated our first night with a bottle of champagne and a yummy platter of nibbles.
Waking early on day 2, we sailed around to Hayman Island where we spent the morning snorkelling and exploring the surrounding reefs.
In the afternoon we headed over to Langford Island. A small, sandy Island that pretty much only appears on the low tide. We again spent some time snorkeling along the shoreline and diving down beside the big bommies looking under the many ledges.
That night we moored up in Shoalhaven Bay.
We soon realised that it wasn't sharks at all, but about 8 very large fish! The Ray was angry and had its tail sticking right out the water whilst flapping its wings around on the spot.
I'm not quite sure how it would of ended if we hadn't headed over, but on our arrival the fish got scared of the motor and quickly swam away. The Stingray spent a little more time still flapping around before also speeding off in the opposite direction. Wow!
On day 3 we as usual woke super early. With the sun making an appearance around 4:30am, we were all up most mornings around 5am.
Sailing off this morning we carefully negotiated the channel between Hayman and Hook Island.
We spent the day snorkeling and exploring around the Coast around Hook Island.
We explored Butterfly Bay, Luncheon Bay, Manta Ray and Pinnacle Bay, before heading across to Border Island where we moored up in Cataran Bay.
Cataran Bay had some amazing reefs to explore. A large shallow reef area filled with different coloured corals and so many brightly colored fish! Away from the shallows the reef quickly dropped off into the abyss! We all agreed that it would be a very interesting place to go for a Scuba dive.
Day 4 saw us sailing over to the stunning Whitehaven Beach. We took a short walk trail to the top of a lookout at Tongue Point and was far from disappointed with the view! It was stunning!!!! The views over Whitehaven Beach and the surrounds were some of the most spectacular we had seen.
We anchored just off the Northern end of Whitehaven Beach and took our Tender to shore where we spent the remainder of the day playing on the fine, white sand and swimming in the crystal, clear waters.
Heading back out on the Tender to our yacht we sailed down to the Southern end of Whitehaven beach for the night.
One thing I just loved on the boat was the nights. From the sunsets, to gazing up at the thousands of stars in the sky it was just breathtaking and a great way to relax after a long day full of adventure in the sun.
On day 5 we decided to sail around to Chance bay. After tendering to shore we were amazed to find that the sand in the water here was full of air!!!! Every step we took brought hundreds of large bubbles to the surface and it seriously felt like we were in a spa bath!
We decided in the early afternoon that we wanted to really get the sails going, so we spent the next few hours sailing to Lindeman Island where we anchored up in Plantation Bay for the night.
Each morning and night at 9am and 3:45pm Queensland Yacht Charters (who we hired the yacht through) would call us up on the VHF. After listening to a group weather report we would then tell them our plans for the day in the morning and they would tell us whether the weather conditions were suitable for our plans. (Luckily we had a week of perfect weather, so the conditions were pretty much perfect for any plans we had!)
In the afternoon they would again radio us up again and make sure we had arrived safely at our destination.
With plenty of islands always close by, and plenty of boats around, I always felt safe and knew if we were to get into trouble, that help would be close by. The radio contact though was just another way I knew we wouldn't be left floating around the ocean if something malfunctioned. If we missed 3 call ins.. Well they would send a plane out hunting for us!
Day 6 saw us visiting a huge desserted Club Med resort on Lindeman Island. After closing down in 2012 this amazing resort was brought by an overseas company whom in the future plan to spend a huge 600million dollars knocking the current resort down, building a marina. and turning it into a 6 star resort!
We walked around the outskirts of it, and had a chat with the very friendly caretaker. What a job!
He lives in a beautiful large bungalow overlooking the resort with spectacular ocean views. Along with 2 other caretakers, (whom have all been there since 2012) they have the tough job of keeping unwanted visitors out, and doing some general gardening. With visitors being few and far between, and nothing and no one else living on this island... It must be a pretty cruisey life, his smile said it all!
From here we headed over to Hamilton Island. Pulling into the Marina we filled up our water tanks and headed off to explore this funky, extremely busy Island, for a couple of hours.
With no cars on this Island, the only way to get around was by Golf Buggy or by one of the few free shuttle buses that operate. We just loved it!
We ended up jumping on a free bus and had a full tour of the small island. There were golf buggies everywhere and the views around the island were just stunning.
Gary and I enjoyed a beer in one of the local pubs, whilst the girls enjoyed a Sausage Roll each for lunch.
Jumping back on our boat a few hours later we all agreed that we would love to revisit Hamilton island for a longer visit/working adventure sometime in the not too far off future. (Another place to add to our ever growing list.)
We anchored up in Cid Harbour that afternoon, and spent our time jumping on and off the boat and just messing around!
Day 7 saw us sailing over to Daydream Island. With extremely expensive moaring fees... ($150 even if you just wanted to visit the island for a hr or two...) We decided not to step foot on this island! Lol
Instead we checked it out by sailing around it. Being quite small, and just the one resort... We didn't feel like we missed out on anything.
We sailed around South Mollee Island and headed over to Marcona Inlet to spend our last night on the Yacht.
After 7 full on days and a few slightly sleepless nights due to the rocking of the boat (even when its calm sometimes there are just "boat noises," that can keep you from your sleep!) We woke ready to head back into Airlie Beach.
We all just loved our time sailing the Whitsundays and it was something Im sure none of us will forget!
From relaxing on deck with a good book, family board game nights, star gazing, sunsets and sunrises, snorkelling, jumping from the boat into the water, Island hopping, exploring secluded beaches, bbqs up on the deck, hand feeding huge fish and everything inbetween... We just loved every minute! To anyone who's ever even briefly thought they would like to do this.. I really reccomend it!
Next lap of Australia... By boat...??? Hmmm... Maybe!!!
Till then.. Well we are headed back to Cairns for a month of housesitting and what could quite possibly be quite a wet Christmas season for us!
Hopefully a few good storms and dare I say maybe even a cyclone...??? For the storm lover in me.. These things excite me, and I'm looking forward to experiencing some of the wet season in Cairns. Tropical fruits and flowing waterfalls.. balmy nights and storms..
Till then, wishing you all a Merry Xmas and a safe and Happy New Year.. Wherever you are!!
Xx
