Whitsunday Holidays

Thursday 24 April

Some steady motoring got us through Fitzalan and Solway Passages to Whitehaven. We are still not used to how close all those things are. Just five hours from Airlie to the other end of the Whitsundays!

The first thing we noticed were the turtles. There seemed to be lots of them, all trying to find out who exactly was in that red boat. The beach itself was quite nice, although I thought the sand at Lake McKenzie on Fraser is even whiter. The weather was not favourable for sailing, but we rested comfortably at anchor. The forecast for the next few days is for North-Easterlies at two knots, gusting to three. This enables us to stay in exposed anchorages without any worries.

Friday 25 April

The Admiral’s birthday, and the fine weather was quite appropriate for the occasion. We were also out of telephone and internet range. All those phone calls and emails have to wait until the weekend brings us closer to civilisation.

After a short beach walk, we continued on to Border Island for snorkelling. Fortunately we were able to grab one of the reef protection moorings. We have our wetsuits for stinger protection, and also for warmth. After all, the water only has 25 degrees.

Then the first mishap occurred: The Admiral lost her footing on entering the dinghy, slipped, and as she held on to the lifeline, hurt her shoulder. This took her out of action for the day. Not nice!

The second mishap was that our fridge felt a certain lack of gas, and decided to run continuously in a vain attempt to maintain the required temperature. Fortunately the bottle of bubbly was cold enough to make the celebration memorable. By that time we had reached a mooring at Manta Ray Bay, at the top of Hook Island. The fish were plentiful and enjoyed our bread, among them a rather large Maori Wrasse. The calm conditions enabled us to stay the night at the mooring.

Cooking that night was also interesting, me being the Admiral’s right hand. Nothing new really, but I learnt a lot that night. Maybe one day I can also create such a lovely dinner.

Saturday 26 April

There was still a lot of snorkelling to be done. The Admiral was restricted to fish feeding duty from the cockpit; her right wing was not yet good enough. I hope I’ll manage to post those photos!

Next door to Manta Ray Bay is Pinnacle Bay, also with coral and fish. It is strange to hear the sound of fish feeding off the coral, I could hear how hard it is. Over lunch we motored over to Hayman, to Blue Pearl Bay. Another mooring, and another very calm night. I did snorkel around the whole bay, and there were plenty of fish and coral. I am rather exhausted from all that hard work.
Sunday 27 April

We left early for a short motor to Langford Reef were we used one of the reef protection buoys again. Anchoring in 5 meters of water over the reef we could already see all the beautiful corals and fish from the cockpit. We both snorkelled for hours (the Admiral with one arm and going a bit in circles). Unfortunately we had to vacate our mooring after 2 hours and continued to Nara Inlet at Hook Island.

Nara is very spectacular. We ventured right to the end near a waterfall (no water coming down at all) and were the only boat in this magnificent fjord. We found the small beach and the track to the aboriginal caves and continued the track a bit further to a lookout where we could see JEMIMAH. Later on Nara Inlet filled with lots of boat including a cruise ship.

Monday 28 April

A nonworking fridge meant we had to find a mechanic so we motored back to Arlie via South Molle Island (still only 2 knots gusting to 3) where we anchored in Bauer Bay and went ashore. The resort looked deserted. South Molle Is is a national park with excellent walking tracks. The walk up to Spion Kop was worth the effort and we had a packed lunch at the observation deck overlooking the Whitsunday Passage and Molle channel.

Tuesday 29 April

The fridge mechanic’s diagnosis was as follows: “Your fridge is out of gas”. We knew that already. “ It’s got a leak somewhere”. We figured that out ourselves too. “Its propobly the connection to the compressor”. Well, how do you know that without testing the pressure? “You need a new compressor, this one is no good.” Well, our fridge and compressor are only 3 years old. Not trusting this guy we decided to leave any future repair until Townsville. A second opinion is needed. That afternoon during a short stroll to Cannonvale (2 hours one way ) we discovered a Batteries shop and ended up buying one of these magnificent portable 12 volt fridges (Waco CF50). Now the beer is cold again.

Overall Impressions of the Whitsundays

The place is nice. Beautiful fish and coral, nice landscape, lots of moorings and protected anchorages. I can understand why people charter here.

Airlie Beach is nice but expensive. Cannonvale is cheaper, worth the walk. Our only meal in Airlie was at the sailing club, dinner for two under $40, schooner for $4.40, and Lemon Lime & Bitter for $1.50. Cheaper than the RQ!

Groceries in Cannonvale are even cheaper than Brisbane. One more indication that profit drives pricing decisions. Some comparisons: Stinger suit in Airlie: $95. Same thing in Cannonvale: $54. Diesel prices are also interesting: Marina $1.82, Airlie $1.69, Cannonvale $1.56. I only went to the Airlie servo once to get 60 litres in jerrycans on our trolley.

It was great to have a break from our rush north. Now I must get those photos on to the blog…

Take care
Rosi & Mike