2018 Travels
Date: 24/6/18
Location: Airlie Beach, Whitsundays
20 15.88 S
148 42'.09 E
Weather: Sunny, 10-15 knot SE
Author: Kylie
Oops where has the past month gone?
I guess we were having too much fun to write some blog posts! We left you at Shaw Island on our way to Airlie Beach. Having completely run out of water we had no choice but to head back to civilisation or "the city" as Mia calls it.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that the marina at Airlie now has a public boat ramp with deep water access and a public wharf with fresh water. So that makes refilling the tanks so much easier.
It was past time for some fresh fruit and vegetables. Joel particularly was hanging out for some apples (he is aptly named the fruit monster as he devours so much fruit). We anchored off Cannonvale, the suburb beside Airlie and the closest shopping centre and motored the dinghy into the boat ramp (there is a new improved boat ramp here too).
We were trying to keep Joel off his foot with the oyster cut so we grabbed a trolley that another cruiser had wheeled their shopping back in and put Joel in the trolley. It is only a short walk to the Coles supermarket and small shopping centre. How we were supposed to keep Joel resting his leg so the wound could heal I have no idea, his version of resting is running up the foredeck and swinging on every rope he can see. Needless to say he will have a scar on his ankle, however, we did avoid infection so that was a win.
We had a half a week until my parents arrived at Hamilton Island to join us on the yacht and with Joel on rest, we decided to move around to Woodwark Bay to catch up on laundry, do a nice big boat clean and to get ahead with the school work. Close to Airlie,Woodwark bay feels a million miles away. It is secluded, and quite well protected from the SE tradewinds. Our first night we had the anchor chain dragging over rock as the boat swung back and forth do we upped anchor and moved further into the bay. We anchored off a small beach where there was again a wrecked vessel. We have never see so many abandoned boats just left behind to fall apart.
We attempted to do some fishing but whilst we had many bites I only managed to bring in a little fish. Lucky we didn't plan for our meals to come from the ocean as we are sadly lacking in fishing skills!
We have been growing a green beard on the boat since the Brisbane River so one afternoon I donned the wetsuit and snorkel gear and attempted to scrub it clean. It is very hard work!
After a few quiet days in Woodwark Bay we headed back to Cannonvale/Airlie Beach to restock the boat in preparation for our guests. There is a great butcher at Cannonvale who cryovacked and froze our order for us, we exchanged our gas bottle and did a big grocery shop (3 shopping trolleys!)
Now that Joel was back on his feet we headed back in to explore Airlie. There has been some serious development in the past 10 years since we last visited but its also much the same! We headed to the markets for some fresh vegetables and up to the bakery too. We were surprised to find a Woolworths store and treated ourselves to some icecreams – we cant keep icecream in our boat freezer as it wont keep it frozen without using too much power so icecreams purchased have to be eaten straight away. The kids enjoyed some time at the playgrounds too.
We completed our restocking with a final trip to the supermarket for milk, bread and the fresh fruit and then it was time to head out to the Islands again. The countdown to Nanny and Grandad's arrival was down to 1!
We anchored up in Cid Harbour for the night and the following afternoon motored to Hamilton Island. As we approached the Dent Passage, Nanny & Grandads plane flew over the top of us. The kids were so excited for my parents visit. They had insisted we make another chocolate cake which they decorated with lollies and we had for dessert that evening.
The forecast for the week was light variable winds which is a contrast to the usual SE 15knot Trade winds. We had a fantastic week and the variable winds allowed us to anchor in a few new bays that we had not visited before.
Unfortunately the holiday did not get off to the best start. We had a toilet issue the very first night! I wont go into detail and it was absolutely no ones fault, lets just say that the toilet too was hit by the dreaded "10 year curse" that we have experienced countless times on this trip. It was a stinky, late night for all of us but the problem was mostly fixed and the toilet functional by the time we went to bed, 11pm.
The bedding arrangements were a little squeezy for 6 people but the kids were most excited to give up their beds for Nanny and Grandad and sleep in the main cabin area!
The first day we went to Whitehaven Beach and what a shock it was! The beautiful white sands were still there but the trees had been completely obliterated by the cyclone last year. As the week went on we saw the devastation this cyclone had had on the whole area.
Needless to say we had a lovely day on the beach, walking, swimming and building sand castles, although the water is still a little chilly for me. We played cricket on the beach in the afternoon. The kids loved seeing the bat fish that circled the boat- very naughty but we fed them bread so the kids could have a close up look.
The next day we headed up to Hill Inlet and took the short walk to the lookout that overlooks Whitehaven Beach. As beautiful as ever!
We had lunch back aboard the boat and then set the sail upwind to Saba Bay on Hook Island- Dad was itching for some real sailing! That might be the only time this trip we head upwind with the sails up cause everyone knows that cruisers don't go upwind, we just wait for the wind to change, haha!
Saba Bay is on the eastern side of Hook Island and is protected from northerly breezes. At this time of year a northerly breeze is quite uncommon. In fact the previous day I overheard a tour operator on Whitehaven Beach say that they "hadn't had weather like this in over 2 months". We were keen for the kids to experience snorkelling for the first time and we all donned our westuits, boots and snorkel gear and made our way in the rubber duck to the reef where we anchored over a sand patch. Both Mia and Joel were feeling nervous. They had practised with the snorkel and Mia had the hang of it but Joel constantly got water in his snorkel. Plus we were swimming directly from the rubber duck so straight into the 'deep water' (which in reality wasn't that deep but to a 5 & 6 year old anywhere they can't touch is deep).
We dropped over the side (ok, I kind of pulled Mia over as she made her little girly noises) and set them both up on a noodle float and kicked the meter or 2 to the reef. You should have heard Mia trying to talk under water!! She was madly pointing and trying to tell me what she was seeing (yes Mia I could see it too), it was very cute and she loved snorkelling. Dad wasted no time and was off exploring the reef and directing us to where the good coral patched were. The coral was pretty good, a lovely variety but the highlight was the clam shells and the huge variety of colours. Joel was the first to get cold- I'm pretty sure it took us longer to get wetsuits on than we actually spent snorkelling!
We enjoyed having visitors aboard and I think Joel spent more time with his bottom on someone's lap then on the seat. He was certainly making up for the missed cuddles these past 3 months. We played many a game of UNO, and Dad was introduced to the kids pirate lego game too.
Taking advantage of the good weather and making the most of mum and dads time on the boat we moved around more frequently than we would have otherwise. We headed up the northern tip of Hook Island to one of our favourite snorkelling places 10 years ago, Manta Ray Bay. We were lucky enough to grab a mooring and we motored the duck over to the snorkelling area. This time Joel wore a rash shirt, long wetsuit, short wetsuit, gloves and boots, there was no chance of him sinking with all that flotation!
Yet again we saw the devastation of the cyclone, the reef in this bay was completely destroyed :( There was a reasonable variety of fish still there but no coral, it was all dead! Its quite heart breaking to see. But check out this fish! A Maorie Wrass. This is the male and there were a few females lurking down a bit lower but this guy was very inquisitive. How long does a Maorie Wrass live? Because there was a huge male here 10 years ago too. Now you wont tell from the photo but this fish is huge! He probably weighs more than me.
Feeling a little disappointed we dropped the mooring and moved around to Maureens Bay where there were some tour boats dropping tourists in for a snorkel. Maybe it was the time of day/ the tide but we motored over the reef in the duck and decided it wasn't worth snorkelling over so we had a late lunch and then dropped the mooring and headed over to the much anticipated Butterfly Bay. If you heard the kids talk about our big trip before we left you would have heard their excitement over visiting "Butterfly Island" as they called it. When we visited here in the past you could walk from the beach into the trees and give a tree a little shake and watch thousands of butterflies take flight. We weren't surprised to see that the butterfly numbers had dropped considerably post cyclone. A lot of the canopy of the forest had been wiped out. There was a lot of regrowth down the trees but the environment had certainly altered. We are going to head back to Butterfly Bay first thing in the morning next week and see if the time of day also has an impact on what butterflies we see.
We spent the night in Saba Bay again and the following morning we couldn't wait to get back into the water. Dad took mum and Joel in the rubber duck over the reef with the spyglass and Mia and I had a paddle in the kayak. There was not a breath of wind in the bay. The low tide seemed to be the best time for snorkelling in this bay so we put the wetsuits on again. The water hasn't been as clear as we would have liked but it was a good snorkel none the less. Both Mia and Joel got cold so dad took them in the duck back to the yacht whilst Peter and I had a good explore.
We sailed out to Cataran Bay on Border Island that afternoon. It is a beautiful island and we will definitely have to go back there! We had a yummy picnic lunch on the beach and the kids enjoyed a swim and game of 'piggy in the middle'. In the afternoon Peter, dad and I enjoyed another snorkel along the surrounding reef. This was probably a little better than Saba Bay with a better variety of both fish and coral.
Unfortunately the amazing weather was coming to an end and the clouds came over and the wind turned SE again so we headed for Nara Inlet on the southern side of Hook Island. We passed through the narrow hook passage and noticed that the underwater observatory was no longer. Mum and Dad spent the afternoon exploring the bay on the kayak whilst Peter and the kids and I took the short walk up to the aboriginal cave paintings. There was much improvement to the trail in the past 10 years. Now it was signposted, there was a learning pod where you could hear interviews with aborignal elders and even a boardwalk area. Where we had previously entered the cave to see the paintings now there was an electric fence to keep the goats out and a viewing platform. This was to protect the paintings of course.
Our last 2 nights with mum and dad were spent anchored in Cid Harbour on Whitsunday Island. The winds were forecast to be up to 25 knots so not real pleasant. It was a 'boat day'! Not overly exciting but I think everyone was ready for a relaxed day. I did some baking so we were well fed.
Taking advantage of mum and dad being with us Peter and I used the onboard baby sitting service to climb Whitsunday Peak. The guide book said a steep, 4 hour walk requiring a high fitness level. So we packed a water bag and some food and took mum, dad and the kids to the beach whilst we walked the the peak. The trail has been painstakingly created with huge rock stepping stones. It was steep but well maintained. There were 2 small creek crossings, quite a few butterflies and within the hour we were at the top. It was a windy day but that didn't spoil the amazing view and we sat back at the top and took it all in. It certainly wasn't a 4 hour walk for us but much too far for our kids to walk so we were grateful to get the opportunity to climb it. Mum, dad and the kids had enjoyed their morning on the beach playing boules and soccer and we all headed back to the yacht for lunch.
Much to Mia's disgust I reminded her that she had some school work to do: an interview with Nanny & Grandad about their life at school when they were kids. We had been a week ahead with school work when our visitors arrived so Mia had a week off and even just this half hour was a chore for her. She normally loves school but I have come to realise it is the social side of school that she particularly loves! Well and the reading & spelling, the rest not so much.
The tooth fairy has finally had to visit Mia, 2 teeth in 1 week!
The wind continued to blow and the following day after lunch we headed back to Hamilton Island to drop mum and dad off for their aeroplane. It was a bumpy, uncomfortable trip of wind against tide. Earlier in the week Joel had spoken of his wish to go back home to see all his preschool friends and I had jokingly said," well you will have to go back and live with Nanny and Grandad", well whilst that sounded good to him initially he came back to me gave me a cuddle and said "I will stay with you mummy". It was great to see you mum and dad, but sorry dad you will have to wait a few more months for some Joel cuddles xxx
We headed back to Airlie Beach to restock and on Monday will head out again to the islands. We have spent the past few days getting the school work done, the laundry washed, oil & filters changed in the motor and well this blog of course.
Sadly there was no pot of gold found on the boat.
Photos and video courtesy of S/V Alacrity.
I almost forgot, the closest we have come to catching fish are the 2 that have jumped onto the boat during the night!
