We had a fun weekend celebrating Catherine’s birthday in the Whitsundays with some old friends.
We had a surprise visit from Mr Chang, the noodle man. He dropped in briefly before he joined Helen, Paul and their friends on Carpe Diem for a cruise to Lindeman Island. He’s a little mischievous with a cheeky sense of humour, a spark of entertainment for plenty of laughter.
As we bid Mr Chang farewell we welcomed Gilly and Neil on board for a couple of days cruising around Hook Island. We spent our first night anchored at Stonehaven, not far from Hayman Island which is now closed until mid-2018 due to damage from Cyclone Debbie. We went snorkeling at Butterfly Bay and, although the coral was damaged by the cyclone and the water still cloudy, we saw our first colourful tropical fish. The second night we anchored at Nara Inlet. We went ashore and walked to an interesting cave decorated with aboriginal art. The highlight of the trip was the calm night in this anchorage, suspended in darkness with countless stars twinkling in the sky above and dazzling blue bio-luminescence sparkling in the water below. It was a magical, surreal experience.
We celebrated Catherine’s birthday back at Abell Point Marina. Helen and Paul joined us at the new marina restaurant where we shared stories of our cruises in the Whitsundays.
Debonnaire 