This week we had a delightful visit from Alex and Cam. We spent Monday looking at shops in Airlie Beach and cooling off at the Lagoon. We then sailed off for 3 days around the Whitsunday islands. Snorkelling at Stonehaven and Blue Pearl Bay didn’t disappoint, with plenty of coral and tropical fish. The highlight was swimming with a friendly turtle we named “Sheldon”. It was probably the same one that visited us the last time we were at Stonehaven. We felt so fortunate to enjoy such a close encounter.
We had a couple of other special moments during this trip. At Blue Pearl Bay, a huge whale appeared where the boats were moored, about 150 metres from where we were snorkelling. And at Tongue Bay, we were lucky to catch a couple of sightings of a dugong just 30-50 metres from our boat.
We spent our last day at the beautiful Whitehaven Beach. The weather has been getting hotter here and it was refreshing to swim in the cool sea that gently lapped along the white sand.
We enjoyed having Alex and Cam on board, not only to experience the highlights mentioned above but also to spend time together relaxing, playing scrabble and other games, reading and observing happy hour. We’re glad they were able to join us for a short cruise before Débonnaire returns home to Melbourne.
Before I finish this post, I will go back to the question I raised in my previous log entry, “How big is it?“: Why is the port to the east of Port Phillip called Western Port?
Answer: When George Bass sailed south from Sydney Town in 1797 to prove whether there was a strait separating Van Diemen’s Land from New Holland, he cruised past Wilsons Promontory and then found a very large bay which, at that time, was the largest port discovered since he left Port Jackson. He called it Western Port because it was west of Sydney Town. He was then faced with bad weather, a boat in need of repairs, diminishing provisions and no more time, so he decided to end his exploration and return to Port Jackson. Had he continued west for just one more day he probably would have discovered the even bigger port on which Melbourne grew, Port Phillip.
Debonnaire 