It was a pleasure taking Anne, Steve, Lily and Hugo on our last cruise of the Whitsunday islands this week. We wanted to share the best of what we have found in this tropical “Eden” and also revisit some of the places Anne and Steve saw when they cruised here many years ago.
A highlight of the trip was snorkelling with our favourite turtle Sheldon. She was so friendly, visiting the boat as soon as we moored and happily swimming among us, virtually kissing our masks. We have come to learn that Sheldon is a celebrity of Stonehaven Bay with many aliases, including Terry, Bob and—would you believe—Gangsta-T!
The coral and fish were spectacular. We visited a couple of new places: Cockatoo Point in Stonehaven Bay, and Luncheon Bay. The fish in Luncheon Bay were abundant, surrounding us in a kaliedescope of bright tropical colours.
We didn’t see any whales this week, unfortunately. Their migration back south must be well underway. However, we did spot some dolphins. We were also fortunate to see some bio-luminescence one night in Nara Inlet. Also, for the first time, we spotted goats wandering along the rocky shore of Stonehaven Bay. Not as awesome as whales but at least something new to add to the list of wildlife we have seen on our voyage.
The weather has been quite warm and humid with not much breeze to provide relief, so we often went swimming to cool off. We took in the beautiful view of Whitehaven Beach from the lookout at Tongue Point and then spent a few hours at the beach enjoying the sun and the sea. Instead of yoga, this week’s beach activity was swing dancing.
The week finished back at Airlie Beach with a refreshing swim at The Lagoon, eating ice-creams, browsing through the stalls of the Saturday market by the beach, and a delicious dinner at our favourite seafood restaurant.
Catherine and I are now busy getting ready for our trip back to Melbourne. We have to stock provisions, load fuel and run through a long check-list to prepare Débonnaire for the voyage. The weather forecast looks good so we plan to leave on Sunday as soon as our crew arrives from their flight up from Melbourne.
Debonnaire 