1st June. We flew to Rockhampton, provisioned in Yeppoon and got to the boat at the Keppel Bay Marina in time to go to a restaurant 'Beaches' for dinner.
2nd June. A second visit to the shops and the fish co-op, before we set sail for Great Keppel Island, and anchored at Svendsen's Beach.
3rd June. An early start to get to Port Clinton in good time. Popped the kite as the sun came up. A gorgeous sail.
We went ashore to pick up some oysters off the rocks. Not as good as a previous visit.
4th June. A short hop around the coast to Delcomyn Bay for lunch. This pretty bay is open to the south-east, so rarely comfortable during the South-East trade winds. But it was very calm when we were there, so a good time to check it out.
Delcomyn Bay
And on to Pearl Bay for the night.
Leaving Pearl Bay at dawn
5th June.
Another short hop around the coast to Island Head Creek. Lovely coastline.
6th June. A bigger jump north from Island Head Creek to South Percy Island. Sunrise start again.
7th June. From South Percy to Curlew Island. A fast reach.
Curlew Island
The drone showed we were closer to underwater obstructions than we had realised, so we moved.
8th June. A beautiful kite run from Curlew to Scawfell Island. We caught a mackerel tuna which became delicious sashimi.
Mackerel tuna
Scawfell is a very attractive island, with moorings, beaches and coral for snorkeling.
Sunset at Scawfell Island
9th June. From Scawfell to Thomas Island. A beautiful spot.
Again, we left as the sun came up.
10th June. Thomas Island to Shaw Island and Lindeman Island. We climbed Mount Oldfield, which has some great views over the Whitsundays. Lots of grass trees everywhere.
Looking south-west. The resort is being renovated; after Club Med, it has now been bought by an up-market Singaporean chain.
Pentecost Island, looking north.
Looking south-east through a gap in Shaw Island.
11th June. Shaw Island to Hamilton Island, to refuel, wash clothes and shop in the IGA. The chandlery is limited and quite expensive. Then on to Cid Harbour for the night.
12th June. We climbed Whitsunday Peak in the morning. Some drone photos gave a better view.
Looking north to Dugong Inlet, Hook Passage, Macona Inlet and Nara Inlet.
Looking south over Whitsunday Peak to Gulnare Inlet, Hamilton Island and Shaw Island.
We moved over to Macona Inlet for the night.
13th June. Back to May's Bay. One of our favourite anchorages. Peaceful, private, and usually with some Telstra coverage. We needed an uptodate weather forecast.
14th June. An early start to sail out to Bait Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef.
Perfect conditions.
A Spanish Mackerel
On a mooring in Bait Reef. Antidote is the nearer boat.
Easy to see from the drone. Harder at the surface. The 'Stepping Stones' are to the right of a beacon, which one should leave to starboard when entering to find a mooring.
The scene at day-break. Strange to be in glassy conditions 20 nautical miles out in the ocean.
15th June. Dodgy weather was forecast, which is not pleasant on the Reef, so we sailed back to Tongue Point on Whitsunday Island.
Hill Inlet from Tongue Point. See Whitehaven Beach in the distance.
16th June. Round to the amazing Whitehaven Beach; 5km of perfect silica sand the consistency of icing sugar. It is periodically voted 'The Best Beach in the World'.
Pentecost Island, looking south-west from Whitehaven Lookout.
Whitehaven Beach, looking north from above the lookout.
17th June. Whitsunday and Hook Islands effectively block all Telstra signals, so after a few days Internet Withdrawal Syndrome symptoms were starting to appear! So we had a brisk sail over to Happy Bay on Long Island, within line of sight to a Telstra tower near Shute Harbour.
Yet another defunct resort!
18th June. A short move to South Molle Island, with some pleasant walks.
South Molle
View east towards Planton Island and Cid Harbour beyond.
19th June. A gentle sail from South Molle over to Chalkies Beach on Haslewood Island to check out the snorkeling options for an incoming grand-daughter. Looks good. But a bit rocky, so we went back to Whitehaven Beach for the night.
With Anna, Aelie, and Sim
Aelie with Granny George in Gulnare Inlet
Rainy weather with Gulnare looking Norwegian
A fabulous cruise, with perfect weather until the last few days. Sunny with 10-15 knots of South-east trade winds behind us.
