Whitsunday sailing

At last, a four day break in the 'park', as locals like to call it. Not just any old park - it's the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in the Whitsundays, Queensland. 

Sailing, snorkelling, fishing and relaxing with a good book were the primary activities, as well as plenty of time to just soak up the views.

Departing from Shute Harbour, thanks to Sunsail, we hoisted the main and head sail of Ali Cat, a Leopard 444 catamaran, and let the wind decide where we would anchor for the night. At this time of year though the winds are a little fickle but there was just enough north easterly to get us into Cid Harbour for the evening. 

Ali Cat

While I had the luxury of an experienced local skipper (my husband) to navigate these waters and provide the commentary, I absorbed myself in the pages of 100 Magic Miles to bring myself up to speed. Now in its 11^th edition, David and Carolyn Colfelt’s guide provides exhaustive and reliable detail about every nook and cranny of the Whitsundays. Contrary to popular belief, the enormous all-weather anchorage of Cid Harbour was not used as a marshalling point for the US Fleet prior to WWII’s Battle of the Coral Sea, but was used occasionally as anchorage for the Australian and Allied navies. 

Sunset at Cid Harbour

For spectacular views of the Whitsunday Islands, our younger, accompanying Italian friends, Ale & G, donned backpacks for the challenging three hour return hike from Sawmill Beach on Whitsunday Island to Whitsunday Peak (437m). Due to my inappropriate footwear and the heat, I opted for the easy one way one kilometre stroll through the dry vine forest; complete with massive hoop pines, to the stunning Dugong Beach, where my dinghy pick up was waiting to transport me to the first snorkel site of the trip.

Looking fabulous in my bright blue stinger suit, I grabbed my mask, snorkel and fins and plunged from the dinghy into the flooding tide between Ross Islet and Cid Island. Pretty soft corals and numerous fish rushed by as the current spat me out onto the sand spit at the southern end of the islet.

With the morning’s activities complete we weighed anchor and tracked south to navigate our way to Gulnare Inlet for some exploring. Whilst we didn’t need to visit such a well-protected anchorage in this sublime weather, it was a chance for me to take the wheel and practice some Coxswain skills. There is reef all around and a back bearing is required to safely enter the inlet to avoid going aground. I was glad I was under the tuition of an experienced teacher! 

View of Henning Island from Gulnare Inlet 

As we were still on a rising tide, as soon as we dropped anchor we were off exploring the mangrove-lined estuary and creeks. We tried to find the old tramway that was built to move timber from the surrounding hills in the early 1900’s, but the growth was too thick and the tide was turning against us. We did however find someone’s doomsday stash of diesel fuel and other survival equipment, hidden under camouflaged netting along a well-trodden track rising up from a natural stone landing.

As the afternoon sun reached intensity it was time for a siesta in air-conditioned luxury. With three private cabins, a large saloon area, and shaded forward and aft decks, there was no shortage of places for four people to chill out. 

Ghigo & Alessandra

On sunset, Gary took to the dinghy for a spot of fishing in amongst the mangroves while G and I calculated the depth and time of tide required to exit the inlet on the rising tide the next day using the rule of twelfths. Somehow I don’t think the glass of wine helped with the speed of calculation but eventually we ascertained that we could depart at 10.00am, therefore we could all have a much needed sleep in.

The silence was ominous overnight. – not even the sound of water lapping on the hulls could be heard. Such stillness is rare on a boat.

After completing a few jobs on the vessel and checking for any maintenance issues, we departed Gulnare and tried for a snorkel off Henning Island. The north wind and strong current made it not ideal, so we sailed north along Whitsunday Passage to Homestead Bay on the eastern side of Cid Island. The current was pretty strong but there were some interesting coral formations and a few fish to look at. 

Navigating out of Gulnare Inlet

Our next destination was Hook Passage and the drop off point for the Whitsunday Cairn trail. G was keen for another challenging bushwalk up 386 metres, which only took him less than two hours return – well under the suggested four hours. While he was sweating it out, the rest of us went exploring in the dinghy. I envied the Hook Island Wilderness Resort opposite, now closed. What I could do with that to bring it back to life! If only I had an endless supply of money. The Hook Underwater Observatory still stands looking quite dilapidated, but it was once the showcase of the Whitsunday Islands when it was opened in 1969 after three years of construction. Ray Blackwood’s Whitsunday Islands: an historical dictionary has all the details, including the interesting fact that two hundred old car bodies were dumped at the base of the structure to provide a habitat for fish and coral. There were no decommissioned navy ships available back then!

Time for a snorkel, and although the tide was still too high the reef area between Scrub Hen Beach and Hook Passage was extensive with a fabulous variety of coral and fish plus a few turtles. Gary cast the fishing rod line a few times and surprisingly hooked a coral trout. Unfortunately it slipped off the hook and slid in under the floor of the dinghy into the hull. It took some time to get it out by raising one end from the davit, but eventually it plopped out and swam away. It was undersized anyway.

Gary the dinghy man, Hook Passage

It was time to head for our overnight anchorage at Macona Inlet, chosen to meet up with a friend who was skippering a group of Venezuelans for a week. As we slowly motored towards the far end of the inlet a baby hammerhead shark swam up to the starboard hull. These still and shallow waters provide a perfect breeding ground for hammerheads so enter if you dare.

Orca at Macona Inlet

Our last day and we saved the best snorkel spot till last – Ravens Cove, the southern end near Turtle Head Rock. The tide was low (the best time to snorkel), visibility was about 10 metres, and the coral was stunning. So many hard and soft varieties, and the fish life was abundant both small and large. I even saw an albino bat fish. After two hours in the water it was time to head back to Shute Harbour, via Unsafe Passage through the Molle Island group. 

Ravens Cove snorkeling site

Through Unsafe Passage between Mid and North Molle Island

There are so many wonderful places to visit in the Whitsunday Island group that doesn’t have to include the place everyone goes to, Whitehaven Beach. Can’t wait for the next trip! 

Chart AUS252 - Whitsunday Group. Don't sail with out it!

Top of the Whitsundays

Located in the northern section of the Whitsundays in Queensland, Bowen is only a 45 minute drive from the more well-known Airlie Beach. This small town is often overlooked, which is unfortunate as there are many beautiful, pristine beaches and spectacular coastal views which are worthy of a visit.

Azure waters, shell speckled sand and the surrounding rocky outcrops of Grey's Bay make this one of the prettiest beaches in Queensland. The free barbeques and adjacent playground amongst enormous shady trees is an ideal place for a family picnic.

Sunset at Grey's Bay

Further along Cape Edgecumbe is the small and cosy Horseshoe Bay, with crystal clear waters and spectacular coral reef just metres off shore: perfect for a swim or snorkel.

Horseshoe Bay 

Leading up from Horseshoe Bay, walk to the lookout on the Cape Edgecumbe Walking Trail for breathtaking views of the coast line. Continue along the trail to the World War II radar station and anti-aircraft battery remnants for more scenic views, before dropping into Murray Bay: a secluded and sheltered bay lined with coconut trees and pandanus.

WWII radar station site

Pandanus

Murray Bay with Kapok tree, Bowen's floral emblem, in foreground

After a refreshing swim, rejoin the trail to Mother Beddock, a large imposing rock balancing precariously on a granite outcrop. Soak up the view of Gloucester Island and Bowen township before descending to the award winning beach of Rose Bay; a favourite spot for a fish, snorkel or swim.

Mother Beddock in the late afternoon sun

If you want to stride out, then continue on to the often deserted Kings Beach with sweeping long stretches of sand. Kite surfing and fishing are popular pastimes here.

Rose Bay & King's Beach

North west of the town is the longest of Bowen’s beaches. The five kilometre white sand of Queen’s Beach is a favourite with walkers, and has a fitness trail running parallel with the coastline.

Queen's Beach

Finish your beach tour in the centre of Bowen at Front Beach. View the tugs on the jetty, splash around in the Water Park, learn about the Catalinas (flying boats) stationed here during World War II, and the town’s role in the making of the movie Australia.

Low tide at Front Beach with Gloucester Island looming in the background

Whitsunday flying

This morning we were introduced to the Whitsunday Flying Friends at a fly-in breakfast at 'Heathrow' in Lethebrook.  They are a friendly bunch who regularly meet at various airstrips between Bowen and Mackay for some breakfast and chatter about all things aerial. Over delicious pancakes made from farm fresh eggs, it was exciting to hear tales of flying adventures, making us keen to hurry up and each get our gyroplane pilot licence.

We both were fortunate to be taken up in the host's light plane for sensational views of the O'Connell River, Repulse Bay and the Whitsunday islands. With plenty of sugar cane paddocks to land if need be, this wide open area would be an ideal place to get the hang of flying solo when that time eventually comes. Thanks to our hosts, Ian and Julie, for a great morning.

'Heathrow' fly-in

Gyroplane envy

Plane park

Savannah

Heathrow airstrips

O'Connell River estuary & Laguna Quays Resort

O'Connell River

Coming into land

Hamilton Island Race Week

It's not only a lot of fun but a privilege to jump on board a racing yacht. Merit, a Volvo 60, offers day trips to Whitehaven Beach from Hamilton Island, plus corporate match racing with sister vessel Spirit.

Take the wheel on board the Volvo 60 Merit

Merit, a Volvo 60 racing yacht

It's a big mainsail

Chalkies Beach, opposite Whitehaven Beach

The majestic Pentecost Island, Whitsundays

Today sees both yachts joining Hamilton Island Race Week, Australia's largest offshore keel boat regatta, and you could be a part of it. Places are available for a day or the whole week of racing. Book with Grand Prix Yachting for an awesome opportunity to sail around the pristine World Heritage Area of the Whitsunday Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Whitsunday wallabies

We consider ourselves lucky to live amongst some of Australia's cutest wildlife. The endangered Proserpine Rock Wallaby is endemic to the hill that we live on, plus a few other small pockets of national parks in and around Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays.

The Proserpine Rock Wallaby is a timid mainly nocturnal marsupial that lives amongst rocky outcrops. It is not often seen, however we have a covenant on our land that provides precious habitat for the wallaby so we get to see them quite regularly.

Proserpine Rock Wallaby. Image courtesy of Reef Catchments.

A friend of mine is a wildlife carer for Fauna Rescue Whitsundays and has been looking after orphaned Proserpine Rock wallabies for 10 years. The babies are a delight to watch bound around the living room - they are so curious and so very cute.

Baby Proserpine Rock wallaby - two months old approx

Feeding time

Sailing the Whitsundays

Every now and then I get to accompany my husband when he's working. That probably doesn't sound very exciting, but when his job is to sometimes deliver sailing boats to and from Hamilton Island and Shute Harbour or Airlie Beach then it's a different story.

Lazy sail back to Shute Harbour

Sailing around the beautiful Whitsunday Islands in Queensland is arguably one of the most scenic and best cruising grounds in the world. Ask anybody who's done it, in particular those that have sailed here and have never left!

While you can enjoy overnight tours that are fully crewed and will take you to all the top spots, you can actually charter a vessel yourself, with no prior experience. It's called a bareboat charter and there are various types and sizes of vessels to choose from, which can be hired from 5 nights or more from a variety of bareboat charter companies in the Whitsundays. To skipper yourself, and your family or friends, is the perfect way to independently explore the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Sailing the Whitsundays

Once you have made your bareboat booking, you can either organise your own provisions or get someone else to do it. It's often easier to have it all organised before you arrive so that you can maximise your time out on the water.  Before setting off you though, you are given a briefing on the operation of the vessel, including sail instruction if your boat has sails, and where you can go and what you can do in the marine park. This usually takes about 4 hours; less if you have had previous boating experience. Once the bareboat briefer has signed you off then you are free to discover the jewels of the Whitsunday Islands, including the famous Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island.

Anchorage at Betty's, near Whitehaven Beach

Sail, snorkel, swim to your heart's content. Visit deserted beaches or island resorts. Take a bushwalk or try and catch a fish. Anchor in a secluded bay and soak up the stunning sunset.  The choice is yours.

Sailing across Whitsunday Passage in 15-20 knots of breeze

Hamilton Island Marina

Twice each day, morning and afternoon, you are required to radio the bareboat charter company of your daily plans and overnight anchorage. This is so the company knows of your whereabouts and can easily organise assistance if you need it. At the end of your amazing charter, you are debriefed by a company representative to ensure all went well.

This is where my husband comes in, as he briefs and debriefs bareboat charters and delivers vessels to where they need to be. Lucky for me sometimes as I get to come along for the ride.

Departing Shute Harbour for Hamilton Island

Those that experience cruising the Whitsunday Islands say that it's the best holiday they have ever done, and usually come back for more. So, what are you waiting for? Book now for a holiday of a lifetime.

Sunrise at Shute Harbour

Cedar Creek Falls, Whitsundays

As the Whitsundays only freshwater swimming hole, Cedar Creek Falls in Conway National Park becomes the Bondi Beach equivalent in the wet season. You can safely enjoy a refreshing swim that is both crocodile and stinger free.

Cedar Creek Falls, Conway National Park

Only a 20 minute drive from Airlie Beach, turn off Conway Road and follow the signs to Cedar Creek Falls. There's a short dirt road that runs parallel to the creek, crosses a causeway and terminates into a car park.

Vitenza Road, off Cedar Creek Falls Road

Take a picnic lunch and relax in amongst the shade of the melaleuca trees. Follow the walking track to the top of the falls for a great view below, and for some private swimming holes further upstream.

Cedar Creek Falls is well worth the visit after heavy rainfall, usually between the months of December and April.

Before the rain

After the rain

National Gallery of Australia - Canberra

With only a few leisure hours available on a recent work trip to Canberra, I decided a visit to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) would be time well spent.

It was near 4 kilometre walk from my hotel on Northbourne Avenue in the city on a bright summer’s afternoon, across Commonwealth Bridge over Lake Burley Griffin and along Queen Elizabeth Terrace to the NGA. There was hardly a soul around except for a lone kayaker, and a couple on bicycles who made me wish I was on two wheels instead.

Lake Burley Griffin with National Library

National Gallery of Australia

The coolness of the gallery entrance way was a welcome relief and I was soon immersed into the world of art. The Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly series took me back to the time I spent in North East Victoria on Mt Buller, not far from Stringybark Creek and Mansfield where the Kelly gang legend evolved. 

Township 1947 - Mansfield

Death of Sergeant Kennedy at Stringybark Creek 1946

The NGA holds all but one of what is considered the greatest series of 20^th century Australian art. Painted in 1946-47, Nolan takes the viewer through the main events of the story of Ned Kelly and his gang, ending with Kelly’s trial where he was sentenced to hang.

Ned Kelly series by Sidney Nolan

The Colonial viewpoints exhibition displayed an array of 19^th century portraiture of colonists and indigenous Australians. A magnificent John Glover painting depicts the two spheres of early colonial life in Hobart, with Aboriginal people going about their daily lives on the eastern shore and red-coated soldiers on the opposite side of the Derwent River: the majestic Mt Wellington looms in the background.

Mt Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point 1834

Arthur Streeton was a key figure in the Australian Impressionism movement in the 1880’s, where artists found joy in a sense of place. Golden Summer, Eaglemont is considered a masterpiece of this style and was painted during a summer drought depicting the undulating plains in rural Heidelberg outside of Melbourne.

Golden Summer, Eaglemont 1889

Viennese-born Eugene von Guérard arrived in Australia in 1852 and is arguably the most important colonial landscape artist of the mid-19th century. His North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko reveals his meticulous topographical accuracy and his interest in scientific endeavour.

 North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko 1866

The Isolation + loss gallery shows Russell Drysdale’s The drover’s wife depicted in the harsh, dry flatness of Australia’s interior (Western NSW) during the drought of 1944.  

The drover's wife 

Continuing to feel inspired I forked out the $20 to see the Tom Roberts Exhibition, which is on until 28 March. I listened in on the 2.00pm free daily tour from time to time, but was quite content to wander of my own accord. Tom Roberts (1856-1931) is one of Australia’s best-known artists. He produced broad ranging works that included landscapes, portraits, and industrial and city scapes. Although born in England, he spent almost half his life in Australia, making a major contribution to the creative depiction of the land. He was part of the legendary group of Australian Impressionists that included Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton and Charles Conder and had a major impact on his contemporaries and later Australian artists.

Aboriginal women (Mariah) painted at Yulgilbar station 1895 

The golden fleece 1894

His depictions of sheep stations are iconic, but his most historically important work is what is known as the Big Picture. Measuring 5.65 metres across and 3.6 metres tall, The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, 9 May 1901 is painted on three separate pieces of cavasses stitched together and took two years to complete. Roberts travelled extensively within Australia and to London to produce individual portrait sketches in order to provide correct representations, as commissioned to do so. It’s an impressive oil painting.

My feet were getting weary by this stage but I wanted to check out the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collection. The collection is displayed by geographic region or an aspect of indigenous art. Being a watercolour fan I admired the work of Albert Namatjira and those who learnt from him.

Typical Albert Namatjira scene of Central Australia

The designs, patterns and stories depicted on various mediums were striking in their detail and colouring, but the painting that most caught my eye was from Tropical North Queensland titled ‘Monsoon rain on the Lockhart River’ by Rosella Namok. Stunning.

Monsoon rain on the Lockhart River

There is so much to see at the NGA, but there is only so much one can see and take in in an afternoon. After a quick look at Jackson Pollack’s infamous Blue Poles (purchased amid much controversy in 1973) I took a stroll through some of the sculpture garden before retracing my steps back to the city. 

Blue Pole bought for $1.3 million in 1973

Henry Moore sculpture with the Carillon in background