June 2021
Having spent half our week with Holly on Hook Island we were ready to move to Whitsunday Island to continue our week of adventure. So when the tide changed that day in the late afternoon we weighed anchor and left Nara’s Inlet in search of our next anchorage, Dugong Inlet on Whitsunday Island. Having fought the tides viciously the day before we had learnt our lesson which was why we had decided to leave so late in the day. Although with only 7nm to make leaving late wasn’t an issue and we were dropping anchor just on sunset off Sawmill Beach in Dugong Inlet.
We had chosen this spot because the following morning we were keen to attempt the hike to Whitsunday Peak which started from Sawmill Beach. This ended up being an intense walk, starting at sea level and finishing 2.5km later and 434m above.
The hike started out in a valley beside a small creek bed with thick rainforest all around. However the walk was continuously uphill via many, many stone steps which made for a challenging walk. Even though it was a hard walk it was quite short so it only took us about an hour to reach the top and be completely awed by the view.
From the top of Whitsunday Peak we could see all around with Hamilton Island in the foreground and the Smith Island Group trailing out behind, with views of Hook Island out in the other direction.
After the hard climb to reach the peak we spent about an hour at the top marvelling a the view and enjoying a much deserved morning tea. As usual the climb down was a thousand times easier although since the path was mostly stone steps we had to be quite careful with our footing to not slip as it had been quite a dewy morning.
Back on Allagai that afternoon we had no time to recover after our walk, instead we were weighing anchor to head to the next destination in our action packed week. That afternoon we wanted to make it to Whitehaven Beach, 15nm away, before dark and before the tide in Solway Passage changed. This didn’t seem like such a hard thing but once again we had wind and the initial tide against us. This made for slow going with the motor just barely pushing us in the right direction.
Although we weren’t to be deterred as we motored towards Hamilton Island and then vigorously tacked our way through the Fitzalan Passage. This meant that it was just as the sun was setting that we made it to Solway Passage and had a very turbulent experience. As we were too late for the tide for it had already changed which meant the passage was filled with eddies and bubbling water. But again we weren’t to be deterred and even though the tide was setting against us we pushed through. With the sails up and our little engine we slowing pushed our way through the eddies and turbulence praying that the engine didn’t fail us as we were only doing 1kt even with full sail. However everything went to plan and even though it took us about an hour to go two miles we eventually dropped the anchor in the fading light off the famous Whitehaven Beach.
Waking up the following morning we were greeted with the beautiful white sand and turquoise waters that Whitehaven was known for. Although the night before we had anchored a distance out because of our late arrival, but in the daylight we were keen to get closer. So once again thankful for our shallow draft we weaved our way through the many anchored boats and dropped our anchor in prime position right off the beach. That morning we decided to enjoy the beauty of the beach and headed ashore for a walk along it’s pristine sand.
While ashore we also decided to enjoy one of the short walks to the nearby Whitehaven Beach Lookout which gave us a stunning view of Whitehaven beach and also the islands off the Solway Passage. However upon returning to the beach we were a little shocked by what we saw. The empty quiet beach which we had arrived on was over run with more people then we could count, it looked like a city street. A tour boat had just arrived and was dumping people by the boatload ashore. With so many people the magic of the beach to us was lost so we quickly returned to the dingy and weighed anchor aiming for the northern end of the bay where we couldn’t see anyone.Â
Since it was only about 2.5nm away we were dropping anchor in no time and decided to pack ourselves a picnic to enjoy on the southern edge of Hill Inlet, which was essentially a large sandbar spit. Once again when we arrived we had the entire sandbar to ourselves, but no sooner had we sat down another tour boat arrived spoiling our attempt at solitude.
So we decided to move a little down the beach to enjoy our picnic at the top of a sand dune overlooking Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach. Following our picnic ashore we headed back to Allagai and weighed anchor to head off. It had been a couple of days now since our last snorkel and so were keen to get back in the water.
That day we decided to head for Peters Bay, which seemed to have very little information about it other then it was good snorkelling. At 6nm away it took us only about 2hours to reach the anchorage, to which we were able to sail the entire way for the first time that week. Arriving in Peters Bay everyone was awed by the scenery with luscious green rainforests under a towering rocky peak which looked like faces and under all that still blue water and fringing reefs. It really felt like we had found an exotic spot to drop the anchor that night, especially when we could see the towering peaks of Border Island in the distance through the entrance of the bay.
Since it was still a few hours before the sun went down we decided to go for a quick snorkel. Although we were a little disappointed by what we found. It was obvious that at one point the reef in Peters Bay had been huge, diverse and thriving, however today it was not the case. Much of the reef in Peters Bay was old and dead with new coral trying to form on top with only small pockets of old living reef dotted around the bay. Although that didn’t stop us from enjoying our swim and snorkel as with a little hunting there was still plenty of fish life to be seen including a small Wobbegong Shark.
Following our swim we returned to Allagai to find that the wind had picked up more then expected and was also blowing in straight through the entrance. With this discovery we decided that even though it had seemed like the perfect scenic anchorage when we had arrived with this new wind direction we would have to move before dark. So without dawdling we weighed anchor and decided to head over to the distant picturesque Border Island, 4nm away. However it was about halfway when we were passing the tiny Dumbell Island we noticed a free mooring on its northern edge and not another boat in sight. This was to be our last night on the islands with Holly and having a whole island and anchorage to ourselves seemed like the perfect way to finish an amazing week, especially since it was also sheltered from the wind.
Waking the following morning we still had the Island to ourselves and being Holly’s last day she couldn’t resist one last snorkel. So before weighing anchor we took the dingy for a cruise over the top of the islands fringing reef but again we found the same damaged looking coral that had been in Peters Bay. However Holly wasn’t too worried and while Hugo and I sat in the dingy she had one last swim, telling us later that new coral was attempting to regrow over the old, so there was hope for the reef to return to its former glory.
Back on Allagai we weighed anchor for what we thought would be the last time, heading back to Airlie Beach. However it wasn’t long before we realised we were about an hour early for the tide for Hook Passage. When we arrived the water was turbulent with large standing breaking waves and over falls, much worse then Solway Passage had been. Not to be too perturbed we tried to make the crossing however halfway along and only doing a knot we decided to bail and head for a nearby beach, doubting we would be able to make any headway over the overfalls. So instead we anchored off a small sandy beach on the northern side of the pass on Hook Island. However we only stayed here an hour before weighing anchor once more and passing through Hook Passage which was looking much more benign this time round. Thankfully the rest of our sail into Airlie Beach was uneventful and we were dropping anchor about mid-afternoon after a busy week of snorkelling, hiking and sailing. This was set to be our last night with Holly on board as the following day she was set to leave, returning home while we continued exploring area.
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