Time for a bit of an island cruise , up early this morning 5:40am to be precise !!! Pick up was 6:30am out the front of the park , we were 5 mins early , but the bus was earlier - 1st pick up also equals last drop off !!! Ces la vie , into the bus and back into Airlie to do the rest of the pickups . The bus full , down to Abel Point Marina to be dropped off and we walked out to the furthest point of the floating jetty to get to our wave piercing tour boat . This company was working out of Shute Harbour untill Cyclone Debbie hit , and has only resumed tours 3 weeks ago .
The marina was a picture in the early morning sunlight , there are hundreds of boats in this marina, yachts of all shapes & sizes , motor cruisers of all shapes & sizes and values , then there’s the rental boats & jetski’s , as well as other tour operators - a busy place indeed !!
On the cruise out we spotted a ship , it had sunk prior to the cyclone , but now it was sitting up straighter than it was prior to the cyclone .
The cruise took us past Daydream Island and through the passage between Hook and Whitsunday Islands . We recognised the old underwater observatory viewing platform that we’d been in some 32 years ago !!!
It is on Hook Island , here’s some more pics of it .
The cruise then headed down the eastern side of Whitsunday Island to Tongue Bay , some impressive rock formations are on show . Both these Islands are the largest in the Whitsunday Group and are surprisingly steep and rugged - not the dreamy sandy beaches & palm trees portrayed in movies .
Stopping in Tongue Bay , we headed to the beach in the inflatable tender boats for a walk up to Hill Inlet Lookout - this is the highlight of the day - such a beautiful place !!
After 600m uphill we arrived at the lookouts , and what a sight to behold , the tide going out was creating patterns a swirls in the sands of Hill Inlet , Whitehaven Beach stretched out into the distance - it’s about 7klms long .
People on the beach below appear as specks , giving great perspective .
We had to be quick , unfortunately the tide was heading out , and it would be touch and go getting the tenders back to the boat due to coral & rocks getting closer to the surface every minute that passed .
Cruising down Whitehavens full length , it was plain to see we wouldn’t be getting the beach to ourselves . I counted 23 boats/yachts already at anchor , people walking up & down the beach , playing volleyball , kicking soccer balls around , and swimming of course .
The beach and facing trees also suffered in the cyclone - apparently about 20m of trees were uprooted along the edge of the beach , debris also mounded up by the sea . Picnic tables were previously undercover , only one is now !!
We went for a swim , the water was a little bit cool , but still nice , then walked down the end of the beach . There was some small sections with some coral , but most has been destroyed or covered in sand . You see the physical damage in the trees and hills , but then there’s the damage caused below the water , more on that later .
Back to the boat for lunch before heading to Hook Island for a snorkel or glass bottom boat.
We cruised past other small islands and rock features on the way to Butterfly Bay .
Arriving at Butterfly Bay , all the snorkelers were ferried off to the beach and given some more instructions about where to go and what not to touch - the staff are extremely passionate about the reef , and want everyone to respect it due to the damage caused by Debbie . There are only 3 sites left for snorkelling for the tour operators , and they want to maintain them for use . They pay $70,000 to be able to moor their boats here in the bay , so they do have a very large investment in the vitality of the reef . Enough of that , here’s some pictures of what’s still here . I didn’t think there were any fish here until this white one appeared , but I did find a lot around some of the other dropoffs , there’s also a lot of damaged coral lying around .
While I snorkelled , Lyn did the glass bottom boat for a different perspective .
On the way back we cruised past Hayman Island , and found ourselves in amongst a yacht race closer to Airlie .
Airlie was shining in the late afternoon sunshine .
And here’s some of those small motor cruisers and yachts .
That was todays little piece of paradise , trust you enjoyed it as much as we did . Here’s a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=10oxAqgfjGI43HYxCvWetqkLyP6Q&usp=sharing
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