NORTH QLD ADVENTURE - DAY 32 - CRUISING THE WHITSUNDAYS…

Early start this morning with our alarm going off at 6am.  We needed to be at Abell Point in Airlie Beach by 7.45am and the walk from the car park was quite some distance, so we wanted to leave home by 7am so that we weren’t rushed at all.

We were the first to arrive.  The staff from Zig Zag Whitsundays, met us just before 8am, where we all had to check in, and then sign the Covid 19 paperwork.  Once this was all done, then it was time to get fitted with our wetsuits from our snorkeling on the reef this morning.

Once everyone had finished the paperwork, and had their wetsuits fitted and on, we then headed to our boat which was moored in the Marina.  There were about 30 people booked on this cruise today.  Mostly they were young people with only a couple of other couples that may have been close to our age.  As we boarded our boat, we were all handed our goggles and snorkel.

 

Our captain Dave, briefly took us through the plan for the day, and warned us that due to the winds, we could be in for a choppy ride for the first hour…

We were going to start the day by doing the longest leg of our boat ride and head straignt out past the two biggest islands in the Whitsunday group.  These two islands are Hook Island and the Whitsunday Island

We were going to be doing our snorkelling first this morning on the western coast of Hazelwood Island at a delightful little beach called “Chalkies Beach”.  Once we reached this area, our skipper Dave and his offsiders when through how to fit our snorkelling mask and how to get into the water with it and our flippers.  and then as we left the boat, we were all handed a pair of flippers.

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Chalkies Beach was amazing, it shares the same famous pure white silica sand as Whitehaven Beach.  The fringing reefs are not only interesting but just off the shore, which makes it a perfect spot to explore the reef.  The northern end of the beach is where the best coral and fish can be seen, especially on a low to mid-tide.  Hawksbill and green turtles also frequent the area, and a few were spotted by some of those on our tour who were snorkeling.

 

We had a good hour and a half in the water snorkelling on the reef.  It was amazing, but the time went way too quickly.   We saw some amazing coral, but probably not as many fish as we saw when we were snorkelling on Nigaloo Reef in Western Australia.   I am sure they are there, but it just wasn’t our day to see this today.  The coral and the size of it sure made up though for the absence of any larger reef fish.

 

 

 

Whitehaven Beach is a pristine, award winning beach on Whitsunday Island, which is the largest island of the 74 islands in the Whitsundays.  The beach stretches over 7kms long and boasts brilliant silica sand that is among the purest in the world.  The bright white sand lying along this beach consists of 98 percent pure silica, making it very soft and fine, and it doesn’t retain heat like most other sand beaches – so it’s comfortable to walk barefoot on any day of the year. This sand is so fine, in fact, that it can clean your diamonds and jewellery!

Being the largest beach in the  Whitsundays, this dreamlike paradise is unlike any other beach in Australia as its soft sand, turquoise waters and lush foliage continue to be untouched by pollution and inhabitation, where cigarette smoking is prohibited, and dogs are not permitted on the beach.

 

It was only a five-minute run from Chalkies Beach to Whitehaven Beach. We were informed that we would have a good hour and a half to enjoy the beach here, but were asked to hang around the beach area there initially and not go for a huge walk as they were getting lunch ready and it would be ready within 15 minutes.  

We were provided with either buns or wraps with salads, and cold meats for our lunch.  There were three different choices of homemade salads to choose from, and there was plenty of food available for us all.  Three other tour groups arrived on the beach while we were there.

After lunch was served, we had an option of going for a bush walk through Australian native bush and local rainforest. When you get to the top of the short 1km walk, the Whitsundays Islands National Park opens up before your eyes. On one side you will see the sparkling waters through the inlets in Chance Bay, on the other you will see 7 km of white pure silica sand stretching down Whitehaven Beach towards the northern Hill Inlet.

 

We had time for a dip in the ocean on Whitehaven Beach, and I was keen to do this just to say that I have swum at Whitehaven.  With its snow-white sand, complete remoteness, idyllic turquoise crystal-clear waters, this whole place is stunning.  We had roughly half an hour to have a dip before it was time to board our vessel to head off to our lost stop for the day at Palm Bay Resort on Long Island.

Once we were back on our boat they served us a light snack of a lamington and an oreo biscuit and then took our orders for drinks that were to be served at Palm Bay Resort on Long Island.  

It was roughly a half hour run to get to Long Island, and on the way we passed close by to Hamilton Island.  Hamilton Island is the only inhabited island in the Whitsunday group of islands with a population of around 2000 people.  They even have their own school and hospital on the island.  

 

We arrived at Palm Bay Resort around 2.40pm and our ordered drinks were waiting for us at the beachside bar.  Most of us found lounge seats in the beach gazebo to enjoy our afternoon drinks and cocktails, but we had full use of the resorts amenities including their pool and beach side furniture.    We didn’t bother swimming here as we only had 45 minutes on the island.

This is quite a lovely little boutique resort  nestled into the neck of Long Island and has been designed to intricately blend into its natural surroundings. It has it own very secluded private cove also.

 

Steve went for a little walk around the resort and took a few photos and they it was time to board our boat for the final leg of our journey back to the Marina.

From Palm Bay Resort it was only a half hour run until we were back at the Marina, but before entering the slower speed zone, our skipper Dave gave us a few thrills as he zig zagged and made figure 8, and 360 runs spraying water everywhere.  A bit like a roller coast ride, thrilling everyone, and it was a great run way to end our beautiful day out enjoying the pristine area of the Whitsunday Islands.

We arrived back at the berthing bay in the Marina at approximately 4.15pm.  An absolute great day was had by all.  Would do it all again in a heartbeat.  

On our way back to the caravan park we stopped off quickly at Woolies to get a few things and were back in the park by 5.30pm.

We had an easy dinner this evening as both of us were too tired to do too much, so it was cold corn meat with tomato and cheese and the left over Coleslaw.

The evening was spent chilling out in the van catching up on journal writing, photos and watching a bit of Netflix.