Whitsundays

We guessed the best way to see The Whitsundays was on a boat so we began our 3 day sailing trip on Monday morning. We boarded the ‘Alexander Stewart’ at 8:30 in the morning and set sail into the deep blue sea.







The trip was amazing! We had a great crew and made some great friends on board
We snorkelled once or twice each day in different spots around The Whitsundays (see map), we saw Maori wrasse, parrot fish and a wobbegong! We also bushwalked on the islands and swam at Whitehaven beach – beautiful white sand and crystal clear water. The sand is all made of silica – broken down from Quartz (and very good for polishing jewellery and body exfoliation!)






We all celebrated Jamie’s birthday with a Sara lee cheesecake and a magical sunset over the sea

Townsville to Airlie Beach

Townsville

We caught up with Kelly and Marty in Townsville. They gave us the grand tour of the strand, took us to the best ice cream parlour in Townsville and then drove us to the cowboys vs manly game. It was a fun game being surrounded by angry cowboys fans and listening to the not so energetic cowboys theme song – with a theme song like that you wont win a game.


Airlie Beach

We left Kelly and Marty behind to get ready for their farewell bbq and headed toward Airlie Beach. There wasn’t a lot to see along the way except for the town of Bowen which was apparently the place to be. (well it had an 80 page brochure dedicated to this one town) The town of Bowen, known for it’s BIG MANGO is also known for the location where the film Australia was filmed – no Hugh in sight. Bowen was a pretty town by the coast with some beautiful beaches and many green turtles swimming by the jetty.







We arrived in Airlie beach, checked into our sailing cruise then ate a $2 steak meal at the hotel!

Magnetic Island

On our way down the coast we saw a father cassowary with his two chicks crossing the road - lucky sight!




Magnetic Island, about a thirty minute ferry ride from Townsville, was settled by white people around 1860 and soon became a popular destination for tourists. There was a quarantine station on the island that held new migrants before they made it to the mainland. It also played a major role during WW2 as a look out for Japanese bombers coming close to the Australian coast.
We caught the ferry over on Wednesday afternoon after driving through sugar cane and banana farming areas. Since it was state of origin we decided to have a XXXX gold on our way over to lull the Queenslanders into a false sense of security (didn’t work)
Horseshoe Bay was our camping destination and the Marlin Bay Tavern was where we watched the state of origin surrounded by crazy Queenslanders.





Magnetic Island was a surprise – so many beautiful bays, bushland and we even spotted some koalas in the wild!

Mission Beach

Mission Beach was only half an hour down the road but a completely different atmosphere. On the way we saw Josephine falls and The Boulders.





The town of Mission Beach was still quiet but there were more backpackers around and wicked vans parked in dodgy areas. Mission Beach is the access point for Dunk Island, skydiving and white water rafting on the Tully River. The beach was beautiful (again) and the view from out tent was of coconut trees and sandy white beach. Jamie went white water rafting on the Tully River and we both kayaked to the South side of Dunk Island – national park away from the resort. On our Kayak we saw turtles, dolphins, blue rays and a white tip reef shark – apparently friendly and shy. The lady we kayaked with had a great job – kayaking in the Coral Sea everyday – they are thinking of selling the business….would be a great one to take over!

Kurrimine

Kurrimine was the next stop – a sleepy fishing town situated next to King Reef. We were recommended to stay here from a traveller we met in Georgetown. The campground was right on the water and again, filled with avid fishermen and their wives. Mostly grey nomads filled the park with their tinnies and their four o’clock drinks circle (we weren’t invited)
We explored the hinterland – beautiful waterfalls, made friends with the Kurrimine locals down at the pub and watched the Innisfail Leprechauns play the Yarrabah sea eagles – very interesting

Fitzroy Island 19th-20th

Fiztroy Island is about a 50min ferry ride from Cairns – it is a small coral sand island that is mostly national park. It was originally only used by a lighthouse keeper until the lighthouse was moved to a smaller nearby island. In 1981 a resort was opened on the island but was closed in the last few years. We went over to camp the night and discovered that a new resort was due to open in about 10days – looks pretty spiffy! Fitzroy island was very quiet and pretty – we spent time bushwalking, beach sitting and water trampoline bouncing!

Back to Port Douglas 16th -18th May

We left Cape Tribulation behind and headed back towards Port Douglas (so Jamie could watch the tigers – we won’t discuss the result!). Along the way back we walked through the canopy of the Daintree – great views from the top!




We spent the next day on the beach, enjoying the warm weather! We stayed in Cairns the followi

ng night in the bad lands.