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Tamie Poepping Australia |
Sailing the Whitsunday Islands
On the tallship Defender
Carolyn and I headed out on a sailing excursion around the Whitsunday Islands (a group of islands clustered around Whitsunday Island) which are famous for their beauty. After recommendations from my friend Julie Holland, and others, we had chosen a 3-day/2-night sailing trip on one of the restored tall ships. We sailed on the Defender, a magnificent 115 foot long wooden tallship with a history dating back more than 100 years.
www.tallshipadventures.com.au
Crew
We joined the crew of Captain Jeff, First Mate ‘Psycho’ Bob, Mate Jason, Chef Supreme Caz (Caroline) and volunteer Mate Damian, along with 35 other guest crew members and two other volunteer crew members (assistant cooks).
The ship had bunks for 25 guests, although most slept on the deck anyway, and 10 others camped on shore.
When it came time to sent sail, anyone keen on helping could pitch in. It took several people to heave up the massive sails.
Whitehaven Beach
On the first day, we headed up to Hook Island for some snorkelling, then down to Whitsunday Island to set anchor for the night. On the second day, we sailed over to the east side of Whitsunday Island, where we climbed to a small lookout on a peninsula for a beautiful view of the blue and turquoise waters.
We walked along Whitehaven Beach, to reach the small, private Betty’s Beach for some swimming, water games, and a quick game of football/soccer. As we returned to Whitehaven Beach, the brilliant blue water had receded with the tide and a massive beach of stunning, fine, white sand had appeared.
Sailing Route
We headed out for another snorkelling excursion before returning to our anchoring site on the west side of Whitsunday Island.
Capt Jeff mentioned that it is possible to hear the parrotfish eating away at the algae on the coral. I hadn't noticed it before while scuba diving, but it was obvious with the peacefulness of snorkelling and no bubbles trickling past my ears. At one point, I heard what I thought was obviously lots of munching but only saw a couple of parrotfish, until I turned my head and saw about 30 fish in a feeding frenzy on a patch of coral. Also saw some beautiful anemone fish. Unfortunately, no underwater photos to show.
On the ship, we met the lovely Willis Family from England, whom we ran into again later on the bus trip to Hervey Bay, and again while touring on Fraser Island. Most of the photos here of the Whitsunday Islands are thanks to the Willis Family, who gave me copies after my camera died half-way into the second day. It was surprisingly common to repeatedly meet the same people while travelling, especially along the east coast of Australia. People generally stopped in the same tourist hot-spots while clinging to the coastline as they travelled either up or down the coast.
The boom net off the front bow of the ship was a great spot to chill out and feel the wind and spray as we were sailing.
Back ashore at Airlie Beach
Back on firm ground and all cleaned up, the Defender crew rocked the Beaches bar.
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