Leaving Mackay early morning in glorious sunshine and a decent breeze for sailing, we glided up the Coral Coast to Hamilton Island for the Oyster party the following day.
Hamilton Island has beautiful views but resembles a Disneyland theme resort. Extremely expensive for everything and very touristy. We were not that impressed. The Oyster party was set in a stunning location with seafood platters delivered to the table by wetsuit clad, fit bodies, announced by a firework display as darkness fell. We had a fun evening finishing with Debbie accidentally dropping one of her new shoes in the marina, only to be followed by the other one out of frustration. Replacements have been bought and Stephen will be in control of handbags, shoes etc when climbing on board in the future.
We were keen to anchor off Whitehaven beach and enjoy the company of others plus try out our stinger suits. We look very odd in skin tight ‘babygros’ but it created a lot of laughter. Jellyfish (stingers) are not around at the moment but we weren’t taking any chances. The Box and Irukandji jellyfish are potentially lethal and being in remote anchorages, immediate medical help was hours away. However we had litres of vinegar aboard Amelie to deal with any stings. Vinegar inactivates the stinger cells and reduces the further injection of venom.
After three days in Whitehaven we needed a change of scenery, so off we sailed to Butterfly Bay on Hook Island. Snorkeling here was cold with some visibility. The coral was reasonably healthy and there was plenty of life. We organised a beach barbecue ashore with several other rally participants and spent the afternoon, eating, drinking, chatting and playing volleyball.
The weather was settled so the decision was made to sail out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel and dive. A surreal experience tied to a buoy in the middle of the ocean. We stayed in Bait Reef for several days watching the Humpback whales fluking(flipping the tail before diving), blowing, flipper and tail slapping, breaching by the juveniles, gliding through the water whilst they migrated. Calves were copying their mother’s behaviour. In the distance we were able to observe through binoculars Humpbacks lunge-feeding for hours. We will never forget this experience. We were warned that we would be fined if we were within 100 metres of a Humpback, so we kept our distance. Humpbacks are known to be inquisitive and reports of people being killed by breaching Humpbacks landing on their boats were a deterrent.
Sadly whilst on the Great Barrier Reef we received the news that Stephen’s father, Peter, had been taken into hospital and was deteriorating. We made the decision to get to Cairns quicker than planned to enable Stephen to fly back to the UK. Apart from an overnight stopover in Wallaby Reef, totally alone in the middle of the ocean, we motored constantly for several days to Cairns.
During Stephen’s 9 days away (see separate account of Stephen’s farewell to his Dad), Amelie was cleaned inside and out; tidied; provisioned fully and some retail was necessary! Naturally a supply of Gin was at the top of the list. OWR looked out for Debbie and were very supportive. Several couples were in daily contact and respected Debbie’s privacy when needed.
Cairns, initially was used as an outlet port to transport gold from the near by goldfields. Cairns expanded by the wetlands being filled in and then became a tourist destination, which is huge today. Cairns is a lively, friendly place with a huge backpackers population. Marlin Marina is tidal and at times Amelie was touching the seabed. The marina staff were exceptionally efficient, kind and supportive.
Strong weather warnings kept Amelie and her crew in port for longer than planned but we used the time to sightsee. We went on the Kuranda railway from Freshwater station in Redlynch through the wet tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland. These are claimed to be some of the oldest on earth. We wound our way through the rugged mountain pass through tunnels and over bridges with waterfalls falling into ravines that you could almost touch. Our destination was the township of Kuranda. The railway began construction in 1886 and completed in 1891. Men with picks, buckets, shovels and dynamite built the 37 kilometres of track to serve the goldfields. Premature explosions and disease claimed lives but their sacrifice and back breaking work still serves the community.
Kuranda and the surrounding area is a world heritage site with the heritage buildings being used as cafes, shops and galleries. We embarked on a beautiful walk through the jungle and along the river back to the village. Stephen and Bob mistook swimming ducks as crocodiles, much to our mirth. After a hearty lunch we visited the butterfly sanctuary viewing the local species. Standing by the nectar stations we had butterflies settle on us, some of which were enormous. Many pictures were taken for Jon to identify back in Swansea.
The trip back to Cairns was by Skyrail which ‘sailed’ over the rainforest canopy in the afternoon light. The bird calls were crystal clear as we were so close to them and the views towards the Coral Sea and the reefs were unbelievable. Some of the pine trees were over 50 metres in height, erupting through the dense canopy. Huge ferns were in abundance aged at over 150 years old. A very tired crew retired to face the following day, to attack the never ending jobs on Amelie.
Amelie is now ready to continue towards Darwin which will be a passage of 1,200 nautical miles ( 7-8 days sailing), our last port of call in Australia before heading to Indonesia.