Island Hopping

 A few nights at the coral seas resort did the trick, comfy bed and breki on the deck and soon I was feeling revived. With the minor repairs done, time for holidays. 

Jen and I headed out of Airlie on a fantastic sunny morning, the breeze was 10-15 from the SE.

Once out of the leads we got our sails up and before long we were bobbing along at 6 knots on our way to Hook Island and the all weather anchorage of Nara Inlet. The forecast was for gusty northerlies for the next few days so Nara seemed like a good option.

Nara Inlet is also the location of the oldest indigenous rock art on the east coast dating back 9000 years. After a calm night we headed over to the small beach at the head of Nara Inlet and from there it’s a short walk up to the boardwalk, interpretive area and cave viewing platform. Home of the Nagaro people likely the earliest aussie mariners, it was moving to read the stories of their history and the impact of English colonisation had on their cultural.

With the northerlies easing we headed to CID Harbour on the western side of Whitsunday Island for the next few days. In the 1890s CID Harbour was home to a steam driven sawmill and an early pioneer John Withnall together with some local Nagaro men logged the steep hills for hoop pine. 

There is a walk from Sawmill Beach to Whitsunday Peak, at 450m it’s all uphill and the guide says 3-4 hour return. We headed off in our little tender just after breki ready for a long walk, tides are big in this part of the world so we secured the tender to a tree well up the beach. The walk was fantastic, much of the time we were in dappled light inside a lush canopy. After  an hour of constant uphill stone steps our legs were burning and we agreed we would stop at the first view of the bay below. Just over an hour in, we came out onto the open ground and an amazing view across the islands. We were planning to rest here and head back down when another walker told us the peak was just minutes further up the track. I guess we’re not that old after all, we made it up in just over an hour and the rewards were worth the effort.

 

After a long walk an afternoon lazing on deck was in order, the rods hadn’t got a run yet. The 100 magic miles described Cid Harbour as the perfect fishing spot so what better place to try our luck. Jen’s got the touch when it comes to fishing although no live bait was a limiting factor. No fish however late in the day we were rewarded by an amazing sunset.

Our last day in Cid Harbour was idilic, we jumped aboard our trusty ride and headed back into Sawmill Beach for a lazy hour walk around the coast to Dugong Inlet. No escaping COVID, never expected a Qld government checkin sign on a secluded island beach .. go figure.

The plan for the morning was a Yoga session on the beach for Jen and you guessed it more relaxing for me, this is the antidote needed to rewind the clock.

Our final afternoon in CID Harbour, heading in for supplies tomorrow. Fancy cheese board and a glass of red, not a bad way to wrap up our first stay aboard. No fish yet although I changed tact with the rods re armed with another shinny lure so fingers crossed for dinner otherwise it’s leftover fajitas to top off the delights we just consumed.