​Well we thought that Cape Gloucester would be the furthest north that we would go in ITIKI this season, mindful of a long return journey ahead of us. A conversation with our friends Cheryl and Richie on Serenity Now made us change our minds though, and so glad we did. Magnetic Island, or Maggie as it is affectionately known, is a real gem of a place and well worth a visit.

Magnetic Island is just 8km from Townsville within the UNESCO Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. Most of the Island’s 5,184ha land area is protected - 78% is National Park and Conservation Park. With 23 stunning beaches and bays, a wide array of wildlife, and a small and friendly residential population of over 2,300. This low key "resort free" island is a favourite with cruisers and even hosts its own Race Week around September each year. 

It took us 2 long days to make the 132nm from Airlie Beach to Horseshoe Bay on the north side of Magnetic Island, with early starts both days. The first leg from Airlie took us
outside of Gloucester Island to Cape Upstart. It was great to do some sailing under main and gennaker, with a little Volvo assistance at times. Spotted plenty of whales along the way as well, which is always a delight! Cape Upstart is a big anchorage with some shacks ashore, good protection from the south-east trades and a very  popular stopover for boats on the way north and south. A little rolly at first but settled during the night and we slept well.

​An early start the next day as well, with the main up, although we were expecting to motor, with light winds forecast. The forecast was for less than 10kts from any random direction, however we ended up with 15-18 from the south which gave us a good reach once we got past the very long and low Cape Bowling Green, and turned westward towards Maggie. It was quite choppy past the point as its fairly shallow, but we settled in to a rhythm and made good time. A bit overcast when we arrived at Horseshoe bay, there are quite a few boats here, but plenty of space and nicely protected.

Took the paddle boards ashore, into the wind, which was hard work as we are quite a way out! Walked along the beach and checked out the “town” which is pretty basic, a couple of tourist shops, a pub and a few restaurants/cafes. What more could you want?! The water is not really clear here and although there is a netted swimming area we are not tempted. Tides are fairly substantial up this way and there was a tri-maran and a Wharrum cat beached on the shore, their owners doing some much needed hull and keel work.

We took advantage of Queensland’s 50c bus fares to head uphill to the Forts Junction and tackle the famous Forts Walk. Saw a couple of koalas chillin' out in the trees along the way. It is quite a hike to see the various ruins and lookouts with several side paths and back tracks. Hot and sweaty work so we head down to Florence Bay for a picnic lunch. Lots of steep steps on the way down and as our legs were starting to turn to jelly we thought it might have been a mistake, particularly if we need to go back the same way! Florence Beach is lovely, beautiful white sand and very clean. Not too many people either as most come on foot or by boat. We have a quick dip but there is quite an algal bloom on the water here and a little difficult to avoid the slick. After a picnic lunch and a rest before heading back we manage to get back on our feet. Fortunately we can return on a gently sloping road up to Forts Junction, but even so it is slow going. Made it to the bus stop and just as we did a couple of locals stopped in their car and offered us a lift back! What a lovely gesture and very welcome!

​Back on the 50c buses again this morning (no expense spared!) First stop at Alma Bay. There is a lovely beach here which has life savers, grassed BBQ and picnic area. This must be the main tourist beach as it was quite busy. We spy an older couple who are having a picnic with a table cloth and wine in glasses! Very civilised! Why didn’t we think of that.
 
We enjoy a swim here as the water is lovely and clean, then its 2kms walk to Nelly Bay where the ferry wharf and IGA are located. Stopped for lunch at SOS seafoods and some ordinary barra and an average glass of wine, before getting back onto the bus to Picnic Bay. This is the end of the line and there is not much here at all. The beach is unpatrolled and there is an old, long, disused jetty in the middle. Some kids are having a bit of a carnival at the SLSC but none seem too keen to go in the water. We walk along the foreshore, past the signs announcing a recent croc sighting, and then succumb to the temptation of the local craft Brewery where we have a “tasting board” before heading back to Horseshoe Bay on the bus. As we have a little time to kill on board the bus before departure, the driver treats us to several verses of “The wheels on the bus…” complete with actions, including horn going beep, beep, beep and wipers going woosh, woosh, woosh. Hilarious!
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​After a couple of full-on days we make the most of some rainy weather to stay on board, rest & recover, bake, eat, drink and repeat – and of course a few boat jobs.  

Our legs have stopped wobbling so we tackle the (much shorter) walk from Horseshoe beach to Radical Bay and Balding Bay. There are several strategically placed warning signs along the way announcing that Balding Bay is a nudist beach. Both are really lovely beaches, with beautiful white sand, crystal clear water and lined with spectacular boulder formations. We saw one yacht anchored at Balding bay, although they came over to Horseshoe for the evening, so we decided to come over in ITIKI tomorrow. We had dinner ashore at Barefoot wine bar, lovely meal, and met some fellow Tasmanians.

​As planned, the next day we took ITIKI around to Radical Bay after breakfast. Went ashore and had a walk and swim, so good. A great day relaxing, watching the comings and goings of humans and birds.
 
Sadly it ended up being a radically rolly anchorage overnight, which explains why boats only come around here for the day, so we woke in the wee hours and ended up leaving at 3am! Got to Cape Upstart just after lunch, mostly motor sailed. Keith went up the mast when we got there to sort out a halyard, and spotted a Dugong between us and the shore. What a treat! We motored back to Airlie the next day, having thoroughly enjoyed a “side trip” to Maggie.

We spent just on three months in the Whitsundays and as you can see from our NFL track we made several loops around the major islands of the Whitsundays, using Airlie Beach as a base and catching up with friends, old and new, and welcoming our final guests on board ITIKI. It was a great time to relax and enjoy the area with no time pressures and no great distances to travel. We also used the opportunity to get some regular maintenance and outstanding works done and generally peace out. Here are some of the highlights of our time here.

It might not have the white sand beaches and palm trees, but Macona Inlet, on the southern end of Hook Island is a magical anchorage. It is a long, fjordlike bay surrounded by high, rocky cliffs and lined with mangroves - great for exploring in the dinghy or SUPs. With two distinct anchorages and several small beaches, which all but disappear at high tide, so be quick if you want a swim! Turtles, rays and dolphins frequent the bay and possibly sharks as well. Great protection from the SE trade winds. We stopped here a couple of times and would definitely recommend it. Very peaceful and good protection from SE winds.

The bay to the west of Macona, is much better known and frequented, and also very beautiful. What makes Nara Inlet so special is the historical site including cave paintings left by the ngaro peoples, the local sea peoples and traditional owners. Its a short walk up hill from the tiny landing point on the rocky shore and the visit is well presented with interpretive information and voice recordings from descendants of the ngaro tribe. Its a bit challenging to anchor the dinghy here at high tide, so its good to have someone drop you off to visit the cave.

When conditions permit we love to jump in the water and check out what is happening below the surface. The Whitsundays and Barrier Reef are renown for the abundance of underwater life. The long reef off Chalkies Beach, is definitely worth a visit. We picked up a mooring here and took the dinghy to the southern end, swimming north back towards the boat. The bays at the top of Hook Island, such as Butterfly Bay and Manta Ray Bay were also well worthwhile and are popular favourites when it comes to searching for nemo, with pretty good coral and varied sea life. Our most adventurous trip was getting out to Bait Reef, which is 17nm NE of Hook island, offshore on the Barrier Reef. As there is no protection from wind or swell here, so its best to go in very calm conditions. If you get lucky its well worth a visit. The coral is in excellent condition and whale spotting is almost guaranteed in July and August.
As anywhere the underwater experience really depends on the weather conditions which can determines the visibility and comfort factor when snorkelling. One really pleasant surprise was a spot we had not been to before and not even considered for snorkelling, but it proved quite interesting.  Cairn Beach is the starting point for the challenging Whitsunday Cairn walk, and while we were not up for that, we had perfectly calm conditions to explore the long and colourful coral reef that extends from the beach a long way south. We picked up a free mooring buoy, and in perfect and calm conditions I jumped off ITIKI and swam over to the reef, while Keith took the SUP. It was so super calm and he could see the reef clearly from the board. What a lovely surprise location this one was! 

The prevailing trade winds come from the South East and during our time in the area we regularly had forecasts of 20+kts from this direction. So when the going gets tough, everyone gets going...to Cid Harbour! There are no mooring buoys here but plenty of room to anchor and great holding in sticky mud. There is excellent wind and swell protection, and with no high cliffs around, no katabatics. You will arrive to find dozens of boats here if a big blow is forecast but fear not, there is always enough space for more! Yes we did spend quite a few days and nights here and (sometimes) in good company.
​Ashore you can access the Whitsunday Peak walk, which is not for the faint hearted or unfit (ie us). Otherwise there is a lovely and less challenging walk from Sawmill Beach to Dugong Beach, where there is a camping area. Great to stretch those legs when you have been hunkering down listening to the howling of the wind in the rigging. The only downside is that there is no swimming, after several shark attacks in this area some warning buoys and signs have been added to the anchorage. Keith bravely went exploring on the SUP and can confirm the presence of "noahs" in the area!

Not sure if Insta is still a thing, but its hard to beat Hill Inlet / Whitehaven Beach for world class, stunning scenery and the "money shot" of selfies. The picture postcard perfect shifting sands of Hill Inlet are best appreciated from the lookout above the bay, which can be easily accessed when anchored at Tongue Bay, to the NW. Its best spend the night there and to head ashore early-ish before the tourist hoards start arriving, so you dont have random backpackers in your selfies. From the lookout you can walk down to the northern end of Whitehaven Beach and check out the rays sunbathing in the shallows of Hill Inlet, and even take a dip with them. The brave, and shallow drafted, may even want to take the big boat up the inlet (at high tide) and spend the night tucked in close to shore. We visited this lovely location at least three times and it is a must to enjoy, especially with your visitors. As always check the tides before you go ashore at Tongue Bay and position your dinghy accordingly, or better still take the SUPs.

Well of course Whitehaven Beach has to be the pick! Consistently voted top beach in Australia, its unique, pure white silica sand is just amazing to walk on and the water is crystal clear. It is a very popular spot with day trippers at the southern end of the anchorage, and the beach fills up pretty quickly during the day. Its easy to find space further along the shore though, and swim, SUP or dinghy to the beach for a walk. There are a couple of paths through the forest to overgrown lookouts if you fancy it, but we prefer to stick to strolling along the sand. Watch out for the helicopters  landing along the middle of the beach and wave to the many sightseeing flights passing overhead! We visited Whitehaven several times and each time is different. On a calm day it is absolute heaven. 

​Across from Whitehaven is Chalkies Beach, on Haslewood Island, another long stretch of sand, but strangely, given its proximity, just regular sand and not the silica of Whitehaven. A dozen or so mooring buoys stretch out along the shore, just outside the fringing reef, which is well worth a look. Its nice to start at the southern end when the tide is ebbing north and follow the reef along with the current.
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​Special mention: For something truly unique a visit to the smallest beach in the Whitsundays is a must. We picked up a mooring at Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island and took the SUPs to the northern tip of the island, carefully manoeuvring between the rocks and the surge onto the 2 meter wide, corally "beach". Its about a 50m walk across from the west to the eastern side of the "spit", where there is at least a bit of sand! 

Of course the disappearing beach, off Langford reef is also quite unique! See next section

Between Stonehaven and Hayman is Langford Island, a tiny pimple of land with a large reef stretching out to the south and south east of it, that all but dries at low tide. A long sandspit on the NE of the reef is walkable at low tide but completely disappears at high tide. It looks spectacular from the air, and the resorts sometimes drop guests off by helicopter for a picnic. We dinghied ashore here walking up to the small lookout to check out the view, as well as the unique Whitsunday Bottle Tree.
Its also a popular spot with charter boats and with limited buoys (and a 2 hour limit) you need to time your arrival with the tides. Nearby Black Island and Stonehaven are popular alternatives, and most folk just stop for a couple of hours before moving on to their next destination.

We encountered a wonderful array of bird and sealife in the Whitsundays. We regularly spotted turtles in the anchorages, raising their heads to look around before spotting a camera and making a swift exit into the depths. The mangroves provide a protected habitat for several different types of rays, including the cow-tail ray, that we had not seen before. It's definitely aptly named! We had pods of dolphins come and check us out, sometimes swimming along with us for a while, and sometimes not the least bit interested. It was wonderful to see a pair of them fishing together in Macona Inlet, with one animal herding the fish towards the others waiting mouth! The sea eagles and ospreys are always lovely to see on the wing, and they regularly make their nests on the channel markers which guide us through the reefs and shallows. While on a buoy at Langford we had two lovely batfish putting on a display, dancing in the water off the back of the transom. It was also a real treat to spot a dugong off the beach at Cape Upstart on our way back from Maggie, the first I have ever seen in the wild. Sorry no camera ready for that one. And of course, the majestic animal that we all love seeing, the humpback whales! Wow there were so many of them and numerous encounters. We had to dodge a pod of them just out side Bait Reef as we were leaving, had to hold back to let them pass the exit channel! We also saw mothers feeding their young and plenty of tail and fin slapping. They were generally on the move, initially heading north but later in our stay we were starting to see them head south. 

The advantage of a long stay in the area is that  you get to go to places a little off the beaten track. Border island is one such spot we had not been to but were able to stay and play, while the charter boats came and went on their way to somewhere else. The island is quite small but there is a lovely walk up over the ridge with spectacular views southwards to Haslewood Island and beyond. Cateran Bay is lovely, and nicely protected bay so well worth a stop.

Haslewood Island is best known for Chalkies Beach on its western side, which is directly opposite Whitehaven Beach. As we had a bit of time we decided to stop at Windy Bay on the North East of the island, a lovely bay with a couple of beaches, where we had been for a picnic many years ago when Keith was working on Hamilton Island. The Commodore had borrowed the start boat of the Cruising Yacht Club of Hamilton Island for the day trip and we had lovely weather, anchoring in the wide bay and climbing off to swim ashore. As we were relaxing in the shade of our little beach tent and enjoying a cold beer, we looked out to see our little boat high and dry! Ooops, too late to move her. Needless to say we spent a little longer here than we expected to that day... I seem to remember running out of fuel just as we got into Dent Passage as well, and having to be rescued! Fortunately no such dramas this time around. Anchored a fair way out and took the dinghy ashore for a walk on the beach, check out the local rays before a quick swim and sundowners aboard.​

Now that we are based in Tasmania, we have gotten used to calling the rest of Australia The Mainland". From the lovely Whitsunday Islands we made several forays across from the islands to The Mainland. The most memorable was a short hop from Airlie up to Cape Gloucester, with the added bonus that an "old" school friend of mine was staying at Monte's resort with a bunch of her friends. Monte's is a low key resort with a bar and restaurant that is sometimes open, but is also home to the Shag Islet Yacht Club, a bunch of reprobates that meet annually at the resort for fun and festivities. We were too early for the event but enjoyed an evening ashore and BBQ and bonfire, and a few ales, with a lovely bunch of people. The beaches here are really lovely and well protected from the south, and the sunset was incredible. We enjoyed stopping at Jonah Bay on the way back, another superb beach, and protected anchorage, only reachable by boat.

We used Airlie Beach as our base and it is very handy for provisioning, grooming, getting work done and of course catching up with friends. A big shout out to Nick and Suzie, good friends and our "bridal party" who fed us delicious meals (especially "road slam" - aka Roast Lamb), took us shopping and out to lunches and dinners and generally looked after us when we in town. 

Queensland is littered with abandoned resorts, relics of a bygone, pre-AirBnB era, when it wasn't cheaper to fly to Bali. We motored past Lindeman, formerly the Club Med, where we had once played golf and enjoyed lunch. Sadly it is now quite derelict and overgrown, unlikely it will ever be recovered. South Molle was once a popular spot at the cheaper end of the market, but the buildings are now completely in ruins and ready for a bulldozer. Strangely however there is an amazingly engineered and fairly new looking wharf, with a lifting section on the end. There is a caretaker living on the island and the grounds and walking trails are well maintained. It can be a rolly anchorage if the wind is much above 15kts, but in calm conditions it is really pleasant. We enjoyed the walk up to Balancing Rock, which gives some lovely views southward. It was a treat to have a pod of dolphins show up and cruise around the bay too.

With Keith having spent 9 years living and working on Hamilton Island we were really looking forward to seeing how it had changed since he left, and of course catching up with friends who are still living and working up this way. We had drinks with (and delivered honey to) Jon and Liz Hickling (former caretakers of  the private end of Dent Island, and Percy Islands), had a lovely lunch at The Beach Club with Laurelle, now Executive Concierge to the stars, and enjoyed buzzing around the island on a borrowed buggy, checking out our old haunts and new resorts. 
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Race week marked the end of our planned time in the Whitsundays as we had planned to head south as soon as it was over. After all its a long way back to Surges Bay! Well as we well know plans are written in sand at low tide, so on Sunday we headed over to Stonehaven to meet a potential buyer for ITIKI, with Pete from TYSCo. And the rest, as they say, is history...