Whitsundays, Episode II
Further south
8.11.2007
The next day the wind increased and turned south; we spent
a couple of days in Townsville and, as we had to be in Whitsundays for my second
CPA exam, we started sailing south.
With the wind was S-SE and big waves against us we were
very slow, making only 20 miles per day on average, anchoring at night at
Cleveland Bay, Bowling Bay, Upstart Bay, opposite Bowen, and finally, at Airlie
Bay.
2nd CPA exam in Cannonvale
Today is my second CPA exam and it is in Cannonvale, a town
close to Airlie Beach. The name of the examination centre was “Trump
Lifestyle Centre” and expected to see a big building, or at least a hotel like
in Cairns. However the taxi driver took me to a small house, which didn’t look
like a business building at all: a cat sleeping by the door, garden of flowers –
looks like a normal private house. I checked the address and it was correct.
Then I noticed a print-out glued to the wooden fence: “Trump Lifestyle Office”.
In Sydney there are about 1000 people in one exam, in
Cairns there were 8 and here it was just me.
The exam supervisor (who obviously lived in this house) was
a nice lady. She offered coffee and showed me into the living room where the
examination table was set up for me. It was standard, same like it would look in
Sydney with the number and my name tag glued to the table :), however the table
was large and convenient for open book exam - I can fit all my folders with no problem,
and the chair was a soft office leather chair – very comfy. Well, I didn’t feel
like I’m doing an exam at all.
A week in Nara inlet
9.11.2007
Our fridge that we picked up from repairs in Townsville
broke down again. It was still under warranty and it was not a first priority
for the repair place to fix it. We have to wait for a week, but luckily we were
in Whitsundays and there is no better place to wait. The weather turned really
bad though, the wind increased to more than 30 knots building up the seas to uncomfortably high. A
good place to wait over was Nara Inlet of Hook Island.
The first day we got deep inside, it was very nice and
protected and cockatoos visited us in the evening, however there was no internet
reception and we moved to anchor near the entrance next day, where it was still
protected and we had phone reception.
We spent almost a week there, reading books and relaxing. I
was happy that I don’t need to study for a while. As the weather outside the
inlet was bad, it seems like all the Whitsundays charter fleet wanted to anchor
here; as we were next to the entrance we saw all the boats passing by. It was
good to spend a week on the same spot, we would prefer to visit Bait Reef again
instead, but it would be too rough there anyway.
Hill Inlet
18.11.2007
We picked up the fridge that seems to work fine this time,
we did our big shopping in the Cannonvale Coles and started making our way south
again. We stopped in Tongue Bay off Whitsunday Island for the night (it was very
rolly there) and climbed the lookout point of Hill Inlet next day. There is a
magnificent view over Whitehaven Beach from there, white sand meets crystal
clear water which first turns aquamarine near the shore, then emerald and then
bright blue.
Whitehaven Beach
Gonzie wanted to keep going south, however I talked him
into anchoring for one more night at Whitehaven Beach –it is one of my favourite
beaches. When we arrived there the weather was turning bad and there was a huge
rain cloud in the horizon. It was actually already raining less than a mile from
us and we hoped we can anchor before it gets to us, but no luck Gonzie got
soaked 5 minutes before he could drop the anchor.
19.11.2007
In the morning I put on my mask and fins and swam over to
the beach in the morning while Gonzie was still sleeping. Two yellow fishes
escorted me to the beach swimming just in front of my mask. The beach has very
fine white sand, which is why it is cold “Whitehaven” and the water by the beach
is clear. There is no surf here which makes it pleasant for swimming.
And south again …, stop-over near Lindeman Island
We are moving forward again.The weather is very cloudy and
it is about to rain. A strange ship, with square sails, passed by – she is at
least 100 years old. She was carrying a pirate flag with a scull and crossed
bones. “Pirates!” - we thought and altered our course (no, just kidding, it was
a tourist boat :).
I wonder how many crew it takes to manage a ship like
this.
We stopped at Lindeman Island for the night. It is a resort
island, but we didn’t visit it.
Goldsmith Island
20.11.2007
Stopped at Goldsmith Island where we spent 2 nights. A turtle came up to breath
right next to the boat. Then we almost lost our life ring. I tie it to the boat
when going for a swim just in case there is a current. Our neighbour saw it
drifting away, jumped on the dinghy and picked it up for us. Very nice of
him!
Brampton Island
22.11.2007
Brampton Island is the most southerly resort of
Whitsundays. There were a naked man and woman on the neighbour boat and they
didn’t even care that someone can actually see them – lots of other boats
around.