Monthly Archives: August 2024

Heart Reef

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Our second day at Airlie Beach and it is an extra special one as we take to the air flying over two famous landmarks and the possibility of sighting whales.

Wasabi

Flying from Whitsunday Airport, just 8-minutes from Airlie Beach, our flying adventure is onboard the Australian designed and built GippsAero GA8 Airvan delightfully named ‘Wasabi’. Unlike commercial passenger planes, Wasabi is designed for short flights with maximum visibility for those onboard. Little legroom, noisy, a low ceiling and certainly no reclining seats on these flights but that just adds to the experience of the real sensation of flying in small aircraft – turbulence and all. As with all aircraft, though, safety is the priority and our pilot Sam took us through the emergency procedures including wearing and operating our life jackets as we were to fly over water.

Our aircraft – the eight-seater ‘Wasabi’

Turbulence

It should be noted that the location of the airfield in a narrow valley is known to experience strong and gusty winds and that was certainly the case as we took-off and made our first turn. It soon settled, though, as we headed out over water with great views along the coast to Airlie Beach and the islands that make up the Whitsundays.

Scenic flight route through the Whitsundays

We were soon flying past Daydream Island and south along the tip of Long Island with the largest of the islands, Whitsunday, to our left. Then passing over Hamilton Island known amongst others riches for the famous Hamilton Island Race Week, which attracts ‘yachties ’ and spectators from all over the world. Next was one of the main sights we were looking forward to on this trip, Hill Inlet, surely amongst the most spectacular views in Australia if not the world. The weather wasn’t quite on our side, though, with some low cloud and rain in the distance but it was expected to clear further off the coast.

Hill Inlet from 2000ft with Hamilton Island just beyond

Throughout the flight Sam gave us a comprehensive commentary about the European’s first discovery of the Whitsundays and the Ngaro people’s 9,000-year history of the region. The Ngaro, also known as the ‘Canoe people’, travelled between the islands using sturdy canoes made from lengths of Ironbark timber held together by fibrous roots. In addition to the myriad forms of tropical reef fish calling the waters of the Whitsundays home, sharks, manta rays, stingrays, dolphins, migrating humpback whales and Dugongs* can also be sighted. The dugongs take advantage of the sea grasses that grow around the islands and protected marine parks.

Whitehaven Beach

A very popular day trip from Airlie Beach is the 7KM long Whitehaven Beach. Known for its 98% pure silica bead sand, which has the advantage of staying cool even on hot sunny days and so fine it can be used as a polish.

The sweeping Whitehaven Beach

It can get busy at times and especially during peak season when multiple day trips coincide. However, with such a long beach it’s easy to find a patch of your own to just sit and watch the gentle lapping waves and remind yourself what a magnificent place you are experiencing.

Whales!

Our flight continued further out to sea and we were now spotting numerous humpback whales breaching and ‘fin slapping’, several appearing to be mother and newborns. It wasn’t that long ago that the hunting of whales had reduced the humpback population to the low hundreds. Now protected, recent observations show a dramatic increase and it is now believed 30-40,000 humpbacks populate the migration route between the Antarctic and far north Queensland.

Over the Reef

Five minutes later, just as the sun appeared through light cloud, we were flying over the inner reef and dropping to 500ft tracking the most stunning coral formations surrounded by clear turquoise-blue water.

The inner Great Barrier Reef

Then came a countdown from Sam with cameras ready as we were about to fly low over our target – the perfectly descriptive Heart Reef. First sighted in the 1980’s the reef has become the emblem of the Whitsundays and is now probably the most photographed coral formation in the world. And finally, there it was.

Heart Reef

Not wanting to miss getting the photograph during our fleeting path over the reef I opted to record video and grabbed the best frame. To ensure passengers on both sides of the plane got a good view Sam did a second pass in the opposite direction.

Climbing once again we headed back to the airport spotting further migrating whales along the way. Final approach to the runway presents just as much of a challenge as takeoff and sitting right behind our pilot it was clear just how much counteracting the gusty wind was required to bring the plane safely onto the runway.

A fantastic trip and scenery we will never forget. The highlight of our trip… so far.

For more information and booking options, checkout Ocean Rafting Scenic Flights

*Also known as Sea Cows or Manatees in other countries.

Airlie Beach – The Whitsundays

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Famous as the yachting home of the Whitsunday Islands in Tropical North Queensland, its turquoise water, pure white beaches and its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.

Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays has been on our bucket list for many years and we’re finally here. It is everything we believed it to be and much, much more.

Hill Inlet tidal patterns

Why so Blue?

The water around the Whitsundays is the most beautiful shade of blue bordering on turquoise and glistens in the intense sun. Although stunning it’s not, as you would expect, crystal clear. In fact it’s positively murky. It is by no coincidence that the sea here is the same shade of blue as a glacial lake and for the very same reason. Glacial water owes its colour to the crushed, powdery rock particles suspended in the water and reflects the light that falls upon it in all directions. In the case of the Whitsundays it is near pure silica that sits suspended giving it a milky look but which has even greater reflective properties.

Pioneer Bay – Airlie Beach

A little error in history

Captain James Cook sailed through the Whitsunday Islands in 1770 naming the route between the islands as the Whitsunday Passage and one of the islands in the group Pentecost Island. His journey through the islands was made during the feast of Pentecost, which is traditionally the seventh Sunday (50th day) after Easter. The passage was named after Whit Sunday, meaning ‘White Sunday’ referring to the white gowns worn during the feast of Pentecost. However… on the day Cook named the passage he mistakenly believed it was the Sunday known in the Christian calendar as Whit Sunday when it was in fact a Monday. The Mondays or the Monday Islands just wouldn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Activity Central

Once a small timber, sugar cane and fishing town, Airlie Beach soon became popular as a major Queensland tourist destination. Sugar cane is still a major crop in the region and grown all year round, but Airlie is now the centre for the many active leisure pursuits available to visitors whether on land, sea or in the air. Bushwalking, sailing, kayaking, jet skiing, small boat cruising, body boarding, wind surfing, skydiving and scenic flights are all available for the adventurous. And for those that prefer to soak up the sun the stunning Whitehaven Beach is just a boat ride away.

Day Trippin’

We pre-booked three trips knowing we would be at the mercy of the weather but being peak season we wanted to make sure we got a place on each adventure. First off was a Sunset Cruise on the twin masted, timber hulled ‘Gentleman’s Ketch’ the Lady Enid. Built in 1961 she has competed in five Sydney to Hobart races as well as fifteen Brisbane to Gladstone challenges and was first across the line in the inaugural Sydney to Brisbane Race in 1964.

Lady Enid – Airlie Beach

High winds had delayed the Lady Enid’s return from its daytime cruise, which meant our sunset cruise was late setting sail. It was worth the wait, though, and not just for the included cocktail and antipasto platter as we cruised in near silence with just a single sail set. It wasn’t long, though, before the cool sea breeze sent a reminder that a warm, windproof jacket is very much recommended.

Sunset Cruise onboard Lady Enid

The sunset didn’t disappoint, though, as it passed behind the mountains while creating some beautiful golden reflections on the rippling water. Due to the late departure our return to the harbour was completed in darkness but our skipper did a great job of navigating around the moored boats in the outer harbour and performed a perfect ‘reverse park’ back at the marina.

Lady Enid runs four different tours in and around the Whitsundays and is also available for charter hire. More information and booking details available here: IconicWhitsunday.com.au

Tomorrow we take to the skies and head out to the Great Barrier Reef.

We’ve Started… and we’ve Stopped again

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Not quite the way we had intended to head north.

We’re leaving the Sunshine Coast with stopovers at Maryborough, known amongst other things for Mary Poppins, Tannum Sands and Barracrab at Clareview. After a leisurely start, and just 7KM up the road, we came to a grinding halt. Several cars had flashed headlights at us indicating trouble, or a mobile speed camera ahead. It was worse. Traffic was coming to a stop and queuing as far ahead as we could see.

A passing driver, who had just turned around, advised us that a truck had tipped-over its trailer hit a car and completely blocked the road. Fortunately no one was injured but the blockage wasn’t expected to be cleared for at least 3-hours, setting us, and every other vehicle, a long way back. With the road not wide enough to turn around, it was time to setup the chairs, sit it out and top up the suntan.

The long wait

All clear… for now

Fortunately just 2-hours and 30-minutes later we got an all clear in both directions after the truck and trailer had been dragged to a clear space a little further up the highway. It was then we realised just how many southbound vehicles had been held up too after we had driven many kilometres further north where traffic was still waiting to get going again.

Now behind time we were going to be late arriving at our destination of Airlie Beach for the next week. With the sun setting later in the day the further north we travelled we were hoping not to have to setup our caravan in the dark.

As we have found through much of the drive north on the Bruce Highway, so far, the roads were not in the best of shape. Partly due to the previous season’s bad weather and equally the slow process of road repairs, pot holes, dips and rough surfaces were the norm. Bad enough to pull a caravan through, the road surface could be lethal for motorcycles. At least the department responsible for highway repairs made the effort to erect permanent signs indicating rough sections of roadway. It’s a pity equal effort was lacking in fixing the surface. A cynical person may see the permanent signs as a means of avoiding vehicle damage claims.

A very, very close shave

After a brief stop to refuel in Mackay, we continued along the A1 taking a northwesterly track towards Airlie Beach on the coast of the beautiful Whitsundays. Shorty after passing through the small settlement of Bloomsbury we heard on the UHF radio that an accident had taken place in Bloomsbury between a truck and a 4WD vehicle. Expecting the worse we kept a close look ahead for slowing traffic but all we saw were police cars, two ambulances and a fire engine heading in the opposite direction. Somehow the accident must have occurred just behind us as we passed through Bloomsbury. We were hoping it wasn’t a bad one and no one injured.

Airlie Beach at last

After four days of driving with the caravan in tow and a much delayed final stretch, we made it to Airlie Beach by late afternoon and got our first glimpses of the stunning turquoise waters that the Whitsunday’s region is known for.

Airlie Beach… in Winter

In the News

Catching the evening news brought unexpected news. The accident at Bloomsbury was serious. Initial police investigations stated that ‘at approximately 2.50pm, a white 2014 Toyota Landcruiser utility was travelling north along the Bruce Highway when it crossed onto the opposite side of the road and struck a white 2017 Isuzu truck before hitting a white 2018 Cx5, travelling behind the truck.

The driver of the Landcruiser, a 21-year-old Kelso man, and the driver of the Cx5, a 72-year-old Clifton Hill man, sustained serious injuries and were airlifted to Townsville Hospital for treatment.

The passenger of the Landcruiser, a 34-year-old Mundingburra man, the driver of the Isuzu, a 61-year-old Sarina man, and the passenger of the Cx5, a 69-year-old Clifton Hill woman, sustained minor injuries and were transported to Mackay Base Hospital.’

According to the log on our car we had missed the accident by just minutes. At worse we could have been caught up in the collision and at the very least stuck in another delay while the accident is cleared.

We sincerely hope those that were injured have a speedy recovery and suffer no long term effects from the collision.

Tomorrow our adventure in Tropical North Queensland begins!