CID HARBOUR TO GULNARE INLET

Today we decided to move from Cid Harbour around to Gulnare Inlet which is on the south side of Whitsunday Island. With wind against tide we ended up heading south into a fresh 15-20 knot SE wind with a 1-2 metre swell. Certainly not a pleasant trip. Luckily it is only about 5 nautical miles so it was quickly over.

 We anchored in Gulnare Inlet from where you can see our next destination of Hamilton Island

The entrance to Gulnare is quite shallow with the entrance being less than 1 metre deep at low tide (and our keel is 2.1m deep). Fortunately a) the high tide was at 10am, just the right time to go in and b) we had our friends in a catamaran to act as a pilot boat on the way in.

 Apart from our two boats the only other boats in the bay were three motor boats that were "unattended" so we had it all to ourselves.

Once inside it is a nice sheltered anchorage. It is only just over other side of the ridge on Whitsunday Island but such a contrast from Whitehaven Beach.

Thought I would include a picture from the chartplotter so show how much the boat swings around whilst at anchor with a combination of the winds and tides

 

CID HARBOUR

A second day enjoying the western side of Whitsunday Island at Cid Harbour. The weather is improving but the winds are still strong enough to encourage us to stay put.

We decided to have a lunch ashore at Dugong Inlet. There were no dugongs but plenty of goannas keen to share the lunch. Of course as usual the wives excelled at whipping up a small feast.

It certainly is a lovely location as the photos from the afternoon show

 



An it seems every evening the sunset gets better

CID HARBOUR AND WHITSUNDAY PEAK

As the wind continued to be strong we decided to stay anchored at Cid Harbour and climb to Whitsunday Peak. It is a 2.5km walk to the peak which is 434m high. According to my calculations this is a 16% gradient (or 1 in 6).

You are rewarded by spectacular views from the top

 

Evening was another spectacular event

 

 

 

 

WHITEHAVEN BEACH TO CID HARBOUR

Up early enough to catch sunrise and the morning view of the beach

We up anchored at Whitehaven Beach for a short motor up the beach to Betty's Beach at the north end of Whitehaven Beach to climb up to the lookout the provides a magnificent view all the way down the beach and into Hill Inlet

The views from the lookouts give you a real appreciation of the beauty of Whitehaven

The forecast for Saturday night is for strong winds early on Sunday morning (more than 25 knots) so we decided to head around the top of Whitsunday Island to anchor in Cid Harbour

 

A spectacular evening at Sawmill Beach which is in Cid Harbour

 

 

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THOMAS ISLAND TO WHITEHAVEN BEACH

We left the Rivieras behind, only problem is that then can travel much faster than us so they were soon hurtling past us. There are some polite ones and then there are the ones who seem to take pleasure in passing as close as possible to you at full speed to maximise the size of the wake causing you to rock.

Today our destination was Whitehaven Beach which is one of the iconic destinations in the Whitsundays. The sand is 98% silica which makes it very spectacular. The beach is more than 3km long (we know that because we walked the length of the beach).

To get to Whitehaven Beach you first have to pass through Solway Passage, where we encountered a current of more than 3 knots and unfortunately it was against us

We could not have asked for better conditions to visit Whitehaven Beach with almost no wind and no swell making the conditions perfect.

 

 

Along the beach you encounter helicopters "parked" on the beach. People pay $329 per person to be flown to the beach and spend 1 1/2 hours in the sun. Our 2 hour walk cost us nothing.

GOLDSMITH ISLAND TO THOMAS ISLAND

From Goldsmith Island we had a short sail (actually motor as there was no wind) from Goldsmith Island to Thomas Island. When we arrived at the island we anchored in a delightful sheltered bay and only the 4 boats from RPAYC plus one other catamaran (an really interesting guy from Alice Springs who has been sailing up the Queensland coast in this tiny trimaran that is only about 20' long).

We though we were in paradise and looked forward to a peaceful stay. Unfortunately we had chosen the same island that the Riviera club had chosen. First one motor boat arrived, then another and finally we had been joined by 17 motor boats.

We decided to climb to the top of the hill in the afternoon the take in the view of the southern part of the Whistsundays. You can see from these photos how spectacular the views are. Note the bay full of cruisers

And the obligatory sunset photo