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Published: August 2nd 2013
The new toilet seal arrived finally on tuesday which coincided with a calming of the wind and the first clear day in a while. So we headed north out of harbour walls and had a nice 4 hour sail, rounded the west tip of Brampton Island and anchored next to the public jetty.
The next morning was clear with little wind, the first day its been warm enough to have breakfast in the cockpit and our first morning in the Whitsundays. Paddled to shore, breaking the left rowlock along the way! Carefully got out on the rocky beach beside the jetty and carried the dinghy to the high tide mark. Then over the old train tracks and followed the path to the resort which closed a couple of years ago. Along this path there were butterflies everywhere - it was like a dream sequence from a movie.
Came out at the main building and the pool on the beach - still had water in it along with small fish, a few crabs and a fair bit of sand. Some shirtless young guy was playing pool with himself in the main building - thought he might be a
squatter. There were plenty of "Private Property" signs but skirted the deserted resort and even had a look inside one of the rooms. It had no power or water but still was fully furnished including an expresso machine and TV & DVD player. Next to the 6 retired small catamarans, the blackboard at the beach hut still read the tidal conditions and activities available for that day back in 2011 when presumably had its last day.
Followed the beach around to the channel between Brampton and Carlisle Islands. We were heading to the runway but got sidetracked by the sight of an old archery area and tennis courts. It was at this point the young guy arrived and announced himself as the caretaker. He warned us, for Alex's sake, there were snakes around and that we were trespassing. We had a little chat and learnt that they planned to scrap the whole resort to build a new one. He had the lonely job of looking after it and plane would be landing today to bring supplies.
We headed off the property and took the National Park path up to the 2 lookouts. Its a
1.8 km climb which went slowly with Alex and Naomi but beautiful views up top. Came back via the resort beach again passing some kangaroos, a tree snake, lots of spiders and of course the butterflies again.
Today was more overcast so had breakfast in the cabin as usual. Left mid morning for our big circuit of the island hike. I paddled us a little further up the beach to cut down on the walking distance and we were followed by a few medium sized fish.
While we got ourselves together Alex wandered down to the water and as often happens sat in the wet sand, so he was without his shorts for the first part of the trip while they dried out.
The path took us above the resort and runway, around to the south of the island where the level path skirted the hills with views over the beautiful bays below as you walked. Stopped at a few bays for snacks and never met another sole the whole day. There were signs to say half the circuit was closed. It was a little overgrown but no worse that the
Rest stop
Oyster bay in backgroundopen parts except one little bit where we had to crawl under some fallen foliage, and still well sign-posted.
Alex coped really well, walking about half of the 9km. When we were three quarters round Naomi was starting to feel the fatigue and was getting sick of dodging spider webs, whilst Alex fell asleep on my shoulder.
Finally back at the beach we spent about half an hour picking spear grass spikes and seeds out of our clothes, carried the dinghy over the rocks and paddled back to the boat pushed along by the wind.
Should be heading to Goldsmith Island tomorrow which is a short 10 mile hop north.
We are booked into Hamilton Island Marina on Saturday the 10th if anyone is around then.
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Glenn Rowan
non-member comment
Great Adventure
Good Morning Luke, Naomi, It is good to read of your continuing adventure. I am pleased that your yacht is performing well and life in the slow lane is rewarding. I look forward to your next update.