Wandering through the Whitsunday Islands

It seems a while since we posted a blog time passes and these days we are at times left wondering which day of the week it actually is. It has seemed that one beautiful Whitsunday Island is replaced with another and life has taken on a much slower pace. We are presently moored in an absolutely idyllic location at Cape Gloucester having passed through the Gloucester Passage yesterday afternoon. The sea is flat and calm (always important!) and a clear turquoise over sand.The sun has returned and we are enjoying some fantastic days doing very little sailing and relaxing in such a gorgeous location. The winds have varied greatly during our travels in the Whitsundays at times over 25 knots, being driven by the south east trades but now they are very light and balmy down to 5 to 10 knots for the next few days. On with the engine again if we need to get anywhere!

A few days ago whilst exploring the beach at Jonah Bay we discovered 5 cans of VB! Someone was either too drunk or overloaded that each 10 minutes he dropped another can. I have tested one so far and all seems well!

We regularly see turtles and some pretty huge fish off the back of the boat thankfully no sharks yet as Roger has his daily plunge from the stern! I haven't had the heart to try and catch any yet. Call me sentimental but if they have grown so well how can I be the one to catch them.They all look so beautiful! Sorry Joel!

It seems that we are always taking many sunset and sunrise photographs, each one always appears more impressive than the last. It's become a bit of a rictual to sit and watch the sun dip below the horizon, glass of wine in hand at the end of another beautiful day. We then see the first stars rise. Presently we nearly have a full moon which washes out the intensity and brilliance of the night sky although it does send its own glow over the water.

We have both said how very privileged we are to have the opportunity to do this and how we wish others could do the same. Work, families and the normality of life makes it so easy to get caught up with the mundane, we forget the things that are important. It makes you realize what a beautiful place the World is and how we all take it so much for granted. May be we all need some time out to touch the World more gently and appreciate what we have.

David and Tina came to visit and we managed to see many of the more visited Whitsunday locations. It was lovely having time with them and Roger appreciated them sharing his 50th birthday. We left them at Hamilton Island where they caught a flight back to Melbourne. We then sailed to South Molle and spent a couple of daysrelaxing and walking up the islands, hills gaining some fantastic views of the Whitsundays. From here we returned to the bustle of Airlee Beach where we have had some sail repairs completed and restocked the food and supplies after our guests! We now have 10 days before Jonathan arrives for a 2 week holiday,this will require a major re provisioning in Townsville!!

Well were off to Bowen for a day and then we head north in preparation for our pick up location for Jonathan. We'll be saying farewell to the Whitsundays for a while but hopefully not for long.
Anne