Gypsy Cruising

30 July

Butterfly Bay to Whitehaven Beach

Very, very rarely you awake without realising the day ahead of you will be something special.

During the last leg, while David and Anne were aboard, I'd spent a night anchored at Whitehaven Beach with the rest of the Alfreds cruising fleet.  We'd then gone our separate ways - we to Hamilton Island and the others to Cid Harbour after a luncheon stop at Hill Inlet to the north.  They since told me how wonderful Hill Inlet was, and that we should make sure we visited there at mid tide so that we could see the best of the swirling waters that adorn so many tourist brochures and billboards.  By chance, mid tide today was to occur at midday, which offered us the opportunity of seeing the inlet while the sun was at its highest point and behind us.  Our plan was therefore to motor the 11 miles down from the top of Hook, in what was to be calm conditions, and anchor off Betty's Beach at Tongue Point, just off Hill Inlet.

Morning in Butterfly Bay

The morning was simply stunning.  Celeste took the wheel for the greater part of the passage, and enjoyed the whole experience.  I'm certainly feeling happy being back out on the water after the time in port and Celeste seems to be slipping into cruising life.

An interesting rock formation known as the Wood Pile at the north east corner of Hook Island

This is the first time I've had the luxury of time to spend recrossing my path around the Whitsundays.  It's a nice experience to be able to revisit places with different people and re-see it through their eyes.  This is particularly so with Celeste who has never visited the islands before.  This will also be a first for me - I've never visited Hill Inlet in spite of being in the area many times.

Tongue Point is a thin peninsula separating Hill Inlet from Tongue Bay.  It boasts a popular lookout that most people approach from Tongue Bay itself.  That approach is complicated by a rocky and shallow beach and the bay is crowded.  In contrast, Betty's Beach is really a continuation of Whitehaven and boasts the latter's same white sand and easy approach.  Its only downside is that it's not suitable as an overnight anchorage.  We had this wonderful beach to ourselves (for a while, anyway) and made the walk up to the lookout shortly after noon.  That walk is a short one and follows an easy bush track.  We did come across an overseas visitor who was very lost and had misplaced her tour group.  We wondered how that might have happened.

The view at the end simply stole our breath.  Not only is it extraordinarily beautiful but, as the tide fell, the sand and water changed colours and shapes as we watched.  This was a place where we simply sat and watched and considered ourselves to be so lucky.  I think it was enough to change the character of the cruise from a sailing holiday to some sort of pursuit of passion.

Could even the most gifted artist paint something so lovely in its intricacy?

The swirling colours of Hill Inlet with Whitehaven Beach curving off into the distance

Gypsy Princess at anchor off Betty's Beach

The drone captured amazing imagery.  The video opens by showing Tongue Bay to the north and then Hill Inlet, reflecting largely the same views as we had from the lookout.

Of course, we eventually had to come down from the lookout.  There was another tour group on the beach but they largely headed off on their own.  We took well over an hour swimming and enjoying this sublime spot, simply mesmerised by being part of it for a brief time.

After all that we got back to the boat and took it the couple of miles down to the southern end of Whitehaven.  There were some boats at anchor there but nothing like the congestion we had during the school holidays two weeks ago.  

We sat through another glorious dusk and sunset that continued what I think we decided had been a perfect day.  I've already overdone the hyperbole in this post, so I'm just going to shut up now.

Sunset at Whitehaven Beach

I'll add a comment here about the music I've put with the video.  In fact I chose the music before I began to edit.  While anchored, just on dusk, we had some Fleetwood Mac playing, until it got to a point where I thought it too jarring for the surroundings.  It seemed a place so beautiful and peaceful should have the most beautiful of music.  I played the Rachmaninov and found the experience just exquisite.  There was nothing else I could imagine for the videos.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.