Saturday 2nd September 2023
Today we had a deadline to leave camp as the next camp Crayfish Beach also had a low tide problem. We had a choice to make – breakie up to the lookout which was a 4km return hike up 264m of elevation. So a tough one or snorkel. I would have loved to enjoy a quiet morning having breakfast beside the water, then snorkelling for an hour before packing up again, but we decided on the hike. So we were up at 6am and ready to leave by 6.30 with our breakfast packed, for hopefully a pleasant view at the top. We started the hike and it was up, up and up right from the start. We had climbed 100m of elevation in the first 500m and seen our first snake. We think a python of some kind. We then continued through a beautiful trail of giant grass trees, hoop pines, dry rainforest, birds nests and quandong trees. It was a lovely walk albeit a big climb, over a very short distance, especially first thing in the morning. We arrived at a rocky outcrop below the imposing form of the Whitsunday Cairn and were rewarded with the most amazing 360° views. It was spectacular. We just looked in awe and are feeling so lucky to be able to travel this way. We had intended on a quick breakfast to try and fit in a snorkel as well, but instead we just enjoyed ourselves, made a few quick calls to let family know we were ok and stayed a lot longer than we anticipated. We then headed down the hill quickly as we were now on a deadline to pack and leave on time. We got back down at 9.15am and the tide had come in a fair bit. We were better at packing up our gear and the kayak this morning and were on our way by 10.53. Not quite 10am but we managed to enjoy a lovely hike and view. Our paddle today was a lot shorter today and we cut off a few of the bays as we had a big deadline to make to avoid the pitfall of yesterday. We saw many green turtles and a stingray today. The landscape and rocks were magnificent and ever changing, the water was a lot smoother with minimal wind and the most magnificent colour of blue. You will be amazed at the photos. We paddled really well today, considering how far we paddled yesterday and our minimal arm workouts over the last 3 months. We arrived at Crayfish Beach at 12.30pm after paddling in some beautifully calm waters and negotiating a few tricky headlands with swirling, choppy water and the final headland was a bit rippy. Once we arrived in the bay we were happy to see a sandy beach. We managed to drag the kayak up the beach without emptying it which was a welcome relief. We met Charles and Florienne from Paris, Josh and Laney from Melbourne and there is also a couple from Spain. After lunch I had a snorkel for over an hour and saw some lovely coral, all different types and colours, soft and hard. There were many different vibrant coloured clams, many trimmed with iridescent blues, greens and pinks. There were also many, many different varieties of fish, small and large, striped and plain, yellow angel fish, a couple of different parrot fish, schools of tiny fish, spotted shy fish and too many to even explain. It was a lovely hour before I got too cold to continue. David joined me for the last 20 mins. Unfortunately the turtle David had seen close to shore earlier this afternoon, didn’t come back. We then set up camp, had an early dinner and spent the next 3 hours getting to know our new camp buddies. It was a lovely evening. We heard a noise in the water and went to see what it was and saw 2 very small Port Jackson sharks mating in the shallows. What an amazing way to end our day.
6L water today