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Misto - July 31-August 2: Iconic Whitehaven Beach and wonderful wildlife



Iconic Whitehaven Beach is the 3rd most photographed place is Australia, after Sydney Opera house and Uluru. But first, how did we get here?

We departed Mackay on July 31 and made for Brampton Island. This gave us the first taste of the Whitsundays and we anchored in a pretty bay off an abandoned resort and were able to take the dinghy ashore and walk a fairly steep 4 km walk to the lookout and back. Sadly, there seem to be many resorts in this area abandoned as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent cyclone damage. Some, such as the one on Lindeman Island, has supposedly been purchased by a Chinese group and is being renovated but we did not see a lot of evidence of that. The resort on Brampton clearly has some care-taking staff there, but sadly it would take a lot of money and work to restore it to its former glory.

Next stop was Plantation Bay on Lindeman Island. Although this was a lee shore anchorage the holding was good and we were able to have the crew of Emily Morgan over for sundowners. The following morning, we headed out to Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven Beach. The parasailor took us up there, and even through the Solway Passage with 2 kn of current against us. As a small increase in wind was forecast for today we decided to go up to Tongue Bay (at the north of Whitehaven Beach) for tonight and then anchor off Whitehaven Beach tomorrow. Safe on a mooring ball we dinghied ashore and walked to the lookout point to be rewarded with the view of Whitehaven Beach that features on glossy tourist brochures and advertising for the Whitsundays. The turquoise hues of the water do not need to be re-touched in the photographs as they are so vivid. While I am sure that during school holidays and summer public holidays this area is packed with tourists, at this time of the year there are a reasonable number of boats and people, so isolation and tranquility are still available.

We have seen about a dozen whales over the past few days - none too close but as spectacular as ever. Today we saw small stingrays off Whitehaven beach but when taking a sunset dinghy ride around the anchorage we saw many enormous manta rays - what an amazing sight. On our return to Misto we also caught a glimpse of a huge turtle.



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