From Mackay we would be sailing inside the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system composed of thousands of individual reefs and more than 900 islands. The first of these islands are the Whitsundays, a name derived from Captain Cook’s journey through the islands in 1770. He actually called them the Cumberland Islands but the channel his ship sailed through was named Whitsunday Passage and that was the name that stuck.

We’d imagined the Whitsundays to be fairly deserted but stopped first at Hamilton Island, where the upmarket marina and resort were buzzing with people and luxury motor boats. 

From there we went to Whitehaven Beach, an absolutely stunning location. John was keen to get out on his new wingfoil kit so he was soon zipping about on the water. Unfortunately the wind then died and I set off in the dinghy to bring him back to Casamara. Just as he’d got himself and his kit into the dinghy, the dinghy engine spluttered and stopped. Try as we might we couldn’t get it restarted so there was nothing for it but to row back. It was a hard pull against the current and a fair distance back but fortunately we’d been spotted and a kind neighbour came out in his dinghy to tow us home. Later we were invited onto their boat for drinks and spent a pleasant couple of days in their company - a great example of how supportive and sociable the cruising community can be. 

It was a short sail from Whitehaven to Airlie Beach - a well known backpackers haunt - where we spent the night before heading another 400 miles further north to Cairns. Once again we were struck by the vastness of Australia!  In Cairns we were finally reunited with some of the boats in our Pacific crossing fleet. Tam Lin, Escapade of London and Mary Doll were all there,  and we also met some of the Indonesia rally boats too. It really felt like the start of the next adventure. Cairns was hosting the Cairns Iron Man event with the running course snaking its way around the marina where we were berthed. It was really exciting to be in the centre of all the action and we were mightily impressed by the stamina of the competitors. The course combined a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike ride and 42.2 km run. Many of the competitors were still running way into the night!

The Great Barrier Reef gives good protection from the Pacific Ocean swells so the sea is nice and calm but navigation amongst the reefs, sand bars and islands takes a bit of concentration, particularly at night. There are well-marked shipping channels between the reef and the mainland, but these are also heavily used by big ships and its Sod’s Law that just as you’re approaching a narrow pinch point you’ll find a big ship already filling the space!  There was good radio communication with the ships’ captains though so they all passed by without incident. 

From Cairns we still had nearly 500 miles left to travel to the very tip of Australia at Thursday Island.  The islands on this last stretch started to feel very remote indeed. We spent a couple of nights anchored at Lizard Island, home to a tiny hotel and a landing strip. It was here that Captain Cook climbed the hillside and tried to find a passage out through the Great Barrier Reef and back into the Pacific Ocean.  The walk up to Cook’s Lookout was closed when we were there as the park rangers were due to carry out controlled burning of the bush. We had a grandstand view as they set fire to the hillside at sunset and by the time we went to bed the island looked to be in apocalyptic meltdown!  By morning it was as if nothing had ever happened. Very impressive. 

Finally, just under three weeks since leaving Brisbane, we rounded Cape York at the top of Australia, threaded our way through the Torres Strait islands and dropped anchor between Horn Island and Thursday Island. Here we are due to visit the Australian Border Force offices on Thursday Island to check out of Australia ready for our passage to Indonesia.