19:53:175S 149:00:000E

Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Thu 31 Jul 2014 05:05
 
So continuing from Rogers blog post, Thomas Island, Naked lady beach, My kind of island!
We spent the afternoon having an explore of the beaches and coral reefs with roger and managed to get up pretty close to a huge manta ray which was pretty impressive. I attempted to go for a snorkel but the visability was exptremely poor, plus the first thing I saw as I first entered the water was a shark, which took both me and him quite by surprise.
 
We were the only ones anchored in the bay that evening and we enjoyed a very settled night sleep after eating a freshly caught spotted makerel dinner. Excellently cooked if I dont say so myself.
The next day we set off towards Shaw island which only took a few hours, we anchored up and spent the day spotting turles and just generally chilling out. I put a lobster pot out in the evening hoping to catch us a tasty lunch. Unfortunately I failed.
We set off reasonably early to reach hamilton island for around lunchtime where we moored up in the marina to stop for supplies. After stocking up on key items (mostly the fermented grape variety) and having a quick fish and chips we cast off for Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island. This is one of the most famous beaches in the Whitsundays, roughly 3 miles of white powdery sand. Unfortunately it is also one of the favorite spots for the day boats to visit, so after 10am the beach is heaving. 
Once the crowds started to build we headed off towards hook island to moor up in butterfly bay. This was a stunning anchorage with steep hills surrounding you and reefs fringing the shores.
 
We are currently heading off away from the Whitsunday's to the outer reef to anchor within a coral Atol named Hook Reef.
 
More to follow! Cheers!