On Monday 23rd we picked up Mike’s brother Steve at Hamilton Island, who is visiting from South Africa for a few weeks. This rather delightful resort island has a few hotels and private  homes; a stylish marina complex and a busy airport – making it the best place to pick up visitors to the Whitsundays.  The marina is super organised with restaurants, shops, tours, ferries to the mainland, etc – they even send out a “concierge dinghy” to meet you and guide you to your berth. Once tied up the attendant whips out his portable credit card machine, so no need to even go down to the office.  Fabulous!  Only downside .... $160 per night!

 

   

 

 

From Hamilton island we headed up around the Whitsunday island to the famous Whitehaven beach. This beautiful long beach is famous for its snow white silica sand, that squeaks has you walk along it. Every day hundreds of tourists arrive on charter boats, on ferries, on go-fast speedboats, on float planes and helicopters, to enjoy a day on the beach.  Nights are a whole lot quieter.

 

  

 

 

While we were at the Whitehaven anchorage, we met the Lasky’s with their guests & crew aboard the magnificent Nordhavn 78, Voyager III. They recommended that we move to the next bay, Tongue Point, where we would be able to hike up a hill and look back down over an inlet and on to Whitehaven. Wow! – what a view that was!