Crayfish Beach - Curlew Beach
Rolling over and waking up to the beautiful sunrise from the comfort of my tent, I didn't want to go anywhere. A great sleep in a gorgeous location, we decided that next time we came here, we would stay for two nights.
Breakfast on the beach and again, we had a secluded bay to ourselves (those other kayakers were still asleep). As the morning tide came in, it was perfect conditions for snorkeling so the mask and snorkels came out before we set off for the day. It was weird to swim over the coral we had seen so exposed the day before.
Retracing our path, heading south back to the Whitsunday/Hook Island Channel, the conditions were perfect. The morning sun, minimal wind, calm seas.............and the sighting of a whale! It was so amazing - first the tail flick, then the water spurt from its blow hole. I couldn't believe it.
We hugged the coastline and soon arrived at Hook Island Resort where we stopped for a tropical cocktail. After lazing on the oversized hammock, we set of again for a short paddle past the Underwater Observatory and across Marcona Inlet to our campground on Curlew Beach.
We set up camp right on the beach again and were greeted by two nesting Curlew's (the birds the beach is named after). As the sun was setting, it disappeared behind the hill quite early in the day which made for a bit of a colder evening. Sitting down for dinner after the boys tried their luck at fishing again, we were fed the best dehydrated spaghetti bolognaise I have ever tasted. Our chocolate rations for desert were depleting fast, but we only had one more nights camp so we might just be ok.
Total Paddle Distance Today = 12 km /3 hrs
Tips on climbing into this adventure:
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Rolling over and waking up to the beautiful sunrise from the comfort of my tent, I didn't want to go anywhere. A great sleep in a gorgeous location, we decided that next time we came here, we would stay for two nights.Breakfast on the beach and again, we had a secluded bay to ourselves (those other kayakers were still asleep). As the morning tide came in, it was perfect conditions for snorkeling so the mask and snorkels came out before we set off for the day. It was weird to swim over the coral we had seen so exposed the day before.
Retracing our path, heading south back to the Whitsunday/Hook Island Channel, the conditions were perfect. The morning sun, minimal wind, calm seas.............and the sighting of a whale! It was so amazing - first the tail flick, then the water spurt from its blow hole. I couldn't believe it.We hugged the coastline and soon arrived at Hook Island Resort where we stopped for a tropical cocktail. After lazing on the oversized hammock, we set of again for a short paddle past the Underwater Observatory and across Marcona Inlet to our campground on Curlew Beach.
We set up camp right on the beach again and were greeted by two nesting Curlew's (the birds the beach is named after). As the sun was setting, it disappeared behind the hill quite early in the day which made for a bit of a colder evening. Sitting down for dinner after the boys tried their luck at fishing again, we were fed the best dehydrated spaghetti bolognaise I have ever tasted. Our chocolate rations for desert were depleting fast, but we only had one more nights camp so we might just be ok.Total Paddle Distance Today = 12 km /3 hrs
Tips on climbing into this adventure:
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- we prearranged a water drop at Crayfish beach as Scamper regularly does trips here. This saved us carrying an extra 60 litres of water on our kayaks for the first three days
- if you have the time, I recommend staying two nights at Crayfish Beach to take in all its beauty. Apparently there is a walk you can do up the hill too
- although it does add extra weight, we brought along 6 litres of cask wine (1/2 a glass per night) to help us wind down at the end of each day
