Climbing into Adventure

Paddle Bay - Shute Harbour - Airlie Beach


Last nights sleep on hard ground made for an early wake up this morning, but again, all was soon forgotten as I was able to see this amazing sunrise over Whitsunday Island.

Packing up camp for the last time and we didn't have to strategically load the boats as there was now no food or water left to worry about. We set off from the dead coral beach and soon realised that we had one last test of endurance before we hit the mainland. As soon as we went around the north west tip of South Molle Island, the winds hit us head on. We only had a short crossing to do to get us back to the mainland, but it was a 30 min roller coaster ride over very choppy swell which drenched us completely. Stopping off at White Rock, we planned to do some snorkelling, but the conditions weren't right. Paddling over to Tancred Island, Fe was certain that we would see some turtles - but they must have been hiding away from the weather.

As we slowly paddled by the yachts in Shute Harbour, we arrived back at Salty Dog where we unpacked our boats and celebrated our return to the main land with a bucket of chips from the small cafe. Taking a taxi back to Backpackers by the Bay, we enjoyed a hot, freshwater shower for the first time in a week. The amount of dry salt that encased our bodies and clothes made for a funny sight.

A feast was definitely on the cards tonight, so after our celebratory cocktail in town, we dined at Shipwrecked Seafood Bar & Grill and ate way too much! Sleeping on an actual bed with a real pillow was wonderful - but also sad as this meant that our amazing week long sea kayaking trip had come to an end.


Total Paddle Distance Today = 6km / 2hrs


Tips on climbing into this adventure:
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• invest in a good sleeping mat if you have the money. Exped mats are very comfortable, kind of like lilos but much lighter. They will make your trip much more enjoyable

• to help you a feel a bit fresher in the morning and at night, bring along some Wet Ones to have a 'shower in a tent'. These little wipes can make all the difference and wipe away all that salt
  

Shute Harbour - Haselwood Island - Whitehaven Beach


An early morning check out of the hostel and this time we booked a taxi to take us to Shute Harbour. Loading up the boot with all our pre-packed dry bags took almost just as long as the actual drive to Shute Harbour. We met up with Scamper - the barge that would take us and our kayaks to our starting point of Whitehaven Beach - and set off at the 7am high tide into the sunrise.

Dropping off other travellers at Hook Island and Crayfish Beaches, we had a glimpse of the coastline we would be kayaking by in the next few days. Arriving at Whitehaven Beach and stepping onto the white silica sand, I knew this was the beginning of an amazing week. We walked only 10 meters from the beach and found what looked like a great camp spot and set up our tents. On closer inspection, we saw random little bits of white paper scattered around the area and soon realised that it had recently been used as a weeing ground (the actual drop toilets were a 200m walk up the beach). Nevertheless, we found some long sticks and cleaned up the area.

With the whole day free, we decided to get familiar with the kayaks and paddle over to Haslewood Island. Although only about 30mins from camp, we soon realised the importance of being familiar with the tides as we experienced the strong water flow through the small channel between the islands.

Pulling the boats into the beach on an outgoing tide, we all jumped in the water for a quick snorkel and were amazed at how beautiful it was. Large, colourful coral surrounded us and we found the best bits right on the drop off only 20 meters from shore. As we ate our packed lunch we were surprised to see the coral become so exposed.

As there was no way out for 3 hours until the tide came back in, unfortunately we had to laze around on the beach and do absolutely nothing - oh it was such a tough start to a holiday!

On our return to camp the first group meal was cooked (stir fry with fresh veges) as we watched the amazing sunset over the beach - a highlight on any trip to Whitehaven.


Tips on climbing into this adventure:
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• we had a cooking/cleaning roster where each couple were responsible for cooking and cleaning for the group on one night, then had a couple of nights off. This worked really well as you didn't feel guilty not helping and had time to relax at dusk

• don't leave ANY food out over night (especially in your tent). There are little mice that roam around and are known to chew their way through the lining of your tents

• familiarise yourself with tides and how water flows north/south at various times - you can use this to make paddling easier
  

• always take food with you in your kayak, you never know where you might find an amazing little beach and how long you might stop there

Friday 17th July

And we're off! Over the past 6 months I've researched beaches, tide charts, camping grounds, food ideas and more, and now it was time for Chris, Fe, Guy & I to board the Tiger Airways flight to Mackay. Picking up the 4WD hire car, we drove to Mackay supermarket to do the shopping for 6 people for 6 days as the tiny supermarket in Airlie Beach just wouldn't cut it (although we did later find that there is a large supermarket in Cannonvale - 10mins down the road from Airlie). As we piled all the shopping on top of our packs for the 2hr drive to Airlie Beach, we were glad that we didn't choose the small hatch-back car as it wouldn't have all fit in.

Arriving at Backpackers by the Bay, we checked into our private 4-bed dorm, met up with the other two members of our crew - Karen & John - and competed in the hostel's Quiz Night where the grand prize is a $3 bottle of bubbly! After our glorious win, we celebrated in style with an amazing dinner at the Airlie Thai Restaurant. Highly recommended! Our night got even better when a lovely old man gave us a bottle of Oyster Bay so we could him him celebrate his birthday.


Saturday 18th July

A morning of wandering around the lagoon and shops with all the other tourists, our afternoon took us for a ride on the local bus out to Shute Harbour for our safety briefing with Salty Dog Sea Kayaking. We were given a pile of dry bags which we took back to the hostel and started sorting all of our gear & food. It all became a bit overwhelming as we tried to remember how many pieces of salami we allocated per person person per lunch, or how many cups of powdered milk were needed for breakfast! (the kayaks were going to have so much weight in them, we needed to be this specific). But, along the next few days we found that by packing each of our lunches and dinners into individual bags proved to be very worthwhile


How to climb into this adventure:
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• to get to Airlie Beach, you can either:
  
• fly Tiger to Mackay and hire a car from just outside the airport;
  
• fly Jetstar/Virgin to Hamilton Island and catch a ferry
• fly Qantas to Prosperpine and catch a shuttle

• you can hire your kayaks and related gear from Neill & Hayley at Salty Dog Sea Kayaking. We made up our own itinerary, but you can also do tours with them.

• we decided to do main meals as a group, negotiating on what each person liked to eat (we each organised our own snacks). We made a list of exactly what we needed to buy BEFORE we walked into the supermarket which made things a lot quicker and easier in the isles