Climbing into Adventure

Whitehaven Beach - Haselwood Island - Whitehaven Beach


The uncomfortable first nights sleep on the thermarest and make-shift pillow was soon forgotten as I walked the 20 steps out to a deserted Whitehaven Beach to watch the sunrise. It was surreal to have no-one around as during the middle of the day, this place is like a zoo.

Having our first breakfast with rationed muesli and powdered milk, it didn't taste as disgusting as we thought. As our bellies filled and the tide slowed down, we crossed the channel again over to Haselwood, but went further around the point and spent the morning on a gorgeous little beach. Landing the kayaks and having a swim, we found a huge clam only 3 meters from the shoreline. It was an easy re-entry today as there wasn't much coral in this area.

Arriving back at camp for lunch, we had a lazy afternoon. As the tide went out, the rocks were exposed, which meant so were the oysters. Figuring out the best way to cook these little creatures was a bit of a mission - we decided to try heating them over the burner to open them up. This did eventually work, however each time one did open, the water would spurt and put out the flame. It was a team effort which resulted in about 15 oysters being successfully opened and eaten.

As this time of year the sun sets around 5.30pm and the new moon made for a dark night, we found ourselves going to be around 8pm after a bit of star gazing on the beach. As Karen went to brush her teeth we heard an almighty scream as a python slithered past her tent. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. That night, we slept with our tents firmly zipped up!

Tips for climbing into this adventure:
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• as it was night 2 we were still able to eat fresh vegetables for dinner which we made into a curry with noodles

• our water rations for days 1 & 2 were in big tubs from the kayaking company - they picked these up from us when they arrived at Whitehaven the next day (days 3-7 we used collapsible water bladders)
  

• if you have the opportunity, get away from Whitehaven Beach during the middle of the day - it's so busy. If you can't get away, I suggest walking 500 meters or so in any direction to escape the crowds to experience the magic of this beach

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