The Scotts Senior and the Mitchells Go Sailing the Whitsundays

 The Scotts (Senior) and the Mitchells go Sailing in the Whitsundays

Millionaires Row, Coral Coast Marina

We have been very lucky to have the Mitchell family come and stay with us in Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays for ten days.  Paul, Karin (our daughter), and three kids, Isabelle 12, Emmalyn 10 and Elliot 6.  Before they arrived the weather had been very changeable, often for the worst. In fact everywhere we went people were commenting about the wet, windy conditions. There had been a few sunny days, but after a day or two the windy, rainy weather had made an appearance again. They were lucky. The Whitsundays turned on some gorgeous weather for them. We were able to complete all of our planned itinerary, except for one day where we abandoned Nara Inlet for Cid Harbour due to brisk southerlies.

Quiet time below

The Mitchells spent their first night in the very lovely Marina Shores Resort to use up Qantas credits and recover from the long Jet Star flight via Melbourne.   We booked Olivia into the nearby Coral Coast Marina to fill up water tanks, provision, tidy up and be able to collect the Mitchells and all their luggage. The kids loved watching the schools of mullet cruising around the boats and along the marina fingers. We were among some seriously expensive motor boats and yachts here.

Our first night out on the water was spent at South Molle Island in perfect weather for motoring - no wind, warm and sunny. South Molle is renowned for its beautiful island walks rather than a good anchorage. However due to the calm conditions we anchored for a quiet night with ten other boats. Karin, Paul and Peter decided to walk the Spion Kop walk and I volunteered to stay with the kids on the beach. No-one wanted to swim so we combed the beach for shells, pebbles and sea glass. 

Isabelle, Elliot and Karin enjoy the scenery and sunshine.

 When we got sick of that we walked out on the defunct, but still solid jetty, to a large shaded area at the end of the jetty for morning tea. The adults still hadn't turned up so the kids began comparing their collections, sorting them and finally trading with each other. Elliot found that he liked the plonking sound of his larger rocks as he threw them into the water. So did I. Less for us to store on the boat! There were some comfortable plastic chairs out there so I sat back and watched them have kid fun outside with simple objects as opposed to devices. In fact no devices were used by them for the whole 10 days.

The second night was spent at Cid Harbour where we all walked to Dugong Bay to explore the muddy stretch of sandflats where we looked for creatures exposed by the tide. Peter found a small crab that attached to his foot. In trying to get it off it then latched onto his finger, much to the amusement of the kids.  Later in the afternoon everyone got together to build a dam on the freshwater creek at Sawmill Beach. This kept everyone happy for the rest of the afternoon. 

Dam building at Sawmill Beach, Cid Harbour

After two nights out we had booked two nights in the Hamilton Island Marina. We had not been to Hamilton before so we thought we would all enjoy a bit of luxury in the marina. I think it was a bit of a let down. There is not much in the way of beaches, there being muddy looking water and only at high tide, when the water covers the rocky sand. However, we spent much of the time lazing around the beautiful pool areas along the shore. Paul and Karin enjoyed an energetic walk to one of the lookouts for a view of the surrounding area. On day two Peter took the kids to the wildlife park, probably one of the most expensive in the southern hemisphere, but they did see a huge crocodile very close up through the glass.

Hamilton Island Wildlife Park

Day five looked like it would be windy so we decided to leave early for Whitehaven Beach. The Mitchells are new to the boating life so we preferred not to expose them to rough conditions. After leaving Hamilton Marina we took the passage to Whitehaven via Fitzalan Pass. Once out of the shelter of Hamilton Island the SE wind piped up and the sea became boisterous and two of our visitors lost their breakfast over the side - not saying who!! At least it was not a long passage and as we anchored at Whitehaven Beach where everyone came good and we spent the afternoon on the beach, walking, swimming and generally enjoying ourselves.

Enjoying Whitehaven Beach

From this point on we had windier weather, but the sun shone so we could still enjoy the boating experience. We had intended to spend the last night in Nara Inlet, but the wind turned more south so we decided to visit Cid Harbour again. The kids wanted to see if their dam had survived. They were a bit disappointed as it appeared that some other kids had purloined some of their rocks to build a dam of their own. Of course, "It was not as well constructed as the one we  built," said Isabelle.

The last night of the Mitchells visit was spent back in the Coral Coast Marina cleaning up, having a special meal together at the Garden Bar Bistro and preparing for their journey back to Perth.

Last Nights Dinner

We had a wonderful time and I think they did too. What a pleasure to see kids enjoying the outdoors, using their imagination and just having a great time. Poppy taught Isabelle how to drive the dinghy and she became dinghy captain. We all played card games and Emmy won a great game of Scrabble. Elliot did the best colouring in of Spider Man in his colouring in book, outlining the title in red. What stars! It was a pleasure having you all on board.

Now I am off to Albany for two weeks to check up on our house and my mum at her nursing home. I think I have appointments nearly every day, from Renault service to hair cut and to measure up for a new kitchen when we get home to name a few. I'll be back before I know it ready for a bit more happy sailing.

Isabelle, Emmalyn and Elliot

 More Whitsundays and Airlie Beach 25th June to 9th July 2026

Another monster. This time in Macona Inlet

We have spent more than a month in the Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach area. I feel we now know this part of the Queensland Coast really well and we have explored a few places we have not been to before such as Macona Inlet and Maureen's Cove on Hook Island. The main reason we have spent such a long time here is that Karin, Paul and kids are holidaying with us for ten days and we thought this was a good area to explore with them.

Unfortunately the weather has been drizzly and windy for much of the time and even the locals are complaining. However, we are keeping our fingers crossed as the forecast for the first half of the Mitchell's visit looks promising for fine, mild weather. Later this morning we are going into the Coral Coast Marina at Airlie Beach to prepare for the their visit.

Over the last two weeks we have been sheltering in Pioneer Bay from annoyingly inclement weather and exploring Airlie Beach and Cannonvale. The SACAS (Self Appointed Coffee Appreciation Society) has been resurrected, while sheltering from drizzly weather in one of the local cafes. We have found three very pleasant cafes which have each received high scores out of 10. Firstly the Sister's Corner Cafe in central Airlie on the main street. It has good coffee, an elevated outdoor dining area that is interesting for crowd watching, great service and is the only place we have been that still gives you the complimentary biscuit. The staff are lovely and it is good value for money. That has been awarded 9.5 due to people watching is not as interesting and peaceful as a beautiful view of the landscape.

The other two cafes are in Cannonvale, which is closer to our anchorage if we use the VMR dinghy dock. The first one is The Fat Frog which is located on a beach in the south of the bay. The view is lovely and the food and coffee excellent, however it can be crowded. A sign of a good cafe. It also received a 9.5 as some of the seating is a little uncomfortable. Number three is the Lumos Cafe in the Whitsunday Shopping Centre. Their coffee is good, the savory muffin is the best, the service is friendly and efficient and they clean up and wipe down the tables promptly between guests. The only let down here is the location at the end of the shopping centre overlooks the carpark. They get a score of 9.6.  

When we had a break in the weather of a few days we decided to explore Hook Island and it's anchorages. It is a wild and rugged island which has the highest peaks in the Whitsundays, the deepest bays and some of the best coral snorkeling spots. Firstly we decided to explore Macona Inlet, a place we have not been to before. It is next to Nara Inlet and is a similar narrow bay running deep into the island. Therefore it has protection from all winds except the south and south west. There are some beautiful little beaches there, so we took a long dinghy ride to explore Curlew Beach near the entrance. It is a delightful little beach with a National Park Camp site. 

On the second day we drove through Hook Passage, with the tide, to the eastern side of the island and arrived at Maureen's Bay in time to score a mooring and have lunch. The moorings are supplied by the National Parks and are necessary to stop anchor damage to the reef. Also most of the sea around Hook Island is very deep, over 15m and difficult to anchor in. Many of the bays on the north/eastern side have at least six moorings. They are available for 2 hours before you must relinquish it to another boat for a turn. After 3pm you can stay on the mooring overnight. There are lots of boats out there so moorings are at a premium at this time of the year in good weather. Lots of people don't adhere to the 2 hour rule.

The creek in Butterfly Bay

After 3pm we scored a mooring in Butterfly Bay where we spent a disturbed night constantly banging into the hard plastic mooring buoy. It's like winning the lotto when you score a buoy for the night in a lovely area. Noooooo!!! Inside Olivia's hard fibreglass hull the sound of an unforgiving, plastic mooring buoy klonking the hull all night is like sleeping, OR NOT, inside a drum. Not restful at all!!! However there are beautiful spots for diving or snorkeling amongst the coral along the north/eastern shore of Hook Island. Butterfly Bay gets it's name from the lovely blue butterflies that rest in the trees along the creek. Clouds of them fly around you as explore a little creek in the corner of the bay.

The wind was picking up again so we decided to motor/sail around to Nara Inlet for a quiet night at anchor.  The next day we had a great sail back to Airlie Beach anchorage in time for the next lot of inclement weather. As I write this it is still raining, five days later,..... and the Mitchells arrive at lunch time. Hope it gets better!!!! 

Admiring the scenery in Nara Inlet

Friends drop in for a visit in Nara Inlet