Sailing Erica: Homeward Bound

October in the Whitsundays sees Erica and her crew gradually turning southwards, heading for Adelaide almost 2,000 nautical miles away, but before we do so, there are friends to farewell and places to explore. A former colleague from Adelaide (now Eco Dev Manager in the Whitsundays) came aboard in Airlie Beach and popped the Moet cork to encourage our departure. It was then off for a quick, windswept one night visit in Cid Harbour with the crew from Rose, before we headed to Nara Inlet in search of our dear friends Simon and Annie on Bushranger, in quite wet and dismal conditions. After enjoying the evening and an early morning walk up to the caves, Bushranger headed further north while we went exploring the very shallow Dugong Inlet, where we discovered some RQ members enjoying their own private party on a secluded island beach.

Even though the weather forecast was for more winds of 30kts+ we decided to accompany Bushranger on an Oyster Catching expedition to Tongue Bay (and you can see how that went) before braving the seas for a fabulous last night/day at Whitehaven Beach. It was like our own special farewell as the sun and the sunset made it very memorable. The Bushranger crew were keen to go a few miles southwards with us, across to Webster Bay for some fishing and exploring. This bay is only a few miles from Whitehaven but we were very happy to be the only ones there to snorkel amongst great coral and numerous fish, and to laze on the beach, in between fishing and exploring expeditions. Finally, a few farewell drinks and one last stunning sunset to remind us just how beautiful this place (Whitsundays) really is. Enjoy life as we certainly are...

Moet Farewell from Airlie Visitors