Another Day in Paradise

Our last blog saw us leaving Kingfisher Bay Resort and heading for Platypus Bay, in the hope of encountering a friend, and a whale or two…

Finding Blackwattle

On Tuesday 8 August, we left Kingfisher Bay Resort and made our way up the Great Sandy Strait passing Big Woody Island to port then Moon Point (Fraser Island) to starboard, until we reached a spot at the southern end of Platypus Bay called Arch Cliff.  This part of Fraser Island is quite devoid of landmarks so Arch Cliff is a landmark due to its significant orange sand dune.

We dinghied to shore and enjoyed walking on the beach and trying to climb the steep dunes, which sent avalanches of sand pouring out of every footstep.  Graeme made it to the top and took some nice photos across the Strait, then he joined us and we wandered some more.

Arch Cliff was the perfect place to rendezvous with our CCCA friend, Christian, on the beautiful Blackwattle. He’s been up here since earlier in the cruising season and has already been enjoying the wonders of the area.  It was great to catch up and have him aboard for sundowners, and swap adventure stories.

We bounced around a bit that night.  Not all sailing is plain, and not all anchorages are calm!

Whales

Wednesday 9 August we headed further into Hervey Bay, finally entering the much-anticipated whale playground:  Platypus Bay.  It was exhilarating.  I can’t adequately express the feeling of pure awe and joy at seeing and hearing these magnificent creatures up close. We watched the humpback whales all the way across the bay.

We eventually anchored north of Station Hill.  Over the next couple of days there were countless magical moments.  Some we captured on our cameras, other times we just enjoyed being there to witness the many kinds of whale behaviour; cruising along in pods with their new calves, blowing and ‘snoring’, fin and tail slapping, spy-hopping (where they pop their heads out of the water to eye level, to get a good look above water), and various versions of breaching.  When making way, we are always careful to observe the minimum 100-metre distance rule, but once anchored, it’s then up to the whales to choose how close to come.  And, wow, did they come close!  We had whales cruising right up to our boats, sometimes doing a lap around for a second look.  Whales were going under the boat at times, and we were only anchored in less than 8 metres.  A whale bumped into Blackwattle’s anchor chain one evening, causing a shudder through the boat.  Occasionally, they would do something dramatic right off the stern, other times you would hear the whoomph of a distant whale repeatedly tail slapping or breaching.

Night time in Platypus Bay was special. The nights were still and dark, the sea like oil.  The moon was late to rise so the stars were bright and the Way stood out in all its milky glory.  Whale song penetrated the hull of the boat – the unearthly trumpeting calls and whistles.  Outside, you could hear the whales not far from the boat, resting at the surface, breathing their ‘grandpa snores’. We felt so privileged to be able to live with the whales for a time.  The experience will remain with us always.

Urangan

With strong onshore wind predicted for our area, we finally tore ourselves away from the whale wonderland and headed back south-ish to Urangan on Friday.  Christian told us that reprovisioning in Urangan was easier than at Bundaberg, also Col and Noelene would be there in their boat, Inspiration, and we’d never been to Urangan before, so even though we were effectively going backwards, we decided Urangan was the destination.  We left late morning and had a fabulous sail across Hervey Bay, enjoying speeds more than 7 knots (with a helpful current at times). Because of our late departure, we got into Urangan right on sunset.  With no other arrangements made, we anchored outside the artificial harbour in what we felt was a very exposed position, with windy and bouncy conditions.  The conditions fortunately settled down late that night, and we got some sleep.

Saturday morning by 0800, we were on the phone to the marinas looking for a berth.  Out of three marinas, Great Sandy Straits Marina (the big one) was full.  So was the one next door.  The last one, Fisherman’s Wharf Marina, was closed on weekends!  Someone called Jo answered the phone, however, and although she was walking her dog on the beach, she managed to organise a berth for us.  No sooner had we docked than it was off to breakfast with Colin and Noelene, up at the big marina.  Lovely coffee and brekky and great to hear about their adventures too.  Too soon, it was time to let them go and for us to get to work.  It was a day of laundry, refuelling, cleaning, filling water tanks and reprovisioning.  Jamie was thrilled to oversee the washing again.  I walked 2km to the shops with Christian and filled up my trolley.  I called Graeme, feeling slightly panicked.

‘Honey, the trolley is FULL and I haven’t got everything!’

‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘Just get that lot and we’ll go up again later.’

And we did.  And almost filled another trolley!  Two taxi trips and 10kms on foot and I was finished for the day.

That evening, the little township held their ‘Blessing of the Fleet’ ceremony. No, not blessing the fishing boats for plentiful catches – blessing the whale watching boats.  For plentiful tourists, perhaps? (Ah ha! Now we know why the marinas were full!) Christian went over to the festivities and managed to slip into the bar.  The event concluded with a fabulous fireworks display, which we watched from prime position on Symphony’s bow.

Dolphins and more whales

Next morning, we were away by 0730, with plans to head to Lady Musgrave Island via Platypus Bay.

We motor-sailed the 32 nautical miles across the bay, at one stage in the company of a pod of five dolphins who stayed with us a good while, playing in our bow waves as we rode the bow above. They would roll on their sides to eye-ball us before shooting ahead to leap and twist, then slide back into the wave or chase their mates – always a thrilling experience to interact with the dolphins. We eventually anchored close to Rooney Point at the top of Fraser Island mid-afternoon.  No sooner had we laid anchor than the whales were putting on a grand show for us. The setting sun turned the sky pearlescent; gorgeous colours that were mirrored in the placid waters.

Another day in paradise.