All got up early to get to the marina in time to meet the dive boat at 8:15am for my older son and I. Then My older son and I found a short cut and walked into Airlie Beach. After a windy game of "Uno," my wife and younger son caught the bus to "Barefoot Bushman's Wildlife Park." It was a short 10 minute ride.
At the wildlife park my wife and younger son saw the crocodiles being fed. They saw shows on koalas, snakes, wildlife, bird feeding as well as crocodiles. It was too cold to swim so the pool was closed. My younger son liked the tomahawks, digeradoos, placemats with animals, and other neat stuff at the shop, but they only bought a postcard.
My younger son got to feed a kookaburra and a frog-mouthed bird. He also pet a koala twice, pet and hold a squirrel-glider, held a big snake. My younger son discovered (was shown) that crocodiles are ticklish and can be safely sat on, if the rider is about 2 meters back of a 3 meter or longer crocodile.
After my wife and younger son returned to Airlie Beach, they bought a small magnetic chess set for the family. They even saw a video at the shop about the wildlife park. My wife had time to set a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at 10am.
My older son and I rode a 50 foot trawler, "Whitsunday Diver," out to Hook Island and Hayman Island. It was supposed to take us to Bait Reef, but the 25 knot winds were pushing 2 meter waves on the way between the islands and the outer reef. They decided to snorkel and dive on the fringing reef and avoid the rough trip to the outer reef.
My older son and I decided to stick to their snorkeling and declined the offer to learn SCUBA, although they did agree to wear wetsuits due to the wind and cold, approximately 70F. Our first anchorage was Luncheon Bay between Manta Ray Bay and Maureen's Cove on the north side of Hook Island. The snorkeling was very nice. Although we had a little excitement when my older son lost the valve on his snorkel after the first five minutes.
Fortunately, the guys on the dive boat loaned my older son one of their mask and snorkel sets. It was a great site for snorkeling. The variety of fish was astounding. We saw thousands of fish and every color of coral. After an hour of snorkeling we were making our way back to the boat when the guides on the boat pointed out a giant manta ray! My older son and I saw this giant ray with a 6 to 8 foot wing span and a one foot wide mouth swim within 5 feet of us! It was truly exciting.
The guides served up sandwich "fixins" including fresh rolls, turkey, ham, mustard, lettuce, peppers, beets, and vegemite! My older son actually tried the vegemite at the urging of the pilot. My older son allowed that the taste was "interesting" and shared the uneaten portion with the fish. :-)
We then motored through the pass between Hook and Hayman Islands past Stanley Point and the very large reefs south of Hayman. Since we were at low tide at the time, a great deal of the reef was exposed above water. We rounded Akhurst Island and anchored in Blue Pearl Bay of Hayman Island. Due to the brisk wind and cool weather my older son and I were late getting into our now very wet suits and finally snorkeling. It seemed as though it was a terrific reef but the waves and foam and bubbles limited visibility dramatically. After about half an hour we called it quits.
Soon after, the trawler prepared to weigh anchor and head back to Abel Point Marina. Instead, the anchor windlass failed and they spent 15 - 30 minutes fighting to repair the windlass and retrieve the anchor. All this within a few feet of the reef and even sliding over the anchoring limit bouy!
We were finally on our way, but now had to battle 3 foot waves and 25 knot winds. This meant tons (literally) of water over the bow, even against the pilot house windshield and onto the flybridge where my older son and I rode the "bucking bronco" across the Whitsunday Passage to Airlie Beach. It was a blustery, wet ride, but we made it shortly after 4pm. My older son and I showered, laundered the salty clothes and met My older son and I on the dock near the dinghy.
Everyone repaired to Abel's Bar to play chess, cards, have dinner and tell stories about their day's activities. Finally about 8pm they braved the dark, rainy, windy anchorage and rode the dinghy back to "Temptress." The boys played chess and cards while my wife hit the sack in an effort to wipe out her continuing cough. Dad wrapped up the last two days in the journal.
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