Onward to Nara

It was showery as we left Hamilton Island with the races in full swing. We took Manatee around the back of Dent Island as AK hung off attempting to get mobile and internet coverage. It was very exhilarating to make 9kts in Whitsunday Passage (wow, what strong currents!) We ended up hovering off Hamilton to get coverage. After much gnashing of teeth we dropped Manatee's anchor at Joe's Beach Whitsunday Island for lunch. Lots of dolphins frolicking eased AK's blood pressure- gotta love bureaucracy!

Joe's Beach

"Because the anchorage is either in, or very near, the narrow channel between Cid and Whitsunday Islands, these locations are subject to tidal influences and are not really satisfactory overnight anchorages."  100 Magic Miles was spot on, it was very entertaining to watch yachts doing 360 turns in the current. I'm sure the bare boat charterers would have been thrilled to see their hire boats "doing donuts".

We moved down to Cid Harbour for the night.

Winds were forecast 25-30kts from the south-east so we stayed put for another day and night in the very full anchorage.

Eventually the wind dropped to 10-15kts so we headed over to Nara Inlet on Hook Island. Ooh la la! Nara Inlet is gorgeous. Clear water, splendid beaches, no mobile coverage, wondrous rock formations, peace, unspoilt bush and the remains of Indigenous rock art. In the wet season apparently waterfalls abound. The inlet is also a hammerhead shark breeding ground - so no swimming.

We all jumped in the dinghy to explore and on returning to Manatee Marg managed to embed our trolling lure in her wrist. Ouch. AK found it impossible to dislodge so after a VHF call for assistance, Laura a Finnish A&E nurse who had a crew position on Coral Trecker ("sail the Whitsundays on a square rigger") came over to remove it. Apparently lots of Finnish fisher people lodge hooks in various body parts so she was very experienced!

The next day we trekked up to the Ngaro cultural site to view the art- amazing! The art has been dated to 9000 years and due to dust and age some bits have faded. Although the Ngaro were seafarers, travelling the coast in bark canoes, when Nara Inlet was first used as shelter by the Ngaro people it was part of the mainland. Melting ice changed that!
  
                                       

What remains

What was

Ngaro oral accounts are provided at the cultural site through this cool speaker. It is clear that there would be many sites like this on Hook Island- this is the one Ngaro people like us to visit.

After a few amazing days it was time for us to continue north before the weather turned nasty.

 

We were grateful for the time we spent at this magical spot.