Day 11, Year 3: The Whitsundays-North Hook Island
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Weather: Couldn’t Be Finer
Location: Butterfly Bay, Hook Island, Queensland, Australia
We’re starting to feel like a beach ball. We started today in Maureen’s Cove, moved next door to Luncheon Bay, took the dinghy to Manta Ray Bay to snorkel, had lunch back in Luncheon Bay, moved back to Maureen’s Cove where we had started the day so that we could snorkel at low tide, and then ended up back where we first moored on Sunday in Butterfly Bay. Whew! Just keeping track of ourselves wears me out. But it was a good day, and actually very relaxed. Being able to pick up a mooring everywhere
we go is so much easier than anchoring. The good news today was that we saw some great fish, but the bad news is that our underwater camera is once again not working. We sent it back to the factory while in the US and we thought they replaced it with a new camera, but this one is giving us the same screwy readings that we were getting with the old one, so something is surely not right. I can’t believe we missed the picture of the Giant Humphead Wrasse that came to greet us in Manta Ray Bay. He
was right beside the dinghy the minute we tied up to the mooring ball and he didn’t scare away easily even after we were in the water. In fact there were so many fish around us that we think the tourist boats must feed the fish. There were abundant Sergeant Majors and Blue and Yellow Fusiliers and the instant the dinghy stopped, the fish dove toward us. That happened to us in Bora Bora, but the fish there were fed as well. We also saw such beautiful, big parrotfish today, but unfortunately we
won’t be able to share photos of those things with you. But no matter where we went to snorkel and no matter what time of day in terms of high and low tide, the water here is just not as crystal clear as many of the places we visited last year. I guess we are really spoiled. We not only want to see beautiful coral and unusual fish, but we also want clear, warm water free of any dangerous creatures.
Mark continues to work on his list of projects. Today’s Project of the Day was to get the watermaker back up and running. Easier said than done. After trying all his tricks to no avail, he consulted the manual. Evidently, we need to do a special cleaning process for the membrane, so that work will continue tomorrow. We spent our evening onshore watching Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos come in for the night. These magnificent white birds with their yellow tops can surely make quite a raucous. They
look prettier than they sound and I think maybe they were especially loud tonight because of the full moon rising. As that full moon sets in the morning, we will be on our way further north. We could spend many more days here, but Darwin calls us. We have to keep moving if we are going to get there by early July.
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| 080520 Day 11 AU Hook Island, Whitsundays–Anchorage to Anchorage |
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| 080520 Day 11 Underwater in Maureen's Bay |
