We ended up staying in Airlie until the 4^th November after a busy (work and play) but fun season in the Whitsundays.  We were very fortunate to be able to stay on Little Perle’s berth (thanks Shayne) at Port of Ailie and was a fantastic base to see the area.

Not long after we arrived and tucked Lia and the yacht nicely into her berth on the 17^th June, Matt took off for a brother’s surf trip to Bali for Guy’s 50^th for a few weeks and pretended to be surfers for a while and quote way too much ‘Point Break’.  Great times.

 

On return from Bali we based ourselves in Airlie Beach whilst Matt worked mostly on Little Perle but also did several deliveries including to Vanuatu on Southern Cloud, and Lia did several tour guiding gigs that took her over the country and to NZ.   When we could we went sailing locally and explored the area which included several trips to the outer reef which was magic.   It was also whale watching season, so you had to literally dodge them when out and about. 

 

The Whitsundays is a mecca for sailing and would recommend it to anyone, though having your own yacht helps 😉.  Not only was the reef amazing but exploring the islands is a great drawcard.  The walks and views were stunning, and we also visited a few abandoned Islands with resorts that have been left derelict.  Some due to financial reasons but some due to cyclone damage that was sadly unrecoverable.  Taken from a plaque on South Mole (see below)…’Hard work and island dreams are no match for the fury of a tropical cyclone’.

 

A fantastic time in Airlie beach but with the season winding down and our livers starting to seriously complain, we made plans to sail south again to Bundaberg where we had organised a lift out and storage at the marina.  Guy will be flying into Airle soon and will join us for the first week, Then Tina and Luke for the second leg.

 

Few photos below.