Whitehaven Beach Explorations

There was a period of time during the night when the sky was filled with stars and our hope of a blue sky morning rose, but at dawn, this was the view from my sleeping bag.

But we did still have the whole of Whitehaven Beach to ourselves! 

So we got up and took a hike along the deserted white sands. Even without the blues skies and glistening waters, it was still pretty special (although we were a bit disappointed - it must be amazing when it's bathed in sunlight with the sand shining white and the sea bright turquoise).

We had a bit of breakfast back at camp before setting off on the kayaks, once the tour groups had started to arrive. Just before we paddled off, we went (safety in numbers!) to use the composting toilet that was set back in the forest along a small trail. Just outside the dunni, Clare spotted a gigantic spider in the middle of a big web - it was bigger than my hand span!! We gave it a very wide berth! Then as we were walking back out of the forest to the tent, a big Sand Gouanna ran out in from of me. I'm not sure who was more scared of who, but it scuttled off into the underground as I legged it towards the safety of the beach.

Out on the water things seemed much calmer...

We paddled around the southern tip of the Island and pulled up on a small deserted beach. You could see some colourful coral in the bay, but the water was still quite murky and we were quite nippy so didn't go for a snorkel.

With time ticking on, we made our way back to camp, exploring along the rocky coastline as we went. Clare was up front powering us along...

While I had a more leisurely back seat position!

Before we struck camp and got ready to be picked up by the taxi, we just had enough time to hike up to the view point behind the camp. It was only a kilometer or so, but well worth it. 

The views from the top were brilliant. It's hard to get the feeling of being on an island when you're down on the beach, but up high, it's all laid out below. With calmer and brighter conditions, it must be a fantastic sea kayak journey, weaving in and out of the little secluded bays. 

It didn't take long to drop the tent and get all the kit down the waters edge; just in time for the water taxi pick up. The ride back to the mainland took us all the way around the top of the island as we had to pick up another team from a different island. In someways it was a bonus trip, especially as we got to see the other islands and a couple of massive whales come up out of the water not far from the boat. But the boat was not designed for comfort, especially when the sea is rough. It was a long two hour ride that had us both hanging on tight as we bounced over the waves and slammed back down on the other side and occasionally dodging the spray that flew up into the boat.

Back on land we had to take a few moments to appreciate the quite and the view up at nearby Lions Lookout. With the noise and vibration of the engines, the battering of the sea and the unsteady rocking, it had been an exhausting journey home after a tranquil few days away...