Sailing to Whitehaven Beach!

Our captain spoiled our kids.  They brought them out a bag of lollies
with candy teeth and candy rings
 and pretty much focused the whole trip on them!  

Next to snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, one of the activities I REALLY REALLY wanted to do in the Whit Sundays was take a day trip sailing and seeing some of the islands.  The excursion we booked was so awesome!  It was on a big sail boat called "Explore".

Since we went on the off season, we had plenty of room to spread out and pretty much take over the boat.  The sail boat normally holds 60 passengers and there were just 16 of us on the ride (including us 5 and the crew).  And ours were the only kids so all the crew were attentive and had fun playing with them, doting over them and showing them all the secrets to sailing.  It was so awesome.

The trip was from 9 am to 4 pm. So pretty much an all day trip.  We had morning tea on the boat and an awesome lunch they set up while we were sailing from place to place. Then on the way back to Hamilton we had afternoon tea (fruit, cordial, and biscuits).


We sailed through narrow channels between islands, through calm waters and through some pretty big waves.  It was so much fun.

We loved sitting out on the nets and seeing the water below us.  We got a little wet as the boat picked up speed and then we got completely soaked as some huge waves came crashing over the sides.  It was so fun.


We had to come off the nets after the waves got so big but then once we passed that part of the voyage, the kids were able to go back and sit on the nets again.  That was the best seat in the house for sure.

This is what happens when you are the only kids on the boat.  Wanna chance to sail through the islands of the Whit Sundays?  Sure, come have a go!

The captain was all about letting our kids have a go at the wheel.  He even took our family picture.  Oh the joys of the off-season!

These 2 are trying to dry off and warm up after getting nearly washed off the boat with the huge waves.  It was exciting...but never dangerous.  Just heaps of fun!

Here's Oaks just catching a few zzz's as we sail along.

Our first stop was at Chalkies Beach.  Off an island about 30 minutes away from Hamilton.  We stopped here because the island has a little reef off the beach making it a fun snorkeling spot.  We jumped off the boat into small dinghies and hit the reef.  Park and Lex just jumped off the sailboat and snorkeled away.

Snorkel gear on this little face never gets old!  I love that my kids now love to snorkel.

We were always the last ones off the boat, trying to get flippers and snorkels on everyone before heading out takes some time.

After snorkeling and seeing some awesome coral and heaps of colorful fish for about an hour, we got back on board and were headed for our big destination.  Whitehaven beach!  One of the Top 10 beaches in all the world.

Once again, the boys wanted to make the big swim to the beach!

When we got there, we decided to do the short hike up to the look out first.

Through the cool rainforest we went....

Past the wispy foliage....

To the peak of the island overlooking the Whit Sundays and Whitehaven beach.

Seriously trying to figure out how the water can be so turquoise and the sand so white!

Love these 3-- what an amazing view.

This is the back side of the island.  Whitehaven is the beach that runs the length of the other side, but this view wasn't so bad either!

Naturally, we found some great trees to climb.  Love these ever-so-climbable Aussie trees.  We will miss them!

Oaks found a bench for resting...or doing some ballet on.

And now for an afternoon at the beach.  The crew packed a cooler of drinks and tons of beach toys.  The girls played a mean game of cricket with the crew and then a little soccer.

This is one of the boats docked off the beach.  It reminded us of Jack Sparrow's Black Pearl a little, so we thought we'd better take a pic!

Look at this beach!  I wish my pictures did it justice.  Where the water wasn't wetting the sand, it was so white it was almost hard to look at.  It was blindingly white, beautiful sand.

Oaklee LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the beach and the sand.  Running, digging, building-- sometimes even raining sand!

The water was turquoise.  It literally felt like a movie or even a cartoon where the beach is just too perfect.

The sand here is famous because it is so fine they use it to make the glass in the Hubble Telescopes.  Its quality is better than nearly any other sand in the world.  It doesn't really feel like sand, it feels more like baby powder or corn starch.  I remember sitting in it and just running my hands through it thinking it didn't feel like sand-- more like fine powder.  It was luxurious!

Oh-- seriously want to go back right this second and sit on this beach!

While the boys were out throwing a footy, Park found a string that kept getting tangled on his legs.  He tried to get it off but it wound around.  He kept pulling and pulling and realized it was fishing line and even weirder...it had a fish on it!  This cool little ocean fish (looks like a zebra) was caught on someone's "homeade fishing pole".  Someone had put a hook on some line and tied it to a stick and stuck it in the sand.  Well, apparently while they were gone, they got a bite!  We called one of the crew over to cut it loose.  They were excited and said they'd never seen something like it.  Most likely because it's totally illegal to fish off Whitehaven beach.  But hey-- it was cool and nothing like getting a little deep sea fishing in on our sailing excursion!  The fish swam away happily once we de-hooked it!

We threw frisbees, footies, and beach balls all around.  We ran through the powdery sand, hiked the look out and soaked up every bit of this little heaven on earth!

Well, what an awesome adventure this fellowship has been.  I guess I can honestly say, "I'd follow this guy around the world."  And what an amazing experience it has been following him.  So lucky to be married to my bestie.  I love how he loves adventures as much as I do.  I think we will leave here with no regrets.  Love you, Lexer!

This one is a "Daddy's girl".  She is pretty much his shadow.
 And totally has him wrapped around her fancy little finger!

If you don't sail to Whitehaven you can take a plane in.  We all talked about it and decided sailing was so much fun we wouldn't have traded it for a flight, but it did look pretty cool sitting out there on the water. It was worthy of a picture!

We are heading back to Hamilton Island.  Back on the nets so we can enjoy the sun and watch the water splash around the boat...and hopefully up over the edges a little too!

Nothing like a little mango raspberry "mock tail" on your dream sailboat ride.

Oaks getting in a few extra snifters while Birdy heads back to the nets.

These 2 could've spent a week on this amazing vessel.  The captain kept saying how much fun it was to have kids on the boat that were excited about sailing.  He loved that they only wanted to ride on the nets.  And we didn't have to share at all.  The other couples were happy to sit on the seats in the boat and watch and laugh as our kids took all the waves.

And unforgettable day in the Whit Sundays!