Brampton Island

On June 2nd, after a week spent with the captain muttering and cursing in the bowels of the boat in Mackay, we raised the sails and headed back out to wage battle with the shoals and bulk carriers. After a punishing schedule of boat repairs, the captain was really looking like he needed a holiday on a nice tropical island.

Insert tropical island picture here

Meanwhile the crew had been on their own punishing schedule to complete and mail end of Unit 3 assignments: designing ads for holidays in Antarctica (year 6), a newspaper article in support of flying foxes (year 5), and identifying the differences between "needs" and "wants" (year 1). This was in between trips to the marina pool and chatting with Bob the rainbow lorikeet who lived on one of the boats.

Bob the Lorikeet pauses work on his boat to pass the time of day

 The wind was a favourable 15-20 knots south-easterly. So favourable in fact that as we exited the marina berth, a gust blew Arjuna straight off the berth leaving the First Mate standing red faced on the dock as Captain and crew receded into the distance. Fortunately being a Monday morning there were no salty dogs around to witness our shame. A quick sprint across the marina, followed by an impressive aerial acrobatics display and none were any the wiser. The crew remained composed, possibly envisaging a week off school if the First Mate was left behind. The First Mate on the other hand was horrified at the thought of being left high and dry in a town where mining prosperity has resulted in the cost of living being 100% higher than anywhere else we have been (based on the First Mate's key consumer price indicators of children's haircuts and milkshakes).

Good for nothing pirates! on the South Passage

 We set a course for Keswick Island and made our way under full canvas picking our way through the shoaly bits. The wind started to build as we negotiated our way around the last of these, and a spur of the moment decision was made that it would be more fun to sail on a beam reach across to Brampton/Carlisle Islands. Arjuna set a cranking pace across to Brampton - the swell was low, the wind was constant and it was one of the best sails we've had to date. The captain was finally starting to look relaxed.



Beautiful Brampton and Carlisle Islands

 We sailed triumphantly into Brampton anchorage under full canvas, only to discover that after the extensive rewiring in Mackay, the anchor windlass wouldn't work. We put out to sea for another 45 minutes while the captain worked some more electrical magic and we were able to limp in to anchor.




Methinks the Captain is not feeling so relaxed.

We were finally in the southernmost reaches of the Cumberland Island Group, or Whitsundays, only a couple of days ahead of the anniversary that Captain Cook sailed through here on Whitsunday June 4th, 1770 - although there is some controversy over the actual date he sailed through here:
 http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/2011/when-did-captain-cook-land-in-australia-and-did-any-changes-in-the-international-date-line-lead-to-a-change-in-dates-in-australia/

Flying kites Brampton  with the Dilligaffers

Brampton is another abandoned resort which in its heyday must have been pretty fancy. It faces onto a north facing sand beach which are both unusual features for resorts in this area. However it is now home only to curlews and a cantankerous caretaker, who appeared in his high visibility tank top to inform the First Mate that the resort was private property and to KEEP OUT! The high vis tank top took OH & S regulation workwear to a whole new level.  The poor man clearly had not noticed that that he was the sole person on a tropical island. It also appeared to have escaped him that 98% of the island was national park, while the other 2% was a resort buried under 3 years of rotting palm fronds that we weren't particularly interested in visiting.

Getting service at the "Keep Out" Bar was horrendous



Just like a scene from Lost

The First and Third Mates decided to do some peak bagging while the rest of the crew lolled about on the beach. We set off to ascend the lofty Brampton Peak to see if we could find any of the small population of introduced Brampton koalas. We found an excellent resource on island flora and fauna with lots of labelled photos here http://aussiebirding.wildiaries.com/trip_days/10725-Day-One-Setting-Up-Camp-and-Reef-Walk as we had been having trouble identifying a lot of the birds and butterflies we were seeing on the islands. 

Brampton bushwalks - we were anchored off the northern jetty area.

No koalas were sighted but it was a great walk rewarded with a fantastic view from the peak of the Whitsundays stretching northwards . . . a promise of adventures to come . . .

First we headed up the middle of the airstrip "James Bond style"

Weird nests in the trees - ?spiders

Scratchmarks on the tree trunks suspicious for koalas

When we returned to base camp we were rewarded with an encounter with this big guy who regarded us as a mere curiosity and continued on with his lunch.

Eastern grey - also introduced to the island



After a couple of days chillaxing at Brampton it was time to head north into the Whitsundays proper to meet with intrepid friends travelling to the northern reaches from Brisbane and Sydney.

We headed to Shaw Island for a night where we could easily hop to Hamilton Island in the morning.

At Shaw we fell prey to one of the infamous Whitsunday wind bullets which flipped our tender and brand new outboard at 4am in the morning. And on that note I leave you with a picture of our beloved captain . . .