When Eric had a little time off between jobs we decided to escape the chilly winter and head somewhere warm for an adventure. We were able to find a last minute deal on a sailboat rental in the Whitsundays which seemed to fit all our criteria. After a very early start, two flights, and a trip on the underground we found ourselves sitting on the dock at Hamilton Island waiting for a ferry to take us over to the town of Airlie Beach.
The hour-long ferry ride from Hamilton Island gave us a good introduction to the area as we made our way past a couple of different islands before docking in the town of Airlie Beach. We were able to walk the short distance up the hill to our bed and breakfast for the night and after quickly dropping our bags we headed back into town to enjoy some local seafood.
The next morning we were up early to head to the marina to pick up our boat, get settled on board and learn about the yacht and the area. After a busy morning we did a final anchor and sail test and were then off across the Whitsunday passage towards Hook Island.
Despite our late start, after a few hours of motor sailing we made it to our first anchorage at Stonehaven just in time for dinner.
From the boat we had a great view of the sunset and found that we had the perfect spot for some star gazing too. We realised that the shifting currents and winds would cause the boat to swing on the anchor just enough to give us a view of almost the entire sky.