Our ‘normal’ route from Brisbane to Cairns would take us north and then north-west, through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Sanctuary, (GBRMS), however this extends some miles off the east coast of Australia and, in these circumstances, we would not see some of the scenic areas, it would appear as ‘open ocean’ to the uninitiated, the reefs lurking out of sight.

This called for a minor diversion, so that our guests could at least see some of the area and so, after discussions with our GBR pilot, I decided to take  Whitsunday Passage, the time we reached this was convenient, morning through to noon and would provide some photography opportunities for guests and me, of course.

We entered by turning east past the Cumberland Islands.  The area was first explored by Captain James Cook and, as a result, the islands and passages are named with a distinctly British flavour.  ‘Cumberland’ is a particularly beautiful area of the British isles and many of the islands we first sight are named with British place-names, ‘Derwent’, ‘Scawfell’ to name but two, (there are too many to mention here).  By the time Captain Cook sailed further east, he must have had challenges (or got bored) with yet more names and so he turned to ‘smith’; Goldsmith island, Tinsmith, Coppersmith and the tools they used; ‘Anvil island, Hammer Island,…….Perhaps they tossed a coin to decide?

There is a strong flood tide against us we cruise through, so strong in fact that the waters are cloudy with sand, this being churned up by the underwater stream.  Being a Sunday, there are a high number of recreational boats about, for this is a playground for holidaymakers; resorts hide away on the sheltered coves and on Hamilton island, one of the larger islands, there is an airfield capable of taking a 737; I even spotted a golf cart and some sand traps on Dent Island, (now, where’s my clubs?).  It’s a playground for the rich and famous, particularly when Hamilton Island hosts an annual yacht race.

We are moving into the monsoon area of northern Queensland and I was concerned that the weather would not be favourable for scenic cruising, however we were lucky, a gloriously sunny morning greeted us and then, just after we had completed the narrower passages, I could see the cumulo nimbus clouds rolling in from the east and sure enough, wind and rain followed.  It looks as if we’ll be in this ‘monsoon’ weather for the next few days, even Papua New Guinea seems to be ‘socked in’ with it.

Tomorrow, we arrive in Cairns and guests will be able to take high-speed catamarans out to floating platforms, (with air-conditioning, no less), where they’ll be able to snorkel and swim on the GBR.  I was fortunate enough to do this in 2012, the highlight being swimming with a turtle over coral reefs resplendent with colour.  No plans to do it this year though…