Beauty Itself
31 December 2019 | South China Sea
Ginni
Pos. Whitsunday Islands, Cid Harbour. 31/12/2019. We are anchored in the beautiful Cid Harbour, surrounded by steep hillsides covered in dense trees of all kinds, including primitive looking conifers, straight out of dinosaur days. The water this afternoon was a vivid
blue, a light breeze blowing and turtles popping up their heads around the boat. It is an imagined paradise, quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Here is Cid harbour, under the surface swim some hungry sharks, now with a taste for human. The are small pyramid shaped buoys
with No Swimming written on them to remind us of the last x3 shark attacks (one fatal) here in Cid Harbour. It is difficult not to want to get in the clear, cool water here. I can see why people are tempted, as are we.
Our journey here from Cairns has been quite uneventful, but at times uncomfortable as we headed into the prevailing wave direction. Patience was required to tack back and forth across the waves. At times the narrower passes constricted the direction but we had no
choice but to go through it. After leaving Cairns last Friday morning we've had reasonable breezes from time to time and have actually sailed for a few hours. Today for half the day we've been able to sail right into the Whitsunday group of islands. The sea is tempered by
the surrounding islands here but the wind still blows nicely between them.. No wonder this is one of Australia's best cruising grounds. There are not many boats around presently, only four others anchored near us, but there must be hundreds in the main season, the
beginning of winter further south and at the end. Whales migrate here and come to rest and breed between the islands peaceful waters. Some migrate further north of here to do the same between the coral reefs. Their annual holiday from the icy Antarctic waters must be
such a relief, but what a long journey to get here.
Tomorrow morning about 0530 we will up anchor and sail down to Mackay. There are many small islands along the way to avoid so daylight will make it a much less challenging sail. That's it for today, the very last day of 2019. We wish you a peaceful and joyful 2020 from
the crew on Shonandra. John and Ginni & Johnny A.