Airlie Beach, Australia – February 22, 2023

We are anchored off the coast of Queensland at a port called Airlie Beach.  It’s the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.  We are here in Australia’s summer, or hot/wet season (between November and May).  It’s pouring rain here this morning.  We have no tour booked here and thought it would be best to stay on the ship and try to recover from my sinus infection in anticipation of upcoming ports.  

Many people took the tender to the dock.  It was raining so hard there were a few times we couldn’t even see land.  

If you ever want to come here, I’m certain it’s a lovely destination, especially if you love diving or fishing.  Seafood like golden perch, silver perch, Australian bass, barramundi and coral trout are extremely plentiful.  

Airlie Beach is one of Australia’s few east coast towns that faces north, which means the town is protected from the prevailing East Trade Winds.  The nearby Whitsunday Islands were named by none other than Captain Cook as he sailed through the passage on a Sunday in 1770.  It’s a group of more than 150 islands and islets situated in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, many are designated national parks.  Also nearby is Whitsunday Gold Coffee Plantation that has 140,000 Arabica trees that create award winning coffee.

Captain Cook named over 100 bays, capes and other geographic features in Australia.  While charting the waters, he accidentally struck the Great Barrier Reef off the coast north of Cape Tribulation then struggled up the coast and beached his ship on the shores of the Endeavor River.  When you look around at all the small islands and reefs, it’s really shocking that ships made it anywhere.  I’m sure there are many shipwrecks but think about sailing at night in the old days without the modern technology that we have now.  It would be terrifying, really.  Sailors and explorers were so brave and Captain Cook’s talent for charting was unprecedented.