After such an epic week on Magnetic Island, we knew that anyplace we’d go subsequent could be onerous to comply with up.
Nonetheless, after recognizing our first whale and spending an unimaginable week crusing to Orpheus Island and the Hinchinbrook Channel, we had been fairly certain we’d had the perfect week to this point.
Setting Sail for the Palm Island Group
Selecting up the place we left off final week, we hoisted sail at first mild and continued Northwest with mild winds in direction of the Palm Island Group.
A well-liked cease is Nice Palm Island, additionally recognized by its a lot older indigenous title “Bwgcolman”. That is primarily an indigenous group, so we determined that it might be higher to depart the island occupants in peace and as a substitute sailed to Orpheus Island.
Whale Ahoy!
Lastly! We obtained our first glimpse of the well-known Australian East Coast whale migration. Sadly, I didn’t catch a snap of her breaching, but it surely renewed my religion in seeing extra migrating whales on the journey.
Exploring Orpheus Island
Crusing into Orpheus Island made it really feel like we had been exploring distant, unexplored wonders in the midst of the ocean. In actuality, Orpheus is barely a fast hop from the shoreline, but it surely didn’t cease the creativeness from working a little bit wild.
Orpheus Island Anchorage
Orpheus Island has a number of visitor mooring buoys out there for sailors to sit down on for twenty-four hours. All of those are positioned within the Northern bay, often called Pioneer Bay.
There’s one buoy on the southern aspect of this bay, and an additional 4 on the northern finish. These buoys supply wonderful safety in mild Southerly winds, however even higher safety for these crusing within the Summer season season, when northerly winds prevail.
Though we had a quiet few days at anchor, it’s clear that the northern buoys are a little bit uncovered to southerly swell.
Snorkeling and Manta Rays
Instantly after securing the buoy strains, we noticed an unlimited manta ray cruising gently beside Malaika. We watched because it swam back and forth on the floor in awe.
As we’d discover out, Orpheus Island is repeatedly visited by dozens of cruising mantas. Sightings are therefore extraordinarily frequent.
We spent the remainder of our brief go to on Orpheus Island both on the bush tracks or within the water.
We discovered that the perfect snorkeling spots had been within the bay to the south, the place there’s a everlasting analysis facility stationed. Sadly, we didn’t see any extra mantas whereas within the water, however we managed to identify a lot from the drone.
READ THE FULL BLOG POST: EXPLORING ORPHEUS ISLAND: HIKING AND SNORKELING
Mountaineering the Bush Trails
hike on Orpheus Island begins on the seashore at Pioneer Bay. We adopted the observe to an previous, deserted hut that are the one indicators of authentic British settlers on Orpheus Island.
The observe winds via the thick scrub and onto a rocky outcrop overlooking either side of the island.
From the highest, we might see turtles and mantas swimming within the crystal clear coral waters beneath.
Ahead to Hinchinbrook
We’d been excited for the Hinchinbrook channel from the very starting of the journey because of the attract of its fjord-like peaks and vine-like creeks.
It was troublesome not to consider Jurassic Park as we entered the channel. Big peaks on either side encompass a large river which appears to separate into an countless internet of creeks and streams.
Haycock Island
Our first anchorage within the Hinchinbrook channel was on Hayckock island. It was a little bit tough to anchor at first because the tidal circulate had moved mud deposits, exposing massive sections of the channel to a rocky seabed.
Nonetheless, as soon as we discovered the perfect spot to anchor, we loved one of many calmest nights of the journey to this point.
Crusing in Hinchinbrook Channel
We didn’t have a lot of an opportunity to discover Hinchinbrook Island on the land, as nearly all of hikes start on the ocean aspect of the island.
Nonetheless, it was nonetheless an epic few days of crusing via considered one of Australia’s final untouched wildernesses.
Learn the Different Crusing Logs
