Swifty's Tale

James’ visit surprisingly? coincided with the Hamilton Island Race Week party at Whitehaven Beach. By the time we arrived the party was in full swing with hundreds of boats at anchor, thousands of backpackers and yachties lining the beach and The Roulettes – stunt planes flying over head.


After a late night, it took Si and James a while to work out how to fly the MPS but after a slow start we had a roaring sail to the top of Hook Island. The weather was still a little bit cool for snorkeling, but the next day a visit to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island brought sunshine. Si, not to be left out in the cold with James wearing a full wetsuit, decided it was a good look to wear a neoprene hood. Unbeknown to him – it appeared his head had grown since he last wore it!

The snorkeling at Blue Peal was great – the best I had seen on the Whitsunday Islands to date! As it was a green zone and fishing was not allowed, we headed off to Stonehaven Anchorage to try our hand at crayfish, fishing and oystering.






Having seen enough of the marine life, we were off to check out the wildlife with visits to the Long Island and Daydream resorts. And wild it was, with a great night spent with other tourists at Long Island, followed by some serious recovery by the pool at Daydream. Despite James’ hopes of picking up some birds, it seems Simon had more luck. Even by the pool bar, James lucked out only having Si to share cocktails with.



It was great to catch up and we were sad to drop James back to Hamilton. We do have more than just memories of James’ visit – his homebrew which he named, “James.S.Squire Canadian Blonde”. We’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.