Alva Beach – Airlie Beach
25 – 29 October
When we first learnt to dive in Melbourne our instructor nominated the SS Yongala as his favourite dive and it has been on our radar ever since. The SS Yongala is often listed in the top 10 dive sites in the world so since we were in the area we decided to treat ourselves to two days of diving.
A nice early start saw us geared up, everything loaded on the boat, briefed and then it was time to head down to the beach. It was our first dive experience where the boat is launched by tractor. The ride out to the wreck was quite rough with swells of 1m and the boat bouncing around. We were looking forward to hopping in the water by the time we arrived.
The SS Yongala was travelling from Melbourne to Cairns in 1911 when a Category 5 cyclone blew up and it disappeared. As a sense of what a Category 5 cyclone is like, the weather station at the wreck site recorded 15m waves before cutting out when Cyclone Yasi passed in 2011. The whereabouts of the SS Yongala remained a mystery until 1958 when some locals followed up on reports of a reef from scans of minesweepers after the war. They knew that the Great Barrier Reef was further to the East, and thus discovered the SS Yongala.
Having been under water for 105 years the SS Yongala is an artificial reef that is absolutely teeming with life, both macro and the larger species. Everywhere you looked there was something to see from beautiful soft corals, the 5-stage steam engine, olive sea snakes, green turtles, the ships toilets, marble rays (~1.5m in diameter), a ‘flock’ of 15+ cow tail rays, and a majestic eagle ray. Wow, what a fabulous dive site. We were very pleased to have the opportunity to head out again for a second days of diving. Day two and the seas were even bigger with a good 1.5-2m swell. Our trusty Travelcalm didn’t work for Marcel and it was a relief to get off the boat and down diving – again so much to see.
Somehow the GoPro had a flat battery for all but one of our dives so we only have a little sample of what we saw, but you can see it was pretty special. Whilst we haven’t done as much diving as we’d hoped on this trip, it is nice to pull out our own gear and be really comfortable with it.
On the nights before and after our diving we made use of the Comfort Stop facilities at Home Hill. The local council have put aside an area on a side road for people to park up and camp for up to 48hrs with toilets, 5 min hot showers, and a kitchen facility with BBQs and sinks all provided. What a great facility and we enjoyed being track side train watching.
From Home Hill we headed south to Bowen a beach town at the top of the Whitsunday Islands where we had the kind hospitality of a work friend who had moved up earlier in the year. We enjoyed two nights with good company, yummy home cooked meals, a real bed and all inside away from the mozzies! We spent a pleasant day exploring Bowen itself with its beaches, lookouts and an old Catalina ramp; and another day catching up on chores whilst also checking out the town of Airlie Beach.
The Whitsunday Islands are a series of 74 islands that dot the coast off Airlie Beach. To really appreciate the area you need to get out on the water, so we shouted ourselves a day’s outing on a schooner. Unfortunately to get to where we were headed we needed to sail directly into the wind so we were under motor power.
Our first stop was Whitehaven Beach. After mooring in a neighbouring bay and a quick tender ride into shore, we climbed the headland for a fabulous view out over the beach. The swirling colours of clear turquoise water and white sand framed by the green of the scrub was really striking. The sand at Whitehaven Beach is 98.9% silica and it is almost blindingly white when the sun is out. After lunch we hopped into our Stinger suits and went snorkelling on reef off the shore of Dumbell Island.
On the way home the wind had dropped off but there was still just enough to unfurl the sails and cruise. It was wonderfully relaxing lying in the sun with a gentle breeze as we sailed back through the islands to Airlie Beach. Back on shore it was back to reality – cheap pizza for dinner then down the road to a designated free camp space at the back of the truck parking area next to a petrol station. Such is life on the road.
E