Whitsunday Islands

The luxury 70-foot sailing yacht, the Sabatayn, rocks gently in the early morning sun on the edge of the harbour. Three of us hop into the tender and are transferred to the yacht. After the mandatory safety briefing, we motor out of the bay and hoist the sails. We skim across fantasy-blue waters on a tropical breeze to Hayman Island, the most northern of the Whitsunday group. The crossing becomes a little choppy, but we are compensated to stunning views of the Whitsundays and the rare spectacle of dolphins dancing around the hull of the yacht.

We moor up in Blue Pearl Bay and jump in to snorkel amongst the cyclone battered coral reef. Although the coral is still recovering, and therefore not as dazzling as other reefs, the menagerie of marine life makes the snorkelling memorable. The reef is teeming with fabulous tropical fish.

After working up an appetite, we are treated to a gourmet lunch and then sail across to the lovely Langford Island. We moor up again and are ferried ashore to the thin strip of sand that makes Langford Island. We walk along the white sand on the rim of a ludicrously picturesque coral-filled lagoon and then climb through the bush up to a small viewpoint. The vista of turquoise waters encircling paradise islands reminds me how lucky I am.

Once back aboard the yacht, we motor sail back to Abell Point Marina, and, as the sun is setting, I drive a few hours southwards beyond Mackay. In complete darkness, I head off the main highway and follow dirt tracks deeper into the bush…

Stoney Creek Farmstay is a bush retreat, where I stay in endearingly ramshackle accommodation without any mod-cons: this dead-set bush living and I love it!

Distance: 158.3km