We departed Brisbane, Australia at about 6:00 PM, and after 2 sea days, our
next port of call would be Cairns, Australia, arriving about 7:00 AM on Monday,
February 17th. But before we arrived in Cairns, a treat was in
store—passing by and near to the Whitsunday Islands on our journey north. These
islands are between The Great Barrier Reef and the continent of Australia, so
as we headed north, they were on the port (or “left”) side of our ship—and we
could see them easily from our balcony.
According to Wikipedia:
“The term “Whitsunday Islands” is a misnomer,
based on Captain Cook’s naming of what
is now known as the Whitsunday Passage (in Cook’s Journal, Whitsunday’s
Passage) in the belief that the passage was discovered on Whitsunday—the Sunday of the feast of Whitsun or Pentecost in the Christian liturgical year—observed 7 weeks after
Easter. As the International Date Line had not been established it was actually Whit-Monday.
Contention has existed as to exactly
what islands are within the informally named Whitsunday Islands, in particular
as to the southern extremity and the inclusions to the west. What is certain is
that they lie within the chain named Cumberland Isles by Captain Cook (now
officially approved as the Cumberland Islands) and a reasonably defined section
of that chain and surrounding waters have become known world-wide as The
Whitsundays based on a contraction of the Whitsunday Islands designation.
The Whitsunday islands are a popular
tourist destination for travelers to Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, with the area
being one of the most popular yachting destinations in the Southern Hemisphere.
The islands received about 700,000 visitors between March 2008 and March 2009.”
Traveling north we had some great views of the islands and they broke up
our journey north to Cairns—where we would arrive the next day.
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