Exploring Long Island

Saturday 22^nd July 2017

With high tide atn9.30am this morning, we are in great shape to go ashore and explore Long Island.  There is a gusty SE breeze, so we motor in slowly to avoid getting too wet, but there is lots of water (with the high tide), so we park our dinghies on the little bit of beach expose, right in front of the resort.

Happy Bay looks much more inviting at high tide

We found the walking trails that we had investigated yesterday, and set out on a walk to Palm Bay, where the only functioning resort on the island is located. The trail is well marked and cleared, with a few branches off to beaches or bays on either side of the narrow island along the way.

Pandanus Bay

Fish Bay

The distance to Palm Bay is only 1.3km, and the trail is relatively flat. Cyclone damage is minimal.

It doesn’t take too long before we emerge from the trail into Palm Bay Resort, and it seems reasonably busy.  The resort is located in a narrow part of the Island with occupying the full width of the island. On the Eastern side is the heliport and a pebbly beach, and on the western side is the nice sandy beach of Palm Bay.

The Heliport on the Eastern side of Palm Bay Resort

After having a good walk around we went to the lounge area and ordered a cup of coffee from the bar. The resort has had several owners and formats, from Peppers Hotels to the current owner, who runs it as a secluded retreat where you bring and cook your own food. There is a bar serving drinks and cocktails but not much else, it is basically self catering.

Palm Bay , obviously some of the customers are waiting for their ferry back to the mainland

The grounds are well maintained

And the beachside cabins have a great aspect

The manager seems to do everything, including serving drinks at the bar, and we spent some time having a talk to her. The resort seems to be going well and at this moment, is fully booked. There is a real mix of people staying here including a lot of young couples.

The Camp Kitchen setup where you can cook your own food (and the resort does the dishes !)

The Resort Bar

Following our coffee and chat with the manager, we walked back to Happy Bay, hoping the tide had not gone out too far, so we would not have to drag our dinghies too far across the beach to get to the water. It was not too bad.

Mica and Koonya at anchor at Happy Bay

Back on board our boats, we had lunch and spent the afternoon fishing, with varied success. Janet caught a couple of Sweetlip keepers. I caught a variety of fish including one reasonable size, but tossed it back as we are flying home on Tuesday and still have lots of food.

Dinner tonight is a baked lamb roast on Mica.