One of the most beautiful places to sail ANYWHERE, the 'Whitsundays' are a collection of 74 tropical continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 1,400 kilometers (900 miles) north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are situated off the coast by the town of Bowen while the southernmost islands are off the coast by Mackay. It truly is god's own country up here....photo taken yesterday. As well as sailing, we have been stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, and doing lots of diving. A highlight for me had been getting the chance to circumnavigate the entire island where we were based, Hayman Island, by jet-ski. The colour of the water is exactly like this! No photochoppppping required. The term 'Whitsunday' is a misnomer as it is based on Captain Cook’s date for the naming of Whitsunday Passage, or as Cook spelled it in his HMS Endeavour journal, Whitsunday’s Passage. Based on his journal date, Cook believed that the passage was discovered on Whitsunday, the Sunday of the feast of Whitsun—Pentecost in the Christian liturgical year—which is observed 7 weeks after Easter. As the International Date Line had not yet been established, the day of discovery was actually Whit Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FULL IMAGE SIZED ZOOOOOOOM IS GOOOOOOOD!