CAMPSITE # 164 - Henning Island - Our island disaster

We had our very own image in our heads of what one week on a deserted Whitsundays Island was supposed to be like. A whole island all to ourselves, no people for us to have to contend with, just Tom and I surrounded by nothing but the open ocean. 

At least that's how it was sold to us by our agent, and we got sucked right in. 

As we thought more and more about our week in paradise, we got excited by the idea of spicing things up a little. Survivor / Bear Grylls / Gilligan's Island - eat your heart out, we were doing it rough. 

Initially our plan was to go the 'full hog', just water, a flint, a knife and all your essential survival tools. Call it common sense (or just chickening out) if you will, but I had to pull out the female card and put my foot down when it came to food supplies and sleeping arrangements.

The agreement was to take minimal food in the hopes that we would catch the majority of our meals. The tent and sleeping bag would come along for the ride but were only to be used should the weather turn extremely nasty.

We then unveiled another spanner in the works. All of the prospective islands to camp on were National Parks with a zero fire policy... there goes our plan to cook everything on an open fire!

As our departure day grew nearer and nearer, the list somehow got longer and longer.

For $105 per person, we caught a Scamper water taxi that specialised in overnight camping trips. We journeyed to our new home for the next six nights, Henning Island.One of 74 islands in the Whitsundays region, Henning Island is just south of the famous Whitsunday Island and directly west of the high class (and super expensive) Qualia five star holiday resort.

The boat ride there was wet and choppy. Strong winds had decided to settle in for the day and were forecast for the following day as well. We knew we would have some unfavourable weather to contend with but we were in high spirits, our excitement made us blind to the weather. 

As we approached OUR island, we were overcome with disappointment at what lay before us... A bright orange kayak beached up on OUR island. It wasn't supposed to be like this, there wasn't supposed to be anyone else on the island.

Unloading our minimal gear onto the island, we were given the welcoming we desperately didn't want. Nigel wanted to know  where we were from, how long we were staying and where the rest of our gear was. Stupid Nigel-No-Friends was quick to escort us to the campsite, inform us of where we should camp and just outright would not leave us alone. It wasn't supposed to be like this, Nigel was DEFINITELY not supposed to be on OUR island. The real problem was, Nigel didn't have NO friends, he had a whole fleet of friends and the bastards were all heading for OUR island that night! 

Our image of a remote island camping adventure went completely out the window. Being a National Park, our designated camping area featured mowed lawns, picnic tables and solar powered his & her toilet facilities. IT DEFINITELY WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS! Stranded on a deserted island, yeah right! Fending for ourselves with our very own loos and toilet paper, I don't think so. There were even too many bloody people around to bother trying to live our island dream. We weren't in the mood for their ridiculous questions, their smart arse remarks or even their friendly hellos, they're weren't supposed to be there!! 

The only campsite remaining was located right in the brunt of the high winds, it was cold, it was wet and we were bloody miserable. It was just one giant snowball effect, it seriously was not supposed to be like this! Not in the mood for their remarks, we hung our heads in shame and set up the tent. Rather than being survivors on a stranded island fending for ourselves, we just looked like seriously illequipped campers. Not just that but we were hungry, illequipped campers. The high winds made beach fishing practically impossible which left us rationing 6 portions of instant rice and 2 minute noodles to live off.

We counted one night, 32 people had pitched up their tents and surrounded us in a very small & pathetic excuse for a camping area, they were practically camped right on top of us! Each night as we lay down to sleep, we would drift off to the sounds of their invasive coughs, and their late night mobile phone conversations (yep - phone reception on our deserted island). In the mornings we were woken by their noisy conversations about how much rain we had overnight and how wet their pillows got... at least they had bloody pillows!!!

During the days, good old Qualia Resort, rented out tinnies to their guests and recommended they spend their day on no other island than... (you guessed) OUR island. At one point, we counted 6 boats run around on the island as their snobby little temporary skippers lingered up and down our beach while poking their noses in our business.

Fresh coconuts!! 

It wasn't fair. Our spirits had been seriously knocked for six. After battling it out for 4 days and 3 nights, we couldn't take it any longer. All I could think was we only had 2 weeks left on our trip and we sure as hell weren't going to waste 7 days of it miserable on that stupid island. We both woke on the Thursday morning after a terrible nights' sleep (on the ground without pillows in the freezing cold sharing just one sleeping bag). The decision was unanimous, to call Scamper and arrange for them to take us back on the next boat home. But the boat was already on the water and he was out of phone range. He would swing past our island in an hour or two. We had to pack everything up and stand at the pick up point and just hope to god that he would spot us. 

For the first and hopefully only time ever in my life, I felt what it would be like to be marooned on an island. We stood amongst all of our smelly and wet belongings on the beach waving frantically to our boat as it passed by.

It wasn't changing course. It wasn't veering towards us. It was heading home to the comforts of civilisation and leaving us on our crowded island for at least another day. I slapped my hands to my thighs and turned to Tom in disappointment. There I was, as I always do, dramatising the whole scenario as cool, calm, and collected Tom just raised a little grin on his face and calmly pointed towards the boat. They were coming! They must have seen us right at the very last minute - we were saved!!!!! 

Except once we had loaded everything onto the boat, we stood at the bow and turned back to farewell our island. It was all over. Our island adventure was behind us and now we were in a boat racing further and further away from our temporary home.

It may not have been the adventure we were hoping for, of bright sunny days feasting on fresh seafood and lying in the hammock. It may not have been the adventure we had hoped for but, alas, it was an adventure, one that will never let us forget - Henning Island.

Please Note : Yes - The photos of Henning Island were lovely and depict beautiful sunny days in paradise. Don't get us wrong, the island itself is really nice, just a little less secluded than what we were after.