2018 Travels

Date: 22/5/18

Location: Lady Musgrave

23 54'.23 S

152 22'.41 E

Weather: Beautiful

Author: Peter

We picked up anchor at 05:00, leaving the Burnett River behind in the dark and made a straight line towards Lady Musgrave. With a following breeze we soon poled out the head sail making great time. The relatively smooth sail had everyone in high spirits as Lady Musgrave Island appeared on the horizon shortly after 11:00. We all sat on deck as we entered the coral lagoon with the kids asking if we were now at the Great Barrier Reef?

Its easy to forget how clear the water can get. The turquoise blue waters within the lagoon are one of my favourite colours. Kylie was keen to show the kids the wonderful things to see and do around Lady Musgrave but our afternoon was to be cut short by some dirty fuel. After lunch I had taken the kids out in the ducky to check out the different coral heads within the lagoon with the viewing glass. Both Joel and Mia were super excited floating over a variety of coral types and plenty of colourful fish. Joel even commented that he was now ready to go snorkelling (he had been becoming rather apprehensive lately). Then when we were almost at the little coral beach the motor cut out. After refilling it thinking I had run out of fuel I restarted it but it would not rev much higher than an idol without cutting out. As I was readying the anchor to stop us blowing further down wind we managed to wave down another boat who towed us back to Jura. The rest of the afternoon was spent draining the motor, pulling apart and cleaning the carbi, and putting it all back together. All good since but my confidence in the 5hp is not as high as it should have been. (The motor was only just serviced before we left, so I can only put it down to some dirty fuel).

The following morning saw Kylie and Mia doing school work and Joel and I doing the laundry. 3 hours later we were all done, so after lunch we went exploring. Walking on the island was very different to the last time we were here (October, 10 years ago). When here last you had to walk carefully trying not to tread on any Black Bobbies (birds) as they were everywhere... up in the tree's, nesting on the ground, the island was seriously overcrowded with them. On this visit only a few of this season hatchlings remained. The rest were all gone. So too was the smell. Also the last time we were here there were turtles both on land and in the water. You could not get away from them. This time we did see a few but no where near the numbers that a present in October. Joel and Mia still loved looking at them through the spy glass as well as more coral and a blue star fish. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing in the sun, and to my shock kylie diving in for a swim. It must be warm if Kylie is diving in because she normally chickens out a waist depth.

 

As a bonus, we discovered also since our last visit that there are now public moorings in the lagoon. And to me the coral seems to be in better condition than last time near the tourist swim platform.