We left Bundaberg at dawn and headed due north about 40 nautical miles to Lady Musgrave Island, our first encounter on this voyage with the Great Barrier Reef. Lady Musgrave is a cay completely encircled in a natural lagoon by coral reef. It lies along with Lady Elliot Island and Heron Island in the Capricornia Cays National Park.
It was not that far north from here that Matthew Flinders' luck changed very much for the worse on Wreck Reef, after the Porpoise ran aground as he returned to England with his completed charts following his circumnavigation of Australia. In an amazing feat of navigation and endurance, he managed to return Sydney in an open boat to organise the rescue of his men stranded on a sandbar on the reef.
A 20 knot south easterly wind sprang up mid morning after departing Bundaberg so the sails were unfurled and Arjuna made brisk pace.
We were on a deadline as we wanted to be anchored in the lagoon to relax and celebrate a very special birthday on board the next day, as the youngest member of the crew, our luckiest fisherman, was turning six.
True to form, on the morning of his birthday the first edible sea creature in many weeks was caught after an alert third mate spotted a large squid sucking on our anchor chain. Then it was merely a matter of El Capitan dropping a squid jig into the water for a couple of seconds and it was salt and pepper calamari for birthday lunch.
After washing up the dishes after lunch we noted the sharks and a multitude of fish beginning to circle underneath the boat - we were anchored in 8 metres of water but the water was so clear we could see all the way to the bottom. Heartened by this success the second mate dropped in a line and immediately pulled in a remora.
Remora - returned to the deep.
We launched a zodiac assault over to the reef and the crew experienced snorkelling amongst the varied coral, home to a huge diversity of tropical fish.
Then over to the Island to explore the Pisonia Forest, a Tolkienesque Mirkwood (both in appearance and smell).
 |
| Straight through the forest is your way now. Don’t stray off the track! |
The Island is home to many migratory birds, including Burrowing Shearwaters and the improbably named Bartailed Godwit. We were a little too late in season to observe the nesting turtles.
 |
| Black Noddy Tern |
The forest wasn't the only attraction. The shores were piled high with interesting shells and the bleached old bones of corals past washed up on the shores. Shell collecting is not permitted on Lady Musgrave so we contented ourselves with photographs.
 |
| Cone shell - fortunately without animal inside |
 |
| Cowrie |
We spent 3 nights anchored at Lady Musgrave before heading further north to Fitzroy Reef.
No comments:
Post a Comment