Capricornian Cave Men

If the Pisonia Forest on Lady Musgrave Island was Mirkwood, then these caves were definitely the Mines of Moria. For those who don't mind mixing it up with a bit of bat guano in their stalactites on a quiet Saturday afternoon, then the Capricorn Caves are where it's at.

Great Keppel Island - Unexpected poetry and Hermit Crabs

Riding the sand dunes of Butterfish Bay - Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel Island exceeded expectations and we ended up staying for 6 days exploring and swimming in the beautiful clear sandy bays.

A pre-dawn start to cover  the 40 nautical miles from Northwest Island brought us back towards the coast. The afternoon snorkel around the coral on the drop off at Northwest Island promised much, but after four days not setting foot on land, the crew were becoming restless, we didn't want to risk another wind shift leaving us stranded.

Girt by Sea

We reluctantly departed the fair waters of Lady Musgrave  after four days. The sea, which now coursed through our salty veins, was calling us on. Our start was very reluctant indeed and we didn't end up exiting the reef until after 1000 hours putting paid to our extravagant plans to cross vast miles of ocean.

"Isolated"danger mark. We interpret
these more freely as a "generally dangerous mark"

Instead we made a pleasant course North towards another reef called Fitzroy. 

Edge of the coral, departing Musgrave

On the charts, Fitzroy Reef looks very similar to Lady Musgrave except it lacks an island / cay and has more crunchy coral bommies within the reef and a narrower entrance. Also the entrance is shallow - a point worth mentioning since on entering the lagoon, the depth jumped from minor-tingling-in-the-toes level to all-hands-to-the-bilge-pumps level without warning. Inevitably, we heard the sickening scrape as our beloved colony of barnacles was knocked free from the bottom of the keel. Barny, Hercules, Herb...we'll miss you guys.

We reach the reef - Lady Musgrave Island

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.

Five Go Landlubbing in Bundy

Time has passed in the absence of internet coverage so we must flash back to over a week ago...

Manicured, well watered lawns...perfect for grazing cane toads

With our water beginning to run down and more importantly, our coffee, it was time to return to port. We set a course for the Port of Bundaberg - an uninterrupted westerly track across Hervey Bay from our hidey hole on Fraser Island. For a change there was nary a shoal or hazard to be negotiated. The bottom gently dropped away from Fraser and much later on met the dredged channel into the Burnett River. Trolling lines were deployed immediately. The Captain scented possible mutiny when the First and Third Mates insisted on raising sail cloth despite the complete lack of wind. The request was denied and mutineers were put to work sunbaking and playing computer games.