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Published: December 9th 2008
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It was another 6am start ready for our cruise. By 7.30am we’d been to the marina office to pay up and boarded the small boat which took us to the larger vessel around the corner.
The trip was to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the most southern islands in the Great Barrier Reef, for a day of snorkelling, swimming and coral viewing.
I’d been worried about Matt doing the journey as the leaflet advertising the trip made reference to seasickness. We’d tried to find some ‘Sealegs’ tablets which were the ones he took in Fiji and NZ which actually seemed to work - but they didn’t sell them anywhere. Instead a pharmacist had recommended another brand so he’d taken some the night before and earlier in the morning and we were keeping our fingers crossed.
I was shocked at how choppy the water was. Within minutes of being out of the bay, the boat was going up and down over the waves and I understood why they told us all to stay in our seats and put our hands up if we wanted anything from the galley. I was impressed, and surprised, that Matt made the whole journey
without his hands turning white - and he didn‘t even yawn once. One poor Japanese lady wasn’t so lucky and spent the last half of the trip being sick very noisily in the seat in front of us. Even the sound of that didn’t set Matt off. He was equally relieved and decided to buy a good stock of the tablets for other trips.
The boat moored against a large pontoon in the lagoon around Lady Musgrave. The surrounding water was the vibrant turquoise that we’d come to love so much in Tahiti and the Cook Islands, and the island in the distance seemed to float in the heat. The landmass was tiny compared to the enormous size of the lagoon. Apparently during world war two a hole was blown in the reef so that boats could be safely hidden in the lagoon, and to this day that hole is still the only entry point.
The large group on thr trip were split in two - half went to the island and the rest of us had the choice of either snorkelling or going out on a semi sub. We decided to go for the sub tour. It
was a bit disappointing as the water was very murky and we didn’t get to see too many fish - other than sgt majors and racoon fish - and the coral didn’t seem very colourful.
When the sub pulled back in it was our turn to visit the island so we got into the transfer boat and set off on the few minute boat ride. On the way we saw some turtles coming up for air - they stuck their heads right out and we could see them take a deep breath before plunging back down again. The lagoon is home to hundreds of them and as we approached the beach we could see the turtle tracks where they’d climbed up the sand to lay their eggs the previous night.
The island was a nature reserve with no buildings, amenities or roads. It was tiny so you could walk all the way around it easily. We had a 45 minute guided tour to take us through the centre of the woods to look at the birds and wildlife. The island was full of ‘noddies’ - a black bird which seemed to like swooping down and dive bombing people!
There were hundreds and hundreds of them nesting in every branch you could see. They thrive on the island, although the sticky seeds from one of the islands main trees is frequently fatal to them as they get stuck in their feathers and beaks and it stops them from flying and finding food. Of the 40,000 birds on the tiny island, only half of them will survive.
Our guide showed us some examples of the islands trees which had fallen over, only to spring back to life again as the branches grew upwards into new trunks.
Goats were put on the island in the late 1800s to provide food for passing sailors but they were all removed around 1970 to give the natural environment a chance to recover as they had eaten everything. What we saw was 35 years of regrowth and it was impressive how the vegetation had thrived in such a short space of time.
When we emerged on the beautiful beach further down the island, we came out at a campsite. For just under $5 (£2) per night you could bring your tent to the island and camp as long as you liked. It
provided the perfect spot for viewing the turtles coming in to lay their eggs at night. We were surprised to see there were probably about 20 people in the camp and we were very jealous watching them laying under trees reading, and jumping in the ocean for a swim, seeing as we had to get back onto our boat to leave without so much as a paddle on the beach
When we arrived back at the pontoon lunch was served but the staff told us it would be out for a while so we decided to go for a snorkel first to work up an appetite. We got in together and went around the coral heads near the boat in the cordoned of snorkelling area. The water was still murky. I was so surprised that we didn’t see many different fish, other than the sgt majors, racoons and parrot fish there were very few others of interest around, and the coral was pretty much all white in colour rather than the vivid mix of colours we’d seen in Fiji, Tahiti and the Cooks. .
Twenty minutes later we decided to go for lunch. We were lucky we went
when we did as there was very little food left and we cleared out the last of the meat just as some other people were arriving for their lunch. The food was lovely and we wished we’d arrived a bit earlier to enjoy more of it. We ate it sitting on the tables on the pontoon and followed it with a hot chocolate, before getting ready for another snorkel. We went further afield this time but still didn’t see much more. Had we braved the waves we could have gone to the other side of the snorkel zone and increased our chances of snorkelling with turtles but it seemed too much like hard work with the waves and the current.
I got out and dried off with a coffee so that I could take some snaps, while Matt stayed in the water right up until the very last minute when they more of less had to drag him out.
Afternoon tea was served while the crew packed everything up. I got two cream scones while Matt was getting changed, only for him to turn the cake down when he finally came and joined me, pointing out that he’d
heard someone say we were going back right through the middle of a storm so the water was going to be choppy. I agreed with him so ate them both without much protest.
What he’d heard was right. As soon as we started moving we could feel that the bounce of the boat was much higher than it was on the way out. They put Finding Nemo on the dvd player to keep us occupied, which was excellent as it was one of the films we wanted to watch again now that we know the fish in it so well. Plenty more people were seasick this time, including the same very noisy lady whose heaves seemed to echo around the whole boat and made everyone smile. Matt said that it felt good for it not to be him for a change.
The trip back seemed to last much longer and it was already 6pm when we finally docked. We’d gone through the storm at sea, and it was now following us to land. It felt funny getting off the boat in my bikini and sarong as the rain came down.
We pulled back into our campsite around
the corner just as the rain really started to pour down. There was no chance to sit outdoors this time so we huddled in our van and spent the rest of the evening cooking dinner and looking at our photos on our laptop.
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