Lady Musgrave: a top Birthday spot!

 

Thursday: Glenn's birthday...61 and he's finally here at Lady Musgrave.

This is something that he's always dreamed about and talked about. I drew this birthday card while Glenn slept. (no secrets hiding places when living on board). I would call this drawing an impression because nautical detail is lacking....it was too dark to go out on the water in the dinghy to check on reality.

Surprise. It's a card especially for you.

We were wanting to get onto the shore and explore the island of Lady Musgrave. It is the southern most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef. It is a small island that takes about 45 mins to walk around. "Just look at the colour of the water" we kept saying to each other and anyone else we could find.

"How's the colour of this water!" No one else is listening.

We anchored ST3 about here and motored to the shore. The island is totally coral without any dirt/soil and is able to support vegetation due to the large amount of guano that has been deposited by birds over the millennium. Many species of migratory birds rest or nest here, and turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.

Our anchorage, and the neighbours were few.

The foundations of the island.

Super Sailor destroys World Heritage.

After kicking around bits of bleached coral for a while we headed into the interior of the island. It was a canopy of light green foliage: Pisonia trees and at present it is heavily populated by nesting birds: Noddy terns.

Little Blue Riding Hood.

Nesting Noddys.

After our leg streching on land I paddled my kayak out onto the reef edges within the enclosed waters. I am amazed the any of my photos actually turned out. The sun light plays tricks with exposures and the focus normally lands on the water's surface!

A classic shot taken without getting wet.

Cloisonné ?

Hydrangeas grow here.

Just by paddling and floating aimlessly around We were able to get up close and personal to several large black tip reef sharks chasing schools of colourful fish, white herons, a couple of large shy turtles and some smaller sting rays who didn't stay around for long. Lots of bright fish were dashing in and out. My greatest photographic achievement of the day was finding and snapping a blue star fish. Although this creature didn't move at all while I was there the tidal flow continually conspired to move the me and the kayak away from this spot. I persisted and this is the best out of 23 photo attempts. And it really is this blue.

True blue. All of the action for this photo was above the surface.

The darker side of life in paradise at Lady Musgrave is that we had no communication with the outside world for 4 days. I was delighted but Glenn became frustrated without Facebook or texts from friends and family. "How will I know what's happening". A fellow sailor passed on this tip: clip the Wifi to a halyard and hoist it up the mast. The results were reported by Glenn as being poor and intermittent. He gave up eventually after much cursing. The next morning we set sail for the mainland: Pan Cake Creek, Bustard Head and phone reception.

Is anybody out there. Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home.

Foot note: by Glenn: I loved my specially created card. Loved it! Hoist up the hotspot Jen.

 

 

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