It is my belief
that to come to Australia, let alone live in Australia for any length of time,
and fail to visit the Great Barrier Reef would be unthinkable. Moving from
Queensland to Western Australia limited opportunities significantly, so imagine my delight when the opportunity to spend my birthday on Lady Musgrave Island presented itself.
Located on the
outer southern Great Barrier Reef, Lady Musgrave Island is the highest point of
a coral cay. The rest of the cay forms a ring around the island providing a
natural lagoon filled with fish and, because the water is so sheltered, some
magnificent coral. Obviously we had come to dive.
SCUBA Diving
We were a bit
miffed to hear the dive boat had broken down, limiting us to diving the lagoon but
we weren’t going to come all this way and not dive. Initially there was a lot of
sand due to the numpties diving with us, but once we got moving that cleared
and there were some great coral bommies to explore and lots of fish including some characteristically territorial clown anemonefish (Nemos). We didn’t
see any big stuff but we did encounter a turtle. In all honesty I don’t think
we would choose to dive the lagoon again but we would be keen to check out the
outer reef.
Island Walk
The daytripper
boat moors at a fixed pontoon in the lagoon so we took a boat to the
island to have a look around. We were transferred over in a glass bottom boat
that had a thin layer of water over the glass resulting in much amusement when
one tourist dropped her shoe onto the glass and believed it lost forever… (any
boat with huge square holes in the hull just wouldn’t work would it?!)
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| Disembarking the glass bottom boat on Lady Musgrave Island, Queensland, Australia |
We walked through
the island’s forest and the guide told us about the Muttonbirds that
inhabit the island. Somewhat bizarrely, snubbing the natural beauty of this coral
island paradise, these weird birds dig burrows underground.
We walked back
along the beach and were shown the sea cucumbers lurking in the
shallows.
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| Introduction to sea cucumbers, Lady Musgrave Island, Australia |
It is possible to
camp on the island but there are no amenities so you need to bring absolutely everything,
drinking water being especially important. We wanted to take a look at the camping area because we were considering camping in the future, but were firmly told daytrippers were not allowed in the camping area.
Pontoon
activities
Lunch was a
buffet of cold meats, salads, bread and a yummy fruit platter. Following that we took
the semi submersible tour of the lagoon. The large windows offered great views
of the coral and fish that would please non-divers and nervous snorkellers.
The main reason we were impressed was the lack of collisions. The
semi-submersible is a fairly chunky craft!
Back on the
pontoon we were invited to snorkel from the swim platforms under the watchful
eye of a lifeguard. I suspect she was there to preserve the life of the reef as
much as those exploring it, which is a good thing really. I wasn’t a big fan of
the shrill whistle-blowing method of reprimanding the snorkellers that went
astray though.
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| Swim platform on the pontoon, Lady Musgrave, Queensland, Australia |
Tea and coffee,
cakes and biscuits were plentiful and there were bottles of sunscreen fixed
around the pontoon. Despite slathering cream onto myself before departing, at
regular intervals throughout the day and seeking refuge in the shade when I
could, I still managed to acquire awkward tan lines. I was glad not to burn though so ignore the suncream at
your own risk!
The pontoon supplied snorkeling
gear and the other activities were available if you wanted to do them or you
could ignore them and spend the whole day bum-up in the lagoon. I enjoyed the
freedom to make the day your own, despite being there with a boat full of other
people.
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| Lady Musgrave Cruises boat moored alongside the pontoon, Queensland, Australia |
Daytrips depart
the Town of 1770 each day. Lady Musgrave Cruises also operate a bus transfer
from Bundaberg and Gladstone. The boat trip to Lady Musgrave lagoon takes about
an hour and a half in each direction.
For me, visiting Lady Musgrave Island was a lovely birthday treat. Have you ever been taken anywhere for your birthday? Where did you go?
