Great Barrier Reef daytrip to Michealmas Cay
Meeting friends in Cairns recently, I was keen to show them the reef. An incredible number of people visit the Great Barrier Reef each year and, since a lot of them go to Green Island because of its proximity, which keeps costs down, we decided to go elsewhere. Michealmas Cay presented itself as an option, and looked amazing – easy decision. With over 900 islands, covering roughly 2,300 kilometres, choosing which island to visit could be an endless task. Fortunately tour operators only offer trips to a few islands or the choice might take all day. We started the day with a leisurely 33 kilometre sail out to sea, which…
Great Barrier Reef Birthday on Lady Musgrave Island
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…
Walking Magnetic Islands Forts
Magnetic Island is heaven for walking enthusiasts. It is a quiet place anyway, without much traffic, but there is also a network of walking tracks to pass the time getting lost on all over the island. It is possible to walk from each settlement to the next in only a few kilometres, as well as to various beautiful beaches and pretty coves. We decided to explore the forts on the island. The forts were built to defend Magnetic Island and Townsville during the Second World War. There are various ruins of small buildings and the remnants of the gun positions, which apparently were always ready but never fired. It felt…
Making Friends on the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven Natural wonders of the world and the only one visible from space. There is a lot of hype about it and visitors have seriously high expectations. We went out and made some bubbles. I’m not sure if it was our fault for being overexcited, but our first dive, was not all we had hoped it would be. The site was not uninteresting but it was a bit sparse. It was made worse because we spent a long time waiting around underwater before the dive itself began. That’s right, our dive suffered an attack of the muppets. Once our dive guide had…
Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island, or ‘Maggie’ as it is affectionately known by locals, is one of the many islands that make up the Great Barrier Reef. It boasts many beautiful but quiet beaches and is an undisturbed home to lots of wildlife. It lies 8km offshore from Townsville and is a magical escape from the mainland, accessible on a 20 minute ferry ride. We thought it would make a fantastic spot to take a day off from the days of driving on our roadtrip. Car and passenger ferries operate between Townsville and Magnetic Island and should be booked ahead of travel, to ensure you can get on. The ferries arrive into Nelly…
