Return to Lady Musgrave

[Kyle]When Friday came and we realized there would be no more mail until the next Tuesday, we decided to get a change of scenery for a few days. We left at 2am for the long sail back to Lady Musgrave Island.

{Maryanne: On our last visit we hadn't gone ashore at the island (we'd anchored much further out). It was time to fill in those gaps!}

This time, we picked up a mooring much closer to the island so that we would be able to go ashore instead of just snorkeling. The very tail end of the turtle hatching season was still happening and we were hoping we would get to see a few of the little hatchlings making their first trip to the sea.

We went ashore, where we found lots of birds and a few overgrown park signs, but no sign of turtle hatchlings other than a few fresh tracks in the sand {we were right at the very end of the season, and hoping for a few stragglers}. Knowing they preferred to make the dangerous trip under cover of darkness, we went ashore for the pre-dawn high tide. No luck.

Ashore at Lady Musgrave Island. The last two pictures are mutton bird nests (some still had large chicks) and baby turtle tracks

We went back for a nap and spent the remainder of the day snorkeling, where we found lots of adult turtles, including a few who even followed us around and let us rub their shells.

Snorkelling - we hit 3 different areas that we hadn't snorkelled on our previous visit

We went back to the beach again at sunset and stayed until well after the end of astronomical twilight. We sat on the sand in the area where we had seen the most tracks and watched the stars come out. Even after the birds had long stopped their nightly chatter, there was still no sign of any turtles. We must have missed the season.

Holding out hope to see turtles - and enjoying sunsets and sunrises

Still, it was great to be the only two people on the island, sitting on the beach watching the stars and not being bitten.

That bug thing really made a difference. Snorkeling was nice, walking on the beach looking at the antics of the birds was nice, but knowing we would not be getting any itchy bites to screw up our sleep was amazing! We left the hatches and doors open the whole time we were there, except for a few brief rain showers, just because we could. No bugs is really one of my favorite things about being way out to sea. They can just ruin a nice spot.

There were PLENTY of birds to see on the island too

We snorkeled, walked on the beach, aired the boat out and gave her several good cleans. Then the wind shifted to the north, which would be our only hope of getting back to Bundaberg in one day, so off we went, back to the land of bugs and (hopefully) mail.

Thinking of going yourself? We found the following useful to research and download beforehand (no internet/cell phone signal at the island)

• Coordinates and details regarding the public mooring balls are available at GBRMPA - note - Note Lady Musgrave is part of the Capricorn/Bunker Group of islands)
• Dive site maps and info available at LadyMusgraveExperience.com.au
• Dive sites may also be listed at WannaDive.Net