Orpheus Island to Magnetic Island

We took up a buoy mooring in Pioneer Bay, and went ashore to -not much really. A sandy bay with coral edges around the foreshore.There is a toilet ashore and it is a designated self sufficient camping site, as it is part of the National Park.
Just around the small headland to the south from the mooring, but still within Pioneer Bay, there is a research station.Part of James Cook University. They are much more welcoming than the resort in the  next big bay to the south about halfway down the Island ,Hazard Bay , at which non paying/staying visitors are persona non grata .
The afternoon we arrived, it was 1530 when we took up the mooring and went ashore, to the nearest beach.We decided the water was too turbid to be inviting and so after a brief explore we returned to K'Gari.
Next morning, it then being a rising tide, we went to the research station to check if t was ok to snorkel over the Giant Clam garden. We not only wanted to get the ok , but directions as to where exactly it lay within the bay.

I have to tell you my  arrival at the beach, thankfully unobserved, was spectacular. Picture this , flat calm, not a ripple on the glassy clear water. We used the outboard until we deemed it too shallow and then paddled the dinghy towards the shore, being careful to approach without touching any of the coral. Finally passing clear over the coral, the sandy bottom looked fine, just the odd stingray lurking.Of course, we really only spotted the stingrays when they decided to swim away, causing the sand to swirl and thus giving away their positions. Eventually with the dinghy just afloat, so we are in a max of about 6-8 inches of water, we decide to alight and wade, (in barely ankle deep water) the rest of the distance ashore.I was going to hold the dinghy, whilst Jo wandered off to find someone,anyone. Jo hopped out and at the very instant that I was one foot in and the other out of the  dinghy,it  sort of took a "mysterious" lurch and in less than 8 inches of water, I managed to go from vertical to horizontal. Yep, belly flop, face plant, in 6 " of water. Jo naturally found my morning "splattered explorer" yoga interpretation, hysterically funny. As I regained the vertical, the head of the station appeared, and assured us it was fine to go for a snorkel and pointed us in the right direction. The Giant Clam garden is in fact basically full of baby giant clams,  1140,  we were told. There were some larger ones, but the vast majority we saw were 'junior clams'.
My second swim for the morning was more enjoyable than the first.

We then sailed, beautifully taking advantage of the ever backing breeze, as it shifted from the S to the NE, to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island.

Orpheous Island to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

The anchorage was in Horseshoe Bay was pretty full- in our experience, meaning it had about 25 yachts,all apparently waiting for the forecast SEly wind to pass. Based on the forecast we thought we too would be at anchor for a couple of days, so we didn't rush ashore that evening.

For the historically minded, apparently Magnetic Island was so named after James Cook on his journey north in 1770, when he noticed the effect on his compass in the general vicinity of the island. Guess if had been using his GPS he  probably wouldn't have noticed.............