Introducing international family members to our recently discovered paradise.

Once again heading for Lady M. This time via Bundaberg  to pick up some time tight tourists.

Jo and I sailed to Bundaberg from Tin Can Bay , arriving an hour or so before the arranged late afternoon pickup. When  we left Bundaberg the following morning  we had on board an international contingent comprised of Dave ( he who has been mentioned previously as he dropped in for a visit in Kota Kinabalu), his nephew and his nephew’s mate who were  on a whistle stop ‘reccy’ tour downunder.

 

Lady Musgrave delivered in spades. Glorious weather and the night walk on the cay revealed nesting turtles as they laboured their way over the fringing reef , the smarter ones waiting for the rising  tide before clambering over the reef and up the sand , digging their nests, laying their eggs and staggering back to the water. What an amazing effort. Being able to observe this, first hand, not via a tv screen is a privilege indeed. What a turtle can do with its rear  flippers is amazing to watch under the muted light of a torch. The scientists tell us that red light is better as it isn’t so disturbing for the turtles.

 The noise from the nesting whitecapped Noddy terns or the shearwaters, I’m not sure which, at night would make a perfect background track  for a horror movie. It is eerie, shrill at times and then it sounds almost mournful and lonely, despite the fact  you know there are hundreds of them nesting.

We skirted around the sandy edge of the cay under moon and torch light, not wishing to venture through the ‘deep dark’ pisonia forest, where we might have unwittingly and accidentally trodden on  a shearwater (mutton bird) nesting beneath the ground.

 Some  of the memorable moments, apart from the excellent company we had on board, from this trip were  when the single hander on his fishing boat anchored nearest  to us, one evening finally lost the battle with what ever fish he had hooked and it broke him off by swimming around a bommie. For goodness knows what reason, he came over in his dinghy to ask if any of us were likely to be going for a swim as he had lost his lure-handily he knew where it was!  As it was well and truly sundowner time and probably only another ten minutes of daylight left, I was a little bemused  that he was surprised that, no actually we weren’t thinking of going for a swim to retrieve a lure with or without flapping possibly injured fish attached, at the time of day when the “grey /bronze/tiger suited “ fish with the big teeth, might also be on the prowl.

 Our next interaction was the following day when he came over mid afternoon in his dinghy when Jo and the boys were away snorkelling,  enquiring when we were leaving and where we were headed. I’m always cautious handing out information,  but it was a genuine request, as he had discovered on board an unwanted freeloader- a diamond head python. Unable to assist with our own imminent departure , the suggestion was put forward that perhaps the daily boat from Bundaberg might be able to assist as it hadn’t yet departed. Off he went.They obviously agreed to take the freeloader with them and we watched as he returned to his vessel ,scurried around and produced a garbage bag or sugar sack ,hard to tell really.He then went forward of his wheelhouse  just out of our direct line of sight,  bent over into something (which turned out to be a storage box of some description) and when he stood up, he had in hand a very healthy looking 5-6 foot python which he shoved unceremoniously into the bag he was clutching . Into the dinghy it went and he sped over to the almost ready to depart tourist vessel. When he returned he was all smiles! Obviously he couldn’t just take it ashore onto the cay to let it go  - it would have had a field day with the birds and it’s a National Park after all.  Goodness you couldn’t write a script about it as no one would believe you, but it was excellent value for us as entertainment.

The actual cay is indeed part of a designated national park as is the western edge of the fringing reef. The majority of the lagoon is not and spearfishing, fishing etc is permitted.

 

Fabulous time with excellent company, but way too short. We returned the travellers to Bundaberg. Dave was on a flight to winter in  the UK in a couple of days time and the boys were driving to Sydney down the coast road before returning to winter in the US. From 30 degrees and balmy seas to snow!