It has been a while …
We picked up Tim and Abbey from the Hervey Bay airport two weeks ago and they have just left us, flying home from Rockhampton.
We had a great time – 4wdriving on Fraser Island, a night at Lady Musgrave Island, a few nights in one of our favorite anchorages, Pancake Creek and finishing off with a fabulous week of sunshine and calm weather around Great Keppel Island.
First stop, the supermarket. It’s always a challenge provisioning for four, but with our second freezer on the go, we always manage to eat quite well. The kids were extremely helpful in the galley and on the bbq, hence a rest for me on the cooking front. We checked out Hervey Bay and what we think is the longest pier ever.
Hervey Bay pier – 868 metres long!
After much research we booked a self-drive 4wd hire for a day on Fraser Island. We decided we couldn’t quite come at the organised ‘day tour’ option and Neville and Tim were both looking forward to playing “Russell Coight” for a day (too young for the Leyland brothers!). We did manage to beat the tide and see a few sights all be it, a bit rushed.
Our last stop on the island was Lake McKenzie. A beautiful clear blue sandy lake. It was rather bizarre seeing people in coats standing at the edge of the lake while the board shorts and bikinis were swimming. We could understand why, the lake is so beautiful and inviting, but not us. Too cold!
We then sailed on to Bundaberg for an overnight stop before heading out to sea for an overnighter at Lady Musgrave. Unfortunately the weather forecast wasn’t too friendly so we could only squeeze in a night. Hopefully we will be able to hop through the other coral cays on our trip south this year. Abbey unfortunately copped some sea sickness with a few hours to go on this 6 hour leg, but once inside the lagoon she was fine.
I tried out my new (birthday) underwater camera. It will be a challenge mastering my underwater photography. A new camera (must read the instructions), no glasses (so I can’t read the settings) and I have established I need to get closer to the subject, which means I need to go deeper in the water!
So note to self –
- Somehow conquer the eyesight issue (maybe some cheap bendy reading glasses inside the mask. I have a friend who has successfully done this).
- Read the camera instructions (should be easy).
- Learn how to use our Hookah (our dive gear purchased for underwater repairs). We have purchased a battery specifically for the dinghy so we are both going to try this out with our next snorkeling trip.
- Reread Christine Danger’s underwater photography hints (Chris writes about her photography and sailing on board a cat called Take It Easy. You will find many of her articles in Cruising Helmsman too. Take It Easy is from our home-port in Paynesville).
We love Lady Musgrave. We walked the island, saw some turtles in the clear blue water and the kids tried some snorkeling. Last year we spent four hot calm days in the lagoon. The turtles were nesting, the birdlife abundant and we just loved it.