musgrave magic

How lucky are we??!! It’s not Wakatobi, but being here is not such a bad ‘plan b’.

We left Fraser Island and the Hervey Bay whales for a few supplies from Burnett Heads before we headed north for the Southern Reef, specifically Lady Musgrave Island and Fitzroy Reef. We had AQ on board the evening before our departure for last minute planning along with a lamb roast (followed by an exciting nail-biting Dees win!). It was to be a “stupid o’clock” start the next morning.

With a 15-20 knot SE breeze we had a great sail albeit with a leftover mixed swell from the previous day’s wind. So hooning along quite quickly with AQ behind us we anticipated a quick trip to Lady M.

It was so good getting back to the reef.  It’s like revisiting a friend but at the same time rediscovering everything that makes these waters so appealing. As you enter the lagoon it’s the colour in the water that initially takes your breath away and with a clear blue sky, the azures and turquoise each side of the entrance, I was reminded of what’s to come.

This IS Lady Musgrave magic … playing with with my iPhone 11 Pro

And a clam …

Our last visit here was in November 2019, when the turtles had just started nesting. No nesting or mating but I had several snorkels with very friendly turtles!

Did I just say, “I’d just love the turtle to turn and swim towards me”????!!!! Well … it did!

With a day of very calm weather (and a near full moon overnight, meaning the tides were quite big), I tried my hand at some split-shots/over-unders. One of the tricks with a split shot is having a subject not only in the ‘under’ part but also in the ‘over’ part.  A bright blue sky in the ‘over’ is sometimes the easiest!

I was also attempting to show the exposed reef at these very low tides with some of my split-shots.  While not super clear, you can see the reef exposed.  It’s that brown stuff!

Next stop … the Fitzroy lagoon.