From our last article on 26 May, we have had a great few weeks.  From K'Gari we anchored outside the marina in Bundaberg to check out the facilties and of course do a tour of the (in)famous Bundy Rum factory. Great tour and walked away a very happy and a few bottles heavier.

We sailed from Bundaberg with the southerlies once again giving us a ‘strong’ sail north with 15-18kts filling in later in the morning.  Initially we had the spinnaker up but when the winds hit over 14kts we pulled her down and tried a goose wing configuration with our spare genoa up the stbd track poling the other out to port.  The first time we have tried this and we are converted …. What a great downwind set up with minimal roll with the filling seas.  Lia was happy 😉

We were keen to visit ‘Seventeen Seventy’ which is supposed to be very beautiful, and every May they have the annual celebrations of Cooks landing - hence the towns name. We arrived at Bustard Bay outside 1770 around 5pm, but were losing light so decided to anchor and have a look at the rather hairy looking entry the next day.  From the direction of the swell, we thought we would be nicely sheltered, but we were very, very wrong...it was a rolly, sleepless night.

The next day both the winds and swell had picked up, and a quick phone call to the local VMR confirmed we would not be risking the bar at 1770.  So, we picked up anchor and headed for the shelter of Pancake Creek.

And what a delight it was to round that corner! We arrived right on high tide, easily crossed the well-marked bar and motored into the sanctuary of Pancake Creek. We spent 3 nights while the winds howled around us, safely anchored. The weather cleared up enough for us to walk the 5km track through the mangroves and up to the Bustard Bay lighthouse.

When the weather improved sailing wise we decided to make a break for Lady Musgrave Island, a beautiful coral cay at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.  On departing we put out a line and about 15 minutes later hooked up a good-sized cobia which fed us for a week.  The 'wagu of the sea' was one of the texts we received when trying to identify what it was, and we can confirm it was delicious.  It was an added blessing as we were planning to shop at 1770 and was starting to look like the stash of  2-minute noodles was going to be our meals for a while 😉.

We arrived into the reef at 2pm and had an easy entry, picking up a mooring straight away. Luckily we did – that night it was very windy, gusting up to 30knots – of course not in the weather reports.

Lady Musgrave Island is an absolute paradise with no Telstra access, so it is a true getaway. Our days were spent reading, snorkelling and doing little jobs on the boat. Absolute bliss.

This little cay (like so many other places) was nearly destroyed by humans – mined for guano, used for bombing practice in WW2 and in the late 1800s goats were put on the island to feed any potential victims of ship wreaks.  For nearly 100 years these goats munched through all the vegetation, until finally in the late 1970s, the government shot the last of them and the island was able to recover. Thankfully its now well looked after, with a with a well sign posted forest walk giving lots of information about the island and the preservation of the reef.  Walking through the island is like stepping into another world – it’s covered in giant leafy green Psiona trees which are home to an enormous number of birds. They are oblivious to the awestruck humans wandering through their home– flittering and hopping about singing their beautiful songs.  It’s hard to describe how beautiful it is.

As well as the cay, the reef is stunning – probably the most abundant part of the Great Barrier Reef we’ve both seen – lots of turtles, rays, parrot fish, and a few nemo’s. The island a turtle haven and an important hatching site between October and March, which we’ve been told amazing, so would love to return someday. Despite being protected, you can spear fish in parts of the reef, where Matt caught a coral trout – and because of that, was lucky enough to attract the attention of a few reef sharks.

Despite Lia disapproving of spear fishing on the reef (and signing a petition to ban it about an hour before we arrived) the coral trout was delicious. You can sign the petition here. | Ban Spear Fishing | Great Barrier Reef .

 

After our 5 days away, our supplies were depleted and our dirty laundry bags overflowing, so we headed for Gladstone Marina on 6 June.

One of the books we have on board makes the bold call that Gladstone is the second most beautful harbour after Sydney. We of course scoffed at that statement, but on arrival humbly ate our words. Despite being a very busy industrial port, it's a very attractive harbour with lots of beautiful parks. Along the foreshore they have the 'Gladstone' Navy Patrol boat on display, which Matt very much liked. The town has a lot of beautiful old Queenslander style buildings and the marina is one of the best we've visited.

First night we were keen to eat anything that wasn't fish so hit the nearest and best recommended pub food and proceeded to devour our weight in meat. And it a wonderful turn of events,we won the meat tray, halving the cost of our Woolworths bill the next day.

 

After enjoying hot showers and 5 loads of washing we are leaving Gladstone Marina thorugh the North Passage and onto the Kepple Islands.