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| Photo Credit - Kristie Ford |
By 4am there were a few people already up and stirring. We could just make out a silhouette of Musgrave before the sun decided to break the horizon. After launching Diver 1 and finding a good place to land the barge we got to the monumental task of unloading all the gear on to the beach.
People started to make their way to camp sites finding some already taken and space at others limited. There was a group of 17 that were to be packed out by 10am. Still a few hours away. I tucked in with Jeremy, Kristie and the girls only by the grace of Phil and Jules who shifted slightly to make room for me. Thanks guys!
Pretty experienced setting up camp so we were in our chairs having a break while others were still setting out guide lines for their tarps. I tried to drum up interest for a dive but with the low tide taking the boat out of action it involved a 80m walk with gear so just 3, Bruce Jeremy and I, went in. Marcus Tina and Tracey did follow us from above (snorkel) though.
On the dive was plenty of Clown fish and lots of other life. We also stumbled upon a Peacock Mantis Shrimp, which are awesome little creatures. Tucked away under a rock made pictures difficult. After the dive was sunset drinks and a nice dinner. Most were quick to bed after the long night and day.
On the dive was plenty of Clown fish and lots of other life. We also stumbled upon a Peacock Mantis Shrimp, which are awesome little creatures. Tucked away under a rock made pictures difficult. After the dive was sunset drinks and a nice dinner. Most were quick to bed after the long night and day.
Early rise for the first dive, just a short 3min boat ride to 'Manta Bommies' no luck on the Mantas but the biggest Nurse Shark I have ever seen. A few turtles and nudi's as well. Good 20m + vis though I was expecting cleaner. I went skipper on dive 2 back to the same site, current had picked up so was a bit more challenging for them, but most reported a good dive.
We set up the compressor and I got to the task of filling tanks. Others moved Fuel and water drums (200 lt drums...) to various strategic locations. Ash relieved me after a while and then Kristie him for the last 5 or so tanks. Easy job, but not very exciting... and loud. Kristina wanted to visit mum and got a little fright when Kristie released the water filter bleed valve, which makes a big HISSS.
After sunset drinks about 7 of us jumped in for a night dive, including Kristie and Jeremy who were thankful to Tracey and Jules who were on kid watch. It would have been 8 if not for some unfortunate gear trouble for Judy. There's been a few repairs already, inflator hose buttons etc.
After sunset drinks about 7 of us jumped in for a night dive, including Kristie and Jeremy who were thankful to Tracey and Jules who were on kid watch. It would have been 8 if not for some unfortunate gear trouble for Judy. There's been a few repairs already, inflator hose buttons etc.
I was not spared from the gear trouble it seems as my 1st stage started a slow leak of air. Not enough to abort the dive, but enoigh that I was thankful I brought a spare. I also had a torch battery go flat... I always bring a secondary... which proceeded to give me a low battery warning not 5min after it had been turned on... Still plenty of power for the dive.
Another night with relativly early turn ins. Pasta and Mince went down well as I tried to charge one of my torch batteries on the inverter... they take a while apparently. I too quickly decided to turn in early, before even 1 of them was charged. Nice to have but won't need them on the day dives.
First dive was just west of the chanel entrance. I remembered more structure here but there was a few good reef outcrops and quite a few small (2-3m tall) reef walls. Shane a newer diver with us did really well, but as with all new divers went through air quick (and needs more spit in his mask...)
After dropping Shane back at the anchor at the 30 min mark Kerry, Jez and I carried on. Some more Nudi and a bit of fish life but the find was Jeremy spotting a Peacock Mantis Shrimp.
Next dive of the day was over at LM caves. A really good wall dive with pretty big cavern holes carved out. The slope above the reef wall was chock full of plate coral and there was some big fan coral on the wall itself. Lots of small fish tucked away in holes and a few white tipped reef sharks buzzed us for half the dive.
No night/arvo dive this time so I had a nice drink with lunch and continued on. Didn't bring as much as usual for this sort of trip and I'm sure I'll come up short by the end.
Also took on some Uncle duties and watched Emma for a bit, her favourite game is "take me to find Mummy or I'll scream until you do" Though she can be occupied by birds, leaves, food or a few other things in short bursts. The trick is to always have a new distraction to move onto.
Went skipper for the first dive on the next day, wind had increased slightly from the past few days but still good conditions. Dropped everyone at Fairfax island caves, which is another good wall dive. Must have been right near high tide as it turned during the last few minutes of their dive.
Jumped on for dive 2 and back to F.Fax wall, dropped about 800m west of the morning dive (so current would take us back towards the caves) and had a pleasant wall dive. A few turtles but some really cool caverns you can swim into and explore.
Dive 3 of the day was back to Manta Bommie. Have to remember that it's a bad site for late in the tide change. Fairly strong current and a relatively small site (not like a wall you can just drift along.) We did see 2 Manta Rays though, both were just on the edge of ~25m vis though so no chance of a photo and current was too strong to chase after them.
Back for lunch and a bit of time on the compressor then I took off for a lap around the island. It's not far... only km. Had a good climb of the lighthouse, great view of the lagoon and found both Permanent Survey Control marks which inhabit Musgrave.
After sunset drinks and heading back for dinner a few of us got together for some games. The game of the night was "Logo" a trivia game based on product/brands. A pretty fun game in a group, made even more so by how close it was with 3 teams on the final space and the other 2 close behind.
Up early again for the first dive. Boat was a bit dry at 6am but had just enough water to float it out by 7. The plan was a drift dive at LM Caves but surface conditions were pretty poor so we dropped at an unmarked (for us) spot on a reef wall. Fairly good dive plenty of plate coral and fish life. A Spanish Mackrell circled us for a while as well.
Back again at the same site for dive 2. This time I had to go a little less deep as I started reaching my Deco limits. Still a good dive as even just 3m above the last profile its like a different site. Lots of fish life and an almost complete covering of plate coral.
When we got back to shore there was a team from QPWS at camp doing a detail survey. Apparently they have a bit of money to improve the camping facilities here, including boardwalks and replacing the 30 year old drop toilet building. After they finished the detail they also flew a RPA for photogrammetry of the site.
Kristie, Alan and I dropped in for a night dive after sunset snacks while Jeremy put Emma to bed and took care of Kristina. Definitely not as much life as last time I was here, no moray eels yet and only 1 painted cray.
That said the dive was pretty awesome in the end. A cool flat worm with a colour pattern I hadn't seen before. A cowrie that was cruising along outside of its shell another decorator crab and to top it off a huge green turtle just as we were hopping out. On the 80m walk back to camp over the reef flat we saw another green turtle and a baby turtle, probably confused by the lights of the dive torches, swim straight into Kristie.
First dive of the day was meant to be an entrance superman dive. Basically drop outside the lagoon entrance and ride the current in. Sadly we picked the slightly wrong time and it was more of a crawl in, with the current still going slightly out. Note to future divers, at least the 2nd dive after the boat floats off the house reef.
Still saw after couple off reef sharks and after huge QLD grouper on the way in. Lots of little fish on small coral bommies when we were inside too.
Next dive was over at Fair Fax again, I love the cave/caverns here. Not a huge amount of life though, still no Cray to speak off, no giant green Moray eels at all. Haven't seen an Octopus yet... still good structure and easy drift diving.
Next dive I was skipper for back to F.Fax. Despite running a live boat I started to feel a little queezy on the surface. Now I've definitely had my fair share of sea sickness but it's been very unlikely on a live boat. Driving back was fun too with 3 different people telling me 3 different locations of the channel. All of them wrong. I trusted the GPS and had a smooth ride in.
In the afternoon I felt really lathargic, like I should have had an afternoon nap. At sunset drinks I also started to feel a little cold, despite a warm ambient temp. By dinner I started to get a headache and apparently lost my apatite. Ended up in bed by 730...
Headache got worse through the night and I coughed up some flem. I hate being sick on holidays. I was down to skipper dive 1 and diving the next 2 but I got Kristie to scratch my name off the list for thet day and find a replacement skipper and spent most of the morning in bed.
After spending most of the rest of the day laying on my stretcher or lounging in my chair I found the energy to get dressed for the Pot Luck En-blanc dinner night. Still feeling pretty terrible I unfortunately brought up what little I had eaten for lunch, can't blame it on the alcohol this time either... Everyone looked great in their white get-ups and I'm pretty sure I managed a smile for the group shot.
Dinner was amazing, as always, so many different dishes to sample. I tried to taste them all but could barely stomach a mouthful of each. Bowing out early it was another quiet night for me. Svea (a nurse) had given me some pink anti-nausea med which really helped.
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| Photo by Jeremy Ford |
Felt loads better in the morning but still not 100%. I was actually enjoying breakfast, pretty hungry from yesterday, when Pete came by with some bad news. His boat had gone missing during the night! I've never lost a boat but I have had one catch on fire so I know at least partly the sting. A call to VMR put boats in the area on lookout and Diver 1 did a quick scout but sadly turned up nothing.
We still were able to squeeze in 2 dives with the tide, with the wind blowing both trips went to the NE wall again. Same site as before but this time they finally saw some Giant Green Moray and Painted Crayfish. I was still out of action but glad to hear there was good diving. A trawler came in to rest in the shelter of the island and we were able to procure a sample of their wears (yummy bugs and scallops).
Feeling mostly better I started to gear up for a night dive. Plans soon put to rest. On the Sat phone (that Nelly used to call VMR about Pete's boat) we received an emergency call. A crew member on a trawler (different one that before) had been hit by a Blue Ring Octopus!
With a helicopter already on route were were asked to provide a ferry from the trawler to shore which would make for a much easier pickup. Peter H sprung into action and with the help of Marcus, Graeme and Svea went to help. Another camper here was a doctor so he went to lend a hand too.
Despite being in a lot of pain the 21 year old patient seemed to be doing well and paramedics expected a good outcome. As a thank you the skipper of the trawler also handed over some live spanner crabs and when talking to them we found out that they may have even seen Pete's boat!
First up in the morning 7 of us went out on Diver 1 to do a bit of a recon mission for Pete's anchor, to know definitively if it was snapped. Despite a pretty decent search we came up empty. There was enough bottles down there that, were they full, would be enough to open a liquor store, a dive flag and some other odd pieces. No clues for the anchor though :(
On the brighter side of things the patient was released from hospital early this morning and we are told is in good spirits.
I jumped on the next 2 dives and had some good ones over at F.Fax. Caves are always impressive to me but Alan D also saw a pretty large Octopus and I finally saw a decent amount of cray. On dive 2 Kristie also spotted some cool Nudibranch. I love the Neon Blue ones but they're hard to get a good pic of :/ The tiny baby pipe fish was equally frustrating to try get a decent picture.
Out again as skipper for dive 3 with only 3 keen divers on board. Surface conditions were a bit rubbish so I lost their bubbles a few times but found them again about 3min before they sent up a sausage. Jeremy spotted a large (3m+) shark but couldn't get a positive ID. Back just in time for sunset drinks/snacks.
4 in total for a night dive tonight, Shane's first one. After getting some last minute torch signal instructions he was set to go. Quite a bit to see including a squid that had a go at Alan R's camera but the highlight for me was tracking a White Tip shark for about 30 sec before it turned and swam right between my legs! If I only saw it at that last point I think my wetsuit would be a new shade of brown.
As if this trip didn't have enough mishaps already a sailing boat had run aground on a Bommie in the Lagoon. Our boat was out on a Double dive but there were already day boats close that probably had better facilties to render assistance anyway. Poor guys, looks like they had a steel hull so the boat is likely to be ok, pretty big fine for running up on coral though...
I hopped on for the next dive when the boat came back and we headed to Musgrave 'Caves 2' and drifted west. Really cool wall dive here lots of over hangs and a pretty tall wall to follow along. Current must have been ripping as we travelled close to 1.2km. Didn't feel that strong underwater but we did notice it picked up mid-dive.
Took the boat again for another dive, just two divers this trip to Manta Bommie. Jeremy and Nelly had a good dive with minimal current. No Mantas though, but lots of other life including a huge Napoleon Wrasse.
Kristie and I waded over the reef shelf for another night dive. Started to feel a bit cold towards the end of the dive but a few good finds made it worth it. Definitely not as much as I normally spot but there were heaps of baby Lion Fish and a great Cuttle fish that put on a show. I think that the best find was by Kristie when she focused on a huge decorator crab. It's claw was as big as my hand, if not bigger!
Absolute mill pond conditions today. As I headed out for the double dive first up all I could think of is that I could have brought a ski and Water skied on the trip over to Fairfax. The surface when we arrived was just as good.
Second dive was on Jackson's Bommie which is a shallower sandy site with some cool coral bommies to explore. I soon found a nice little flat worm and a Moray in an awkward position (for photos) under a lip. None of the giant green Moray you often see here though :( We did see a big bull ray, wobbies, reef sharks and some decent Nudi's, I've seen those ones before but not this trip. All in all a great dive to end my Musgrave trip on.
Returned to shore to some amazing news, QPWS had found Pete's boat, and it was still in one piece! They found it off Great Kepple, so on its little solo journey it had travelled 200+ km... No real details about the condition of the vessel bit we are told only 1 (of 2) engines started. Pete jumped on one of the day boats to get back to his car in the township of 1770, with the plan to drive up to Rocky where he could reunite with Adeodatus.
Most of the second last day was spend slowly packing down camp and shifting gear to the beach. Move a bit, play with the nieces a bit, rest a bit, repeat. Bits of camp were stripped away until all was left was my shade, stretcher and kitchen table (which was packed up shortly after dinner) some Tents were still standing while others opted to sleep under the stars or in make shift tarps on the beach. There were also a few camps that looked relatively intact... Knowing I had little to do the next morning I joined those on the beach for a few last night drinks under the stars. After all, had to finish off the scotch or I'd just have to carry it back home...
The final morning and the alarm going off at 430am. Others were already up and stirring pulling down what little remained of their tents and gear. Other still were busy working away on their mostly intact camps, seemingly getting little done yesterday and leaving the bulk of the work to 5am in the morning. We saw the lights of the barge off in the distance growing closer, people were still bringing gear down as the barge hit the beach. Everyone else started the laborious task of loading everything back onto the barge. When all was said and done we left the island with the sun on our backs and calm waters.
The barge powered back to Gladstone, despite seas becoming a little less tranquil. On the ride back some tried to sleep, preparing for the long drive ahead, while others read books or watched movies. Some started sorting through all their many photos from the trip. There was a brief moment of pause to all other activities when Michelle brought out a delicious caramel birthday cake, for yours truly, which also involved the accompanying song...
Once we reached landfall Curtis fork lifted the crates off the barge and dropped them near cars and we begun the task of re-loading vehicles. Eventually all was done and people started to make their way home. Some staying in Gladstone, making the drive tomorrow, others getting a head start and some going the whole way tonight. Some of us getting a small head start met at the Gin Gin pub for dinner. It was pretty busy, expected for a Friday night I guess, but had good food.
Tracey, Bruce, Kristie, Jeremy, the girls and I stayed in cabins at Gin Gin which were actually very decent for their cost, 3 bedroom and great, hot, excessive water pressure, showers. The next morning we woke and got ready for the final stretch, hitting a Cafe for a Bacon and Egg roll for breakfast before leaving Gin Gin at approx 8:40. Just past 12 Tracey and Bruce dropped me home and we said our goodbyes. My diving gear was with me, so I was able to get some cleaning done, but the bulk of my gear is in the trailer with Kristie and Jez so the de-Bird-poop-ification will have to commence tomorrow.
All in all another great trip with URGQ. Thanks Nelly for organising and all the amazing people that helped out on the island to make a trip like this possible!
Most of the second last day was spend slowly packing down camp and shifting gear to the beach. Move a bit, play with the nieces a bit, rest a bit, repeat. Bits of camp were stripped away until all was left was my shade, stretcher and kitchen table (which was packed up shortly after dinner) some Tents were still standing while others opted to sleep under the stars or in make shift tarps on the beach. There were also a few camps that looked relatively intact... Knowing I had little to do the next morning I joined those on the beach for a few last night drinks under the stars. After all, had to finish off the scotch or I'd just have to carry it back home...
The final morning and the alarm going off at 430am. Others were already up and stirring pulling down what little remained of their tents and gear. Other still were busy working away on their mostly intact camps, seemingly getting little done yesterday and leaving the bulk of the work to 5am in the morning. We saw the lights of the barge off in the distance growing closer, people were still bringing gear down as the barge hit the beach. Everyone else started the laborious task of loading everything back onto the barge. When all was said and done we left the island with the sun on our backs and calm waters.
The barge powered back to Gladstone, despite seas becoming a little less tranquil. On the ride back some tried to sleep, preparing for the long drive ahead, while others read books or watched movies. Some started sorting through all their many photos from the trip. There was a brief moment of pause to all other activities when Michelle brought out a delicious caramel birthday cake, for yours truly, which also involved the accompanying song...
Once we reached landfall Curtis fork lifted the crates off the barge and dropped them near cars and we begun the task of re-loading vehicles. Eventually all was done and people started to make their way home. Some staying in Gladstone, making the drive tomorrow, others getting a head start and some going the whole way tonight. Some of us getting a small head start met at the Gin Gin pub for dinner. It was pretty busy, expected for a Friday night I guess, but had good food.
Tracey, Bruce, Kristie, Jeremy, the girls and I stayed in cabins at Gin Gin which were actually very decent for their cost, 3 bedroom and great, hot, excessive water pressure, showers. The next morning we woke and got ready for the final stretch, hitting a Cafe for a Bacon and Egg roll for breakfast before leaving Gin Gin at approx 8:40. Just past 12 Tracey and Bruce dropped me home and we said our goodbyes. My diving gear was with me, so I was able to get some cleaning done, but the bulk of my gear is in the trailer with Kristie and Jez so the de-Bird-poop-ification will have to commence tomorrow.
All in all another great trip with URGQ. Thanks Nelly for organising and all the amazing people that helped out on the island to make a trip like this possible!
