Thursday afternoon Jeremy and I took off for Bundy. I took first driving shift as he still had a few Zoom meetings to do on the way up. We made decent time and got to Bundy just after 6 to meet most of the other divers for Pub dinner. $15 Reef & Beef for a decent steak 300g Rump.
Day 1
We transferred to the dive boat and left the crowd behind on the pontoon. When packing my gear for the trip I realised that I only had 1 of my Lycra Dive Socks, I must have left the other behind on a previous trip. They make it a lot easier to don a wet wetsuit, but I thought I could survive a few days... Over to Fairfax for the first dive, nice reef slope and good vis. Second into the water near Manta Bommies for some bigger current. Saw the largest Spotted Eagle Ray I have ever seen (sadly didn't get a pic) and a Manta Ray with about a billion Remora.
Early ish to bed and it felt like nothing before the 540 alarm (Alan D telling us to wake up...) Off for a coffee and a quick bite before heading to the Port to jump on out transfer boat. There was a few other groups on the way out, including a school group. We wrangled one in to take a group shot of us and made great time on the way to Lady Musgrave. Certainly a lot faster and more comfortable than the ~9hr Barge ride I'm use to! We're staying with 'Lady Musgrave Experience' who have a floating hotel "The Pontoon" out in the Musgrave Island lagoon.
Back to the pontoon for lunch and to say goodbye to the day trippers. Nice wraps and salad for a late lunch and then we made ourselves at home downstairs on the underwater beds.
Beautiful pink sunset and then 4 of us (5 + Madi the Dive Guide) jumped in for a night dive. I definitely felt the feet more without the socks, and they don't slip into the wetsuit legs anywhere near as easy. Just inside the Lagoon so probably not the most exciting one I have been on. Still nice to see a Giant Green Moray and a cool little flat worm.
Pizza for dinner but it wasn't long before everyone, tired from the early start and long day, turned in. With the outside underwater lights off at night the downstairs room was pitch black. Good for sleeping but a little eerie.
Day 2
Was up early at 5am and first inline for coffee. They were just turning everything on and heating the water and steamer up. About mid way through the coffee orders they ran out of reserve power and had to resort to the has stove for boiling water.
After everyone was functional with caffeine we loaded the dive boat up for a single dive (had to double check a few underfilled tanks) and after a short (40 min) delay we headed out at 7:40am towards the South side of the outer Lagoon wall. Putting on the Wetsuit last night was a pain but luckily Grahame had an extra pair of dive socks he very generously let me use (Champion! Thanks Man) them which made my morning a lot easier.
The goal was to dive 'The Caves' (mostly shelf overhangs but some with decent depth into the wall) but we dropped a little west of the marks and found reef instead. Some good reef though and as soon as we dropped a huge beehive coral with a cool pipe fish on it. Rest of the dive was ok with the usual Nudi, Turtle, fish etc.
Back to the Pontoon and we had a good ~4 hours break. There was a few divers from the day trip boat so they took out the dive boat for a double allowing us time to relax a bit. Sadly all the day trip things had already commenced, so there wasn't a chance for us to hop on the Island tour or Glass bottom boat. Another good lunch before gearing up for the arvo dives.
Over to Hoskyn Island, a new site for me. 2nd dive of the day on the reef with beautiful coral and bommie structure. Under a huge bommie was a White Tip Reef shark sharing a hole with what looked like a pregnant Tawny Nurse Shark.
Dive #3 was close by on a pretty well defined reef wall. A lot of life and some good Nudi and Flat worms. We drifted with the current for a while before it turned. A few of the crew pressed on into the current, while others took the easy route (I took the easy route) and turned around with the tide.
3 went out for a Twilight Entrance Channel "Superman" dive but the rest opted for a hot shower and a cold drink. Dinner of Sheppard Pie was ok, very generous serving size. It came out still in the 'Tuck Shop' foil tray. It wasn't long before bed beckoned and everyone turned in.
Day 3
A later start today, Coffee machine pre-warmed and ready for the few early risers. 7am breakfast for an 8am departure... so not much later than yesterday... We took out dive site locations from Diver 1 this time to guarantee a dive on the caves. Alex popped the marks into his Navionics and dropped us directly on top of a cave.
I was pretty lucky and the first in, leaving it pretty tidy. After another 3 or so people though and a silt bomb had exploded and filled the cave with fine silt. A good drift for the rest of the dive, many many overhangs.
Back onto the pontoon and a bit of a wait until we could get enough full tanks. They don't have a compressor on the Pontoon, just banks, so limited fills. They have to wait for the day boat (with a compressor) to fill tanks/banks.
While we were waiting it was almost lunch, so we had some a bit early before heading out to Bolt Reef for an afternoon double. The first dive looked a little underwhelming at the start but about mid way we started reaching some cool gutters/Slot canyons. Afternoon was a shallower dive on a flatter reef. We managed to fine a few things but a Yellow Spotted Moray was probably the best of it...
Back on the pontoon and Jnr, Snr, Chi and Coralie went in for a night dive. The rest of us headed downstairs to the Observatory to watch them float about. Another filling dinner (Burrito Wraps) and a few beers before another early bed.
Day 4
We weren't due to be in a rush this morning but due to the light of the Sunrise and typical Diver/Boat nature there was a few of us already stirring at 5:30. Lisa (the Hostie from the last few days) had finished her shift and returned to shore with yesterdays Day Trip passengers. That meant that the Coffee machine was cold again and there was a bit of a wait for all us addicts. I can't really remember what time we left as the plan changed back and forth a half dozen times.
Destination today was Fairfax Island to dive the Caves Wall. A particularly favoured site by many of us who have dived the area before. They were happy with our group and diving so the DM stayed behind on the Pontoon to attend to other duties and it was just us and the Skipper on the boat. With a gentle current it was a nice dive and with the Club GPS location and Alex Navigating we dropped directly on one of the caves. Was a bit crowded with 18 divers hanging about but there were a few others along the way too that people could explore.
Second dive of the day, and last of the trip, was over the North western side of Fairfax, Coralie and I tried to find the site we knew as Jacksons Bommie, however without the GPS Location it proved too difficult. We dropped a little shallow, ~6-7m, where most of the group stayed. Only Jeremy and I seemed to make the swim to deeper waters, hitting ~14m. We managed to find some good structure and a reef slope with plenty of rocks and overhangs to explore and enjoy. Reports back from the shallower divers didn't seem to be as exciting. Will be good to be back here next year, camping with the club, and having all the GPS marks.
On the Pontoon it was time to rinse Dive gear and get it as dry as possible before stuffing it into bags. We had already (mostly) cleared out our dry gear from our beds which were stripped and waiting to be locked back into their overhead positions. Another lunch made up of Chicken wraps, Miso Soup and a few varieties of salad (exact same lunch for the 4th day in a row.) I liked the food, despite it being the same all 4 days. I definitely didn't go hungry.
We had until 2:30 to have our gear on the transfer boat back, which was brought forward to 2pm, but still plenty of time to get everything sorted. Gear was still damp, but that's to be expected at the end of any trip unless you have a full day to dry it. We all loaded up and then launched off for the ride home. Mostly smooth ride home, some tried to snooze in preparation for the drive home others kept busy with cards. About 1/2 way back we had Phone service again so the phones came out too after an enjoyable break from connectivity.
Alex took an amazing photo from his drone;
Back on land we were quick to unload, say good byes and head off in our respective directions. Some were staying up in Bundy for the night, others started the drive home. Jeremy and I got going and had a very brief stop just north of Gympie for dinner. We met a few of our fellow travellers but were barely there long enough to wolf down a pie before continuing on. We made it to my place just before 10pm (Jeremy had another ~25min to home) to unload in the rain... one last chance to get wet on a dive trip...
The gear would have to wait until Wednesday. Luckily I had the day off to recover and take care of some house keeping.
Overall I felt like the Pontoon stay was a good trip. There's definitely some teething issues to be worked out, which was to be expected when we were one of the first groups and it's only been there 3 weeks. I think if they could solve the few little issues that we noticed they could have an amazing setup. I think the system we have when Camping over there works really really well for our Club and sets a hard standard to live up too. Plus, I do love my camping...
Of course with a great group of divers and friends it's always a fun trip. Thanks very much to Nelly and Jnr for all the organisation!
