Diving - 2024 04 - Lady Musgrave Island (URGQ)

Off for another wonderful island adventure with the URGQ dive club. Every couple of years we get ready to load up our vehicles with 2 weeks worth of food, camping and diving gear. Scuba tanks, fridges, camping solar etc etc it can quickly fill a 4wd... plus a trailer for some!  

Day 0

I was heading up with my sister so I dropped round the day before to load gear. Come Friday morning I was dropped off and we started the drive north to Gladstone. We were stopping about 40min short tonight at Koorawatha Homestead in Bororen as we were catching the barge later the following morning.  

We leapfrogged a few fellow travellers before reaching our destination for the night and 5 other friends. Great dinner and reasonable prices. Rooms were good too and nice hot showers with pressure... last chance for one for 2 weeks...  

Day 1

A short leg to finish off the drive to Gladstone, to meet Curtis Ferries. A quick stop off for fuel and last minute supplies before we met everyone at the gate and started catching up. Before too long it was time to load all of our gear into crates... it's meant to be 4-5 adults per crate but with the dive gear (and a few comforts) 4 can be a tight fit, manageable but tight.

With the crates packed it was time to load onto the barge and set sail. Not the best conditions. Smashing head on into 2m swell and 20kt winds. Made for a bumpy slower trip over. Though not as bad as I expected. A few people got a little queasy and surprisingly I pulled through ok. 

Arriving after dark SNR and I launched Diver 1 (the club boat) off the barge ramp and quickly prepared it for the night. 2 Anchors and strapping tyres under the keel as at low tide it can sit on the floor.   

A short swim to shore and then we got stuck into helping unload. All the gas and Scuba tanks were already off! People hauling ass tonight! Still plenty for us to help with though as we laboured, with everyone else, to walk 2 weeks worth of gear up the beach as fast as possible.  

Eventually all of our gear was off the barge, including 2x 200lt fuel drums and 10x 200lt water drums, and we said our goodbyes to the Curtis crew. Then begun the task of setting up camp for the night. at ~1130pm... Some opted for the basics only, just a tarp and fridges, while others had most of their get setup before bed. Kristie and I got our tent, bedding and fridges sorted but decided to leave the Solar and kitchen setup until morning. It was just before 1am when I finally crashed onto my stretcher.

Day 2

A day of tinkering. We had mostly completed our setup in the wee hours of the night before but there were a few small things to do, like setup the wetsuit drying rack and arrange kitchen tables. For breakfast we had setup the gazebo to mostly just prevent wayward bird poop but we were lucky we did because we got a fairly decent rain shower before we finished eating.  

Others were taking longer to perfect their home for the next 2 weeks, some more elaborate than others, but it's always good to see what works for them and scope out good ideas you can copy and make your own. It was also time to move the water barrels off the beach and take all the fuel to the Fuel Depot. Everyone was mostly done by lunch so I drummed up interest for an afternoon shore dive. 

10 of us walked out the 200m to the reef edge and dropped in. Decent vis for the house reef. We saw a bull ray, flat worms, a few Nudies a Maui Wrasse and a cool little Epaulette shark. He was tucked deep in a hole though and hard to get a good pic of.  

Back in time for the first real sunset drinks of the trip (on the barge doesn't count!) For a nice orange sunset and a few words on house rules (like closing the toilet seat in the composting toilets, which the previous campers on the island DID NOT DO!) We also realised that we may have left our Dive planning whiteboard behind... so back to organising dives in an exercise book Nelly had luckily packed :o 

After the long day yesterday and short nights sleep (some people still setting up at 2:30am) most people were pretty knackered and were heading to bed by 8, I wasn't far behind just before 9...

Day 3

Up for a very civilised 815 departure to get our first boat dive of the trip in. When I woke up the boat was still sitting on the tyres (which Gary gave a great facelift, with added pool noodles) that prevents the keel sitting on the reef. 

It was soon floating though and divers were surprisingly ready on time so we headed off. Not the best weather still with the South-East winds hitting us at about 20kt. So we had to stay in the leeward side of the island. A nice wall with a few scattered bodies on 20m depth we saw quite a bit of fish life and a few more Nudi etc. 

There was also a cool little Octopus tucked in a hole and a few divers caught a glimpse of a Peacock Mantis Shrimp which had retreated too far into its hole for me to see. Luckily we had a little cherry on top of what was already a good dive. Just as we were ascending for our safety stop a Manta Ray came out of the blue right under us. It did a few laps of a Bommie before peeling off and almost waving goodbye as it faded off into the distance. 

I went Skipper for the next dive and dropped them in at the same spot. A few extra nudis, not seen on the first dive, and again plenty of fish life. It's a good spot, but we know there is better around here, when you have good weather to reach them.  

Speaking of... while on the surface I had plenty of time to look at the very impending rain clouds getting ready to dump on us. Wind picked up a bit too and we had to pan the third Dive. Following a drift dive in the chop surface, with rain, is difficult to say the least.

With the afternoon free a few of us sat down to a good game of 500. Where Craig and I thoroughly walloped SNR and Tracy... or at least that's how I remember it. No need to check the score card. Before long it was sunset drinks and dinner. 

On an earlier scout Giselle and Steve saw some fresh Turtle tracks so a few went off searching in the dark. No luck tonight. We are here a bit past hatching season but we usually see a few late bloomers. As we were gearing up for bed and doing the last toot run to the camp toilets a short shower came over. A few got caught getting back to their tents. 

About 20 to midnight I woke to a very heavy downpour. At first I was confident in our setup but as it kept on coming down heavy 5 min later I thought I better check... Just in case. The front fly of our tent can be setup a few different ways and has some window options that can drip when it's used as an awning. 

Everything was holding together well. Through the kitchen we had a little creek flowing, but it seemed to divert away from anything important. Then peter out into the sand just past our games room. (We normally would have a 'Games room' but we've setup a shared kitchen space with Bruce, Tracey and Belinda.) So I was able to fall back asleep really easy knowing we were fine. 

Day 4

Did the camp loop in the morning to see how everyone faired. A few pools here and there, some definite erosion pools where some of the bigger tarps discharge but everyone was mostly OK. Nellys Gazebo had some impressive pools. About 5 buckets worth over two pools. Much more rain and I've had one buckle under that weight. Some tinkering to be had...  

First dive not until 920 (I'm going deck crew for Craig, he's a great skipper but not much experience following divers on drift dives yet.) With time to spare until then Kristie and I had a cooked breakfast morning. Yum bacon. Sitting down eating looking out to lots of rain clouds and showers hitting Fairfax island, or just past it. Alan had already done a morning stroll and saw nothing but grey clouds on on the horizon... and almost got knocked over by the wind! More sheltered diving for today...

Dropped the divers in at Manta Bommies and began to follow them. Didn't have to go far they travelled all of 50m the entire dive. Back with reports of minimal current (we guessed that...) and loads of Manta Ray's. They also saw a HUGE logger head Turtle.  

Keen to see the sights dive 2 dropped in on the same spot and we saw... blue water... Still a good dive, and I do like the large Boulder Coral Bommies jutting out from the sand, but no mantas to speak of. That was at least until Belinda and I split from the main group. Just as we were ending our safety stop I saw a remora and knew one must be close. We caught a brief glimpse of one before it turned off into the blue and we finished our dive.  

For dive three those on the first wanted the same experience and those on the second wanted another chance so back to the same spot. This time upon entry we saw a Manta Ray, same bommie we started dive 2 on, but this time with a calm friendly Manta. It hung around doing laps for about 15min before finally moving on. The result of the dive was pleasant and the current had just started to pick up 40min in.  

As Kristie and I drifted along for our safety stop we floated past a modest school of Barracuda and then right near the end found another 3 Manta. 2 sitting pretty on a Bommie, nice and still. We were a little away so didn't get a close look, but we both thought it must have been a cleaning station.

Some more brilliant sunset drinks... but not much of a sunset with the clouds. A quick dinner and a short evening before turning in for bed. 

Day 5

Woke up with a small itch to discover a tick had nestled in near the middle of my chest... isn't island wildlife amazing? Rails are plentiful but aren't quite keeping up with cockroach control either. Them and the ants are the worst I have ever seen them here. Plenty of bird life but a distinct lack of mutton birds. No-one has even been dive bombed yet!

Lazy morning to wait out the low tide. First dive not until 1040. With a little spare time I gave Belinda the run through in the air compressor, and how to use it to fill Scuba Tanks, and we even got to be party to a filter change as it had reached expiry. Thanks Al!

Finally we jumped in the boat to head out and met the same strong winds as before. Perhaps a little stronger, so we decided to dive closer to the island. It was a pretty good spot to drop, nice boulder coral bommies and a few Manta Ray's hanging about too. I also caught a very brief glimpse of a Bull Shark. Decent sized fella too. Only hung about just enough to see what we were up to before slinking back off into the blue. There was also a huge fish vortex, enough to engulf 9 spread out divers.

Straight back for dive 2 at the same spot and we once again found sone friendly Manta. They must have felt relaxed around us because one decided to relieve themselves. A great basketball sized ball of Manta Guano floated out and started disintegrating right in front of our eyes. As if the bird poop on the island wasn't enough... After the show we moved on and found a giant Green Moray chilling under some coral. 

Third Dive went out and I got stuck into some chores. My SMB has a small leak so I dried it off and applied some repair patches (duct tape...) which seem to hold air well enough on the surface... I also changed the battery in my dive computer as it beeped on me on the first dive... I also took the opportunity to rotate batteries as the freezer battery had dropped a little. Though it was fully recharged by mid arvo.  

Down for sunset drinks, the first unobstructed by clouds for the trip. I couldn't partake in the drinks but Ged made an amazing Focaccia. I couldn't drink because 5 of us were dropping in for a night dive. Lined up the channel with 2 navigation lights and we headed in to an orange horizon. 

Not the most amazing night dive I've had but still a bit to see. Including a cool little Octopus and some nice porcelain Shrimp (can you find them under the purple?) Plenty of Hermit Crabs but they were very skittish and hid away quickly. Had a go trying to see the bio-luminescence but it wasn't very strong/bright tonight so might need another dive to see them.  

Back for a later dinner and a wind down (or up...) playing a card game called blitz. Still in bed fairly early... it's a long day diving... even with a sleep in. 

Day 6

Another lazy morning with a midday dive so enough time to cook pancakes for breakfast. The gluten free shaker is a bit runny mixing to instructions so we added a bit of extra flour back in to thicken it. Mid morning a few people headed out at low tide for a reef walk and spotted a few interesting critters. 

Lunch was leftovers of beef ravioli on a wrap before heading out for the first dive. It had just started to rain so I popped my SMB early on the dive to help Craig on the surface follow us. Down below was an OK dive but not as much life here as yesterday. Still hanging out for good weather and outer spots...  

I did manage to find a nice, and really small, pipe fish and a cool Bull ray. We also had a remora follow us for 90% of the dive, having lost his Manta buddy along the way, which was unfortunate for us. The usual Nudi and a few schooling fish and some very impressive Beehive Coral. 

I was skipper for second and the rain had stopped but wind had picked up making it a bit lumpy on the surface. Slow drift made it easy to follow divers even with choppy surface conditions. No Mantas again but an Octopus more fish...  

Tonight was our first shared dinner/dress up night so everyone went off to get ready for sunset drinks. Kristie and I got ready and they discovered that we both had the same idea for Retro night, Hippies. So we looked like a matching set despite no planning.  

Food at the dinner was amazing, as always, and plentiful. Lots and lots of food. We made it though dinner before it started spitting and all shuffled under Phil, Jules and Helens shelters as it started getting heavier. Jules ran a trivia game, I gave it a fair run but Al Dodd eventually pulled away as the winner.

A few more card games at night before bed. On and off rain showers, but camp is well setup so nothing to worry about.

Day 7

Few heavy rains through the night again. Resulting in Nelly's Gazebo having a catastrophic failure. Bruce had a solar controller in a flow path that got a bit damp. For some reason it didn't like that... Tried to sleep in but was still out of bed by 7am. No morning dive today with the first scheduled for 125pm. 

With the morning free Craig and I went to visit the lighthouse that we totally didn't climb and definitely did not enjoy the amazing view from the top. Got an updated weather report with the service I got from not being up the lighthouse tower and while we might have a good few days next week; More of the same was to be expected...  

After returning to camp we heard that we had a familiar sting of a faulty Compressor. It's filling tanks fast but randomly cutting out. Suspected oil sensor tripping or electrical fault. Leaning heavily on Belinda's Starlink Bruce was able to contact some tech support and we leaned towards an oil trip sensor as we possibly needed more oil after the last filter change. 

Needing a few empty tanks to test the theory 5 of us went out for an afternoon dive to Barney Rubble. An OK wall dive, but only Dived as it's on the protected side. An Octopus, nudi eggs, a Moray and a fish cleaning station kept the dive interesting at least. Near the end there was also a large Napoleon Wrasse hanging just at the edge of vis. I also thought it might be funny to wear they Hippie Glasses underwater... they don't make a very good mask...

Back on the surface to find the weather had taken a turn for the worst. Wind picked up and it had started spitting. Giselle, with her newly minted boat license, saw us safely to shore. Where the weather got worse still. Lucky Phil, Jules and Helen had ample room for "sunset" drinks... not that you could see it through the rain. 

From there it just got heavier and heavier until I went to bed with it still pouring down. A few small pools and flows around our setup again, but clear of anything critical. 

Day 8

A second gazebo partially collapsed, but was salvageable. Which was lucky as we woke to another grey sky day. With a few dull days the batteries running the fridges are getting a bit low and people are juggling power. We have enough for now but with another grey day we'll be getting in the lower side too. 

Due to the rain yesterday arvo we did the dive planning in the morning. Low tide out front so we chose to utilise the lagoon as a landing zone. Wind had dripped off a lot so we headed for LM Caves, but big swell saw us shelter back at Manta Bommies. I was skipper and only 3 divers in the first. Craig was the 4th but was feeling off and made the wise choice to wait for the next dive. 

Good reports of Mantas and a few nurse sharks saw us heading there for dive 2. (Or dive ~15... for this trip) Still a good drop. No nurse sharks but some mantas, including a cool black belly one, flat worm a few Octopus, cockatoo wasp fish ect ect. First dive drifted about 800m. We went 80m...  

Third Dive we tried something different, the wall just east of the entrance. Slightly shallower dive with a really well defined wall. Lots of overhangs and holes to look in. Few Nudi, blue spotted ray and a Giant Green Moray sitting in some stag coral. Jed also got his first hour long dive! Which is a nice achievement for a new Diver. 

The sun finally poked through the clouds at 430pm, bit late for power purposes, but very nice for sunset drinks. Camp hosts also turned up and seemed really nice. Looked like a bumpy ride over on the 1770 flyer though. Compressor seems to be running great. 

When getting stripped of dive gear at camp Tracey noticed another tick on my shoulder. I've had the suit on since early morning and it looked a decent size so we think it was on me for a while. He was dead and came out really easily. Guess he didn't really like being taken along for 2 dives today... oh well. Nice and easy spaghetti bog for dinner before an early night (as I'm on the early dive.)

Day 9

Awake for the early dive but with a drizzle and grey skies I decided to give it a miss. Report came back with Nurse Sharks, Mantas and Octopus. There was a rumour that dive 2 might make it to 'Musgrave Caves' so I jumped on. On the way out from camp Craig lost his sunnies overboard and valiantly dived in to save them, right next to the still spinning propeller... He also had an open packet of nuts for a lunch snack, that he maliciously managed to keep dry. In the end it was a bit rough and the Caves are a deeper advanced site, so with some less experienced divers on board, we took the safe path and headed to Entrance wall. 

It was a perfectly pleasant (read: boring) dive. A nice little Peacock Mantis Shrimp who posed for a bit was the only highlight. Back through the lagoon to pick up more divers. I was skipper and we went back near Manta Bommie for another dive. 

After the dive we dropped off divers and paid a visit to Pete and Phil who had just came back from fishing. We gave Phil a lift to shore and wind made it difficult to get back out of the channel without a bunch of divers to manage Diver 1 in the wind. We had some extra time anyway as we had to wait for the tide to come back in to get over the reef shelf at camp. As it was Gary and I still had to hang out for 30 or so minutes before we could just sneak it over. 

The usual sunset drinks and Dive planning before heading back for dinner. We had a few visitors over tonight to play some cards and ended up having a pretty late night before getting to bed. 

Day 10

Up early-ish for dive 1 and weather dictated we drop in at SURPRISE! Manta Bommie again. It's a good site to dive but I feel like I can start to name the fish... Still there were a few friendly Mantas that hung about and were happy to come quite close. 

Taking some time to look down, rather than into the blue, we also found a Cow Tailed Ray on the sand as well as an Octopus, Conc Shell, a yellow nudi with white spots (which might be a new one for me) and a purple Cockatoo Wasp Fish. Current was nice to drift with just floating along until the next bommie and ducking behind it for some reprieve. 

Skipper for the second and we had to push to beat the outgoing tide. We took off to be called back for Marg to grab her dry bag and eye glasses, left on the boat when she took off her gear form the first dive. More Mantas hanging about and a few Nurse sharks were reported when divers got back. They drifted even further than the first dive. 

Around to the lagoon side to drop divers (low tide means we can't park in front of camp) just after a bunch of tourist day trippers were also dropped off. Divers on a crunch to get back to camp, or over from camp, weaving through the masses of people... who haven't figured out 'keep left' yet...  

For the third Dive we decided to head to the leeward of the island again to try minimise the surface wind (is this record broken...?) and ended up on the wall about 2/3rds of the way from the lagoon entrance to camp. It's an OK site, but would greatly depend on what you can find. Stag coral was interesting sad to see plenty of dead patches but mixed in was some bright neon blue which looked really nice in contrast. 

3 Octopus, 2 turtles (including the first Hawksbill I've seen this trip) plenty of Anemone and fish life. Find of the dive though, for me, was a Persian Carpet Flat Worm. One of my favourite critters to see under water. The pictures don't do justice to the vibrant colours they can have. 

Back to the lagoon again and one of the Yachts moored up in the lagoon decided to anchor their tender right in the middle of the very narrow channel through the coral. Despite 70m away on shore there being a big "No Anchor Zone" sign, with colour pictures and everything... 

After we managed that, and got back out Kristie and I still had about a 40min wait before there was enough water over the reef to park near camp. Craig met us as we were finally able to get in and sent us off to get dry as he got Diver 1 situated for bed. Thanks Craig! 

 

 

Just before sunset drinks the Camp Hosts came to find someone with Marine Radio experience... for some reason that was me (???) I was able to ascertain that they had their volume incredibly low... so at least they could now send/receive to our boat and our hand held. We couldn't, however, raise the Coast Guard (who they were meant to check in with.) Neither could we off the boat. Pete also mentioned that he had trouble getting onto them when he left Port yesterday... keen for an update...

Tonight was another dress up night, Olympic theme. I still had my Soccer Referee uniform from back in the day (and line flags.) We were split into teams and through the afternoon/night there were various games. The Clay Nudibranch construction seemed to cinch the win for the Jamaican Team. Though Jeds amazing sports trivia knowledge did claw back some ground. Senior, of course, was awarded a Red Card for some... creative... solutions to the Marshmallow relay race. 

Day 11

Sleep in today with no skipper duties. First dive was 730am and with people stirring I was still awake by 7... lazy morning though I was able to chill out at breakfast and enjoy the sun, which has sorely been lacking the last few days. There was a quick turnover for the second dive, so quick we almost left without Bruce, who was switching Regs. We dropped in on the house reef as Manta Bommies are just around the point and it was particularly blowy.  

As soon as we dropped down we saw a nice green Turtle that hung about for a little bit. Kerry found a huge (4-5 inches) Nudie we circled back for and the we found a few more not too long later. A bit shallower we still found a huge Beehive Coral. Such a large overhang on it I felt like I was entering a cavern.  

Kristie was out front of the pack and found a Manta that barely stuck around for one lap before shooting off. As we continued on we were nearing the end of the dive and under a mushroom shaped rock I found one of the Neon Blue trimmed nudibranch, got a few quick shots before meeting the others on the safety stop.  

Back on shore and dried off I headed off up a tree to see if I could get phone service. I think a few messages got though but no responses before I had to climb back down. I then had every intention of joining a few others on a low tide reef walk but may have been distracted by a cold can of cider and a 'Nearest to the pin' game a few of us invented while tossing empty cans towards the can crusher...  

Another bit of a fizzle for a sunset but tasty snacks as always. Spag bog again for dinner before an earlier night to bed... because of the aforementioned empty can throwing game...  

Day 12

Another night of heavy rain and another gazebo succumbed to inundation. You really need the anti-pooling devices. I use pool noodles, but Broomfields and Dodds have compact little plastic corner clips that seem to do a good job too. Lucky the new Compressor Gazebo has built in anti-pooling. 

I had to be up a little earlier today to take Diver 1 out with Gary and Al D to collect a mooring line left behind by Pete. With the rough conditions it was a hard task to do solo on a boat, control the position of the boat and work the line at the same time. As soon as we got back there were keen divers on the beach ready, which was great to see. Quick turn around and I took them out to house bommie. A good dive for those that hadn't been there to see the massive overhangs of the Boulder Coral. A few squalls of rain came over making surface watch a little more uncomfortable. Luckily though it does tend to calm down the chop of the water to make it easier seeing the bubbles of the divers. 

I jumped in for dive 2 at much the same place and saw a bunch of the usuals. Find for this dive was probably the Yellow Cockatoo Wasp fish Nelly spotted. There was also more Morays an Octopus and a Peacock Mantis Shrimp, that was well and truly retreated into its hole when pointed out to me. 

Lazy afternoon again but I managed to get out on the reef walk this time. Not a huge amount to see this time, a Sea Hare was kinda cool as were the dark orange Crabs with beady red eyes. Other usual life, like the Epaulette shark, Octopus, smaller morays etc seemed to elude me though. 

Sunset drinks had a bit more formality today as we tried to agree on a plan for tomorrow (packing the barge.) We settled on 1 dive, as some campers require the majority of the days light to pack up. After dinner was a few more drinks and chats before heading to bed for our last night on the island 

Day 13

Casual morning getting wet for a 9am dive. We do have to pack up today but the barge isn't due until 9pm. Dropped in on the house Bommie area again and immediately saw a huge Nurse Shark chilling under a Boulder Coral ledge.  From there we briefly caught a glimpse of another Manta before continuing on to see Octopus, Giant Green Moray, a normal Moray and a few Nudis and a Turtle.  

Back to shore I was taking off the wetsuit for the last time so I did it in the ocean to give it a bit of a rinse and avoid sand. As I was exiting a wave picked up a chunk of coral and smashed it into my foot... I had been pretty good this trip until then...  

With gear out to dry Kristie and I started to tinker at packing up. Inside the tent was mostly vacant, boxes consolidated to save space etc. Shelters and kitchen stayed up for lunch and I tried to have an arvo nap, to no avail, as I knew I wouldn't sleep well on the barge.  

As the day dragged on people started to stream back and forth taking gear to the loading point on the beach. Some people have different strategies, packing up pieces here and there spread out over the day, where others get stuck in during the morning leaving only bare essentials up. Some choosing to leave final packs to near the end. I like tinkering about over the course of the day. Though with the occasional rain shower it's good to have a pack down where you can cover things to keep them dry.  

When we got to the tent we discovered no less than 17 Giant Centipedes (Ethmostigmus rubripes) hiding under the ground mat and the awning of the tent. They scattered pretty quickly when exposed to the light. We were lucky that unlike others (inc Tracey who got bitten!) we didn't have any inside during our trip.  

Eventually dinner and packing was done and we joined others for our final sunset on the beach to wait out the final hours until the barge arrived. Eventually we saw the barge in the horizon, steaming our way. That last little distance comes up fast and as the the tide was already high enough for the barge, they came straight in. A few people needed to disconnect gas fridges in a hurry. 

Loading is always a big push, but we mostly have it down to a fine art. A little disappointing to see a few bed rolls getting put out before all the gear was loaded, let alone the boat. Though most people do their best to help where they can. When the loading was nearing its end Gary and I swam out to Diver 1 to pack away the tires, pull up the anchor, and get it ready.  

A bit of water had got in so we drove about a little to get some out. We also collected a sea cucumber with the tires so safely saw it back home. Soon the loading was finished and the barge pulled away from the island and we lined up to hit the ramp. 

Much much better conditions than last trip meant I could hit the trailer, hanging on the barge ramp, dead on first try. But just after I did a little wave pushed us sideways. Backing off a little and another small wave corrected course and we were on. Once on board we also realised a Mutton Bird had tried to sneak on with us too!

 

Finally able to head up stairs to sort bedding for the night. Even with only 20 people the floor space seems to be premium. With that sorted I headed for the showers to wash off 2 weeks worth of Sand, salt and sunscreen (+ the bird poop.. I then spent the next 5 or so hours trying to get to sleep. 

Day 14

I finally fell asleep around 3am, then felt like I was awoken almost immediately around 515. The Barge was pulling into port so time to pack bedding, what little use it was is worth it. 

They took the crates off the barge with their forklift and soon we were loading them into cars and trailers. Quite a few good helpers to load all the extra gear (Club Tanks, fuel, sort the boat and lift the compressor etc.) It wasn't long before most was sorted. We said our goodbyes and started heading out around 715.

We stopped off at a Cafe 40min south of Gladstone for a quick bite before continuing on. Stuck for ~20min in road works just south of Tiaro, where we missed the roadwork light change by 1 car... but it seems we got lucky as it built up a little before those behind us hit the same spot. Another quick stop for an early lunch and we got to Kristies early afternoon. Then the fun but of any trip could truly begin... clean up!  

Sandy ground sheets, bird poop covered tarps and tent, lots of other boxes all sandy and needed to be sorted and packed away. At least the grass likes all the poop... We seemed to budget better with food this trip too, with not too many leftovers. You always need a few emergency stashes In case the weather is so bad the barge can't get out. 

All in all, despite the weather not being with us, another fantastic Musgrave trip with URGQ. 195 dives completed over the 2 weeks, with 5 night divers amongst that.

Thanks to Kristie and Belinda for some additional land based photos!