Diving - 2018 04 - Lady Musgrave Island

Dives 16 (+ 4 night) Max Depth 32m Avg Temp 26.5°c
Fitting all the gear in is always a challenge for these big camping+diving trips. Luckily this time I was sharing gear with Jeremy and Kristie to cut it down a bit and we could also borrow a trailer from dad. Still it was a tight pack even with the space in the Cruiser. (...and tanks with Alan D and Ash, plus a little leftover gear with Bruce, thanks guys!)
They headed up on Friday to take 2 days with my young nieces and Bruce and Tracey were kind enough to offer me a seat in their BT50. I headed to their place early Sat morning with just day pack for the barge and my soft/clothes bag.  

Photo Credit - Kristie Ford

We got away almost on time and had a pretty smooth drive up. Quick stop in Gympie for a bite to eat and again at Childers for a driver change. Stopped in a Miriam Vale once more for Ice Cream and a toilet stop. Kristie put in an order at the yatch club for dinner and we arrived just in time. After dinner we headed round to Curtis Ferries to load up our crates and tried to get as comfortable as we could for the approaching 9 hour barge ride. The girls (Kristina and Emma) seemed to go down ok but Emma kept her mum busy for a bit of the night... 

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.

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. 

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.

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.  

Jeremy and Bruce took the first plunge onto the caves and had a good dive, noting a large hermit in cave 3. They also said there was almost zero current. When our turn came there was definitely current, quite a bit. We did find the hermit crab and had a good drift dive. Zoomed past the chimneys seeing lots of turtles on the way.

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!

Hiking - 2018 01 - Conondale Great Walk

Like so many hikes, they all start before you hit the trail head. All my gear was spread out since my last hike, some with the car camping gear, other bits with day hiking gear and some actually was put away in cupboards (shocking, I know.) After that was all gathered together I also had to sort food.

4 days worth, so not too heavy. For breakfast I have choc-chip cookies and Milo+Powdered Milk. Lunch is muesli, fruit and protein bars. Dinner consists of a pasta side and a chicken risotto (split into 2 as it's a big pack.) Snacks, arguably the most important meal of the day, include skittles, jerky, pringles, peanuts and salami. Dried apricots in there too, mostly for those midnight snacks.

After I slogged it through the Brisbane traffic I had a pretty good run. Made it to the start of the walk just after 10. It's not a bad drive up here for bikes, lots of tight turns and hilly roads. Not quite as great in a 4wd but there are other advantages, like making it past the Day use entry 'gate' where the track crosses the river.

Got away after a quick chat to a few people scouting a day hike to do and started the ascent to the Mt Allan Fire Tower. Standing 9.6m tall it was built in 1954 making it QLDs second oldest tower, now fully automated. They allow you up into the observation deck where there's a big topo map so you can work out the mountains on the horizon. Living up to the Fire Tower name they did some recent back burning around it, very recent judging by the overpowering smoke smell.

One of the great things about getting in a day before the rush is all the wildlife. Heaps of birds and small lizards scurrying about. Saw a least a half dozen Goanna too. Another fantastic creature you meet when leading the way is the spider. They create masterful art works in the webs and they ever so conveniently place them across the track right at eye level. Amazing the effort they put in to bring their beautiful constructions right into your face!

Made Summer Falls camp by 130pm and quickly had camp setup. No one here yet, though that was the plan. The official long weekend doesn't start until tomorrow. It's great having a place like this to yourself, but it's nice to share sometimes too. Went for a short wander up the creek line. Most pools look a little mossy but the water is trickling through and it's crystal clear. There isn't really any falls to speak of with this flow, but I found a shady spot and had and nice cool foot spa and a quick dip.

There is a water tank at camp, looks like it's fed by the roof of the privy, but with the creek running clear I pulled water from it to filter. The rest of the daylight was spent relaxing near the creek or on a log near camp. Though it seems all the bugs in the entire camp came out to find me. Dinner before I lost the sun and bed not long after I did. Besides the 3 day hikers at the car park this morning I haven't seen anyone in the NP.

Had an amazing sleep, appeared no one else came in late last night either. Tent got hot pretty quick in the morning so I was out of it in a hurry and after breakfast straight back on the trail. Mostly uphill today but pretty easy grade. The Goanna seemed to have gave way to snakes. In the first 10k I saw 4 of them. A few nice creek crossings today. Well placed rocks to save the shoes getting muddy.

Just before the Peters creek crossing was a really nice swimming hole, with a small falls separating 2 pools. Having a dip was a very welcome relief from the heat. Especially as there was a bit of a climb heading to camp 2. Just a bit future on were Peter falls which was flowing quite a bit better than Summer Falls but still not exactly roaring.

Made it to camp around 130pm again. Much earlier start but took a long break for a swim and it's a little further than yesterday. Another hiker arrived at camp moments before me. They thought to take advantage of the solitude and used the pit toilet, door wide open for air flow. I shuffled my feet to announce my presence, I've seen worse hiking...

We got talking about trail conditions and water. Only water here looks a little rusty, tastes fine though. Could have filled up at Peters had I known but that would have been an extra 2kg for the hill. No water on the next stretch of trail and if that camp is busy the tank was slow this morning so might be empty when I get there. Good creek just past it though.

It was good to have someone to chat too at dinner. Lots of trail talk about where we've been and what we've done. She had done Hinchenbrook island which has been on my list for a while, nice to get some first hand knowledge. Turns out she has a permit for the PCT this year... so i was happy to talk about that :) We also talked about the critters we saw

We got and bit of rain through the night. Enough to leave leave the leave the ground wet. My campsite mate had a quick early pack and was gone before poked my head out. Should see more hikers today though. When I was booking camps Wongai (camp 1) was almost full the Friday night, and most of those would be on this stretch now.

Quite a bit of 'Fire Management Trail' which I wasn't really thrilled and out. Long time since their use though so mostly overgrown and bound felt like a real trail.

Wasn't long that the cool from the rain had turned into a steamy muggy mess. Even developed a little heat rash under the arm pits. Noticed a few leeches today too, all before they latched on.

I had done 11 of the planed 17k before seeing a pair of hikers. They must have got a late start. Apparently had the camp to themselves last night. I arrived just after 11 and not wanting another afternoon with only my thoughts I decided to push home. Seriously not even a close creek to spend time in.

It wasn't long before I came across a day hike car park for falls. Pretty busy. Soon as I crossed onto the falls track there seemed a queue. One group had had a trolley!! Full of chips beer and other junk. Hope they pack it out. One group 10+ strong seemed to be upset that a 'real hiker' (their term) needed to pass them. Most groups were nice though.

I skipped the falls (was more crowded than Surfers Paradise) and pushed onto the slightly further Artisan Falls. 5.6k from the nearest car access there was only 1 other person. Perfect water too.

The last leg to the finish I could hear the various groups that hiked up the river to find their own spot. It was funny seeing people 'hiking' the great walk shirtless and in thongs. Short stop to the $700,000 rock egg (Stranger Cairn) The little sappling is growing well. Note to self: Check again in a decade or so.

After that was a quick jaunt to the trail head followed by another swim and then the drive home.

56k 4 day Conondale great walk done in 2.5 days.

Camping/Skiing - 2017 12 - Borumba

As what seems to happen most years (12 of the last 14) this Christmas/New Years break was filled by camping. Throwback to an old favourite I hadn't been to for almost 15 years. Borumba dam. The old council park had closed, at our time of booking (recently reopened) so we were booked into the Deer park just down the road.

Took off just before lunch, hoping all the traffic had all tried to get away in the morning. Packed up the boat with all the gear and took off. Was a bit of traffic, but not too much . Worst was just before the airport. Just under 3 hours and made it to the camp grounds.

Looked really busy as I drove in. We were in the 'back paddock' which I think is the overflow area. Works for us as it was far less crowded. Went to set up my tent to discover 4 of the poles has snapped. One was already gone, was hoping it would last a few more trips. Still, a few water hose clamps and duct tape should see it through the week of storms coming...



It was a day of lazing about and swimming in the creek. Just downstream of the main swimming hole was a good little rapid section, not deep but more than enough sit in and let it wash away the world's troubles.

Lukes twins enjoyed the river too as did Callum, though he was worried his plastic boats would float away. He also enjoyed the deer visiting us near camp. There was even an 8 pointer amoungst them.


Back at camp was hot, even in the shade, but the creek was a short stroll away to cool off again. Enjoyed the twins, even if they did discover that my beard made a good handle. Some more friends arrived with their kids who also enjoyed the young twins and the swimming hole.
 

Most days were filled with oppressive heat broken only by dips in the water. The park itself, possibly because of the deer, also was a prime spot for Bush flies. They were everywhere and anytime during the day I would have had 20+ enjoying the sweat off my back... No point killing them, as their carcass would only serve to attract more flies. The spiders must have loved it though, all day buffet every day.



One of the reasons for camping up here is because of Borumba dam. Beautiful dam to ski on, but unfortunately the bank wasn't great to setup on. What use to be grass was replaced by rock, gravel and concrete. Apparently for erosion protection, sure made skiing from the bank a lot harder. One of my favourite activities as a kid was also walking over the impressive Dam wall and looking down at the spillway and river below. Sadly this was now all fenced off, razor wire and everything. It's sad that good lookout spots are blocked off. Was it safety related? Did someone do something stupid to call for a response? There was often some graffiti, but nothing we saw that would provoke a complete denial of access.

Despite the bank we still got the boat in for a Ski. Sadly it was short lived, what seemed to be an electrical problem caused the boat to fail to start. This was later identified as several issues (including replacing the oil pump and cracked thermostats, faulty starter motor) which lead to the failure. B.O.A.T. Bring Out Another Thousand... Still we were able to get a few runs in, all the kids got a go which was great and I managed to fit two skis in before the problem presented itself. Was good to be out on the water.



Back to camp in the afternoon for me while others went for a bit of explore in their 4wds. Some nice forestry trails around here to meander down. At one point they also happened to bump into my other brother Thomas, near the Conondale NP. He and his partner were out and about doing their own exploring.

Another group turned up later in the day and before even getting any gear out of their cars had the bush doof going. They were a bit away from my tent, but even in the bustle of the afternoon having to listen to someone else's idea of 'music' wasn't fun. They played well into the night before Jill mentioned that loud music now would equal screaming kids next to their tent the next day.

More swimming planned for a day. There's a creek section, pretty shallow rapids leading into bigger swimming pools. It was one of my favourite things to do up here as a kid, and while the nostalgic memories were definitely more glamorous I enjoyed revisiting it. Many a floatie was scrapped over the top of rocks on the way down, but no punctures.

When we reached the swimming hole there was a good Tarzan swing/Jumping tree which we gave a go. There was a young girl 1/2 way up the tree that was hesitating, desping a probably 15+ strong crowd encouraging her to give it a go... well some of the more impatient kids were telling her to either go or get out of the way. I climbed past and out onto a rather springy trunk to eventually plummet into the water. Eventually she followed suit from one of the lower branches to the applause of others. After the first drop she went straight back up and without hesitation dropped again.

New years eve started with a trip to Noosa for an ocean swim. A bit of conflake weed floating around but as soon as you got past that it was great water. After drying off we started heading to the Apollonian Hotel for lunch. Rod was feeling unwell so they opted to skip lunch and head back to camp. The hotel does a roast lunch, with quite a few trimmins. I can remember the first time I ate there it was a feast. Piled up plates, actual full pig roast in plain sight behind the servers. These days it left me a little wanting. They moved the cooking area away out of sight and as for the portions... I felt like buying a second plates worth... Still tasted great, but definitely a shadow of past offerings.

Back at camp a few cans and bottles were opened to begin the night. The Deer park put on a disco, with flashing lights and the usual music you'd expect for a general crowd. Seemed pretty popular and attracted a lot more of the older crowd than I expected. I took a peek but, while it's certainly grown since PCT days, my beer belly wasn't quite big enough to fit in with the crowd.

Walking around camp the next day was a little quieter than normal. Swimming hole was still full, but a more relaxing soak than the splash fest of previous days. They had a small playground, full of equipment that probably wouldn't pass any kind of safety inspection, looked fun. They also had a 9 hole mini-golf course!



The day after was a rather quick pack-up plus a nice swim to cool off again before heading home. Before I could go home though I took the boat over to the mechanic to leave it in his care. hen I got home I barely unpacked (just wet gear and food) before deciding to leave the remainder until the next day.

Time to start researching a new Car-Camping tent, been a while since I have looked at car-camping gear. Any suggestions? Something easy.

Diving - 2017 11 - Moreton

Like most trips this one started a few days before. I had recently purchased new second stages for my regs (the mouth-piece bit) which needed fitting. After the job done I was able to pack all my gear and have it ready. Sadly no underwater camera this trip, all underwater shots supplied by Kristie.

I was heading over with Kristie, Jeremy and my nieces so they picked me up Wed afternoon. First stop was Dad's birthday dinner before heading to their home and packing the Land Cruiser. Plenty of space, though some careful planning, so everything fitted easily.

Day 1

Wasn't too early to start the day as we only needed to be at the barge at 730. Out the front until everyone arrived and then we jumped on the surprisingly full (for a random Thursday morning) barge.  Most members took the opertunity on the long trip to complete their Compressor Operator assessment test.



After landing it was a quick drive up the beach to Cowan Cowan to find our houses. This trip I'm down in a secondary house about 800m away. I don't mind a walk, but in wet gear chafing can be an issue. So I got all I needed and got ready for the first dive.

After having to replace a blown o-ring on her tank Kristie and I dropped down onto the Kos 1. Decent vis, maybe 8m, and a bit of life around. We made our way past the Tram and Rock Driller to the Nautilus Statue. Half covered in sand now. Pipes also mostly covered, which screwed my nav.



Found our way to the Melbourne and then eventually popped back up about 10m from Kens boat. We discovered that divers on D1 pulled the pin due to low vis and anchor not holding and met them back on shore. Great afternoon (only a few tanks to fill) so took the opertunity to have a few bourbons.



Walk back to our house after a few more and quick to bed.

Day 2

Woke up well rested and had a quick breakfast before heading back to get ready for the first dive. One boat was still beached so only one boat out first up. I was on D1 and we dropped on the middle of The Pines.



Slight incoming tide so a nice easy drift dive along the drop off. We dropped in a smudge past the main wall but still had a pleasant dive. Loads of starfish, a fee pipe fish and lots of other things to look at.

Back for the arvo slack high dive, a cleanup dive. I went Skip/surface watch and saw our members bring back plenty of buckets brimming with rubbish. Sinkers, like, rope, hooks and chain made up the bulk of it. Back on shore some of us got stuck into sorting and weighing it all. We need fairly accurate weights for record keeping purposes.



After washing the stink off it was dinner and dive talk time. No shortage of stories to share when you have 25+ divers sitting around and a few beers to end the day.

Day 3

Another rather easy morning before a slack low tide dive. We dropped onto the Dry Dock. A bit on the deeper side so we had a shorter dive (just flirting with deco times) still managing to mostly fill a bucket. They get heavy with so many sinkers in them!

I went spotter for the midday drift dive, Blair was skipper to work up some operating hours. Wind across the surface and swell made it impossible to track bubbles, we picked it fairly well and divers popped about 200m short of where we were looking for them.

Afternoon clean up was pretty successful for D1. Kristie, Linton and I hit on the Pt Lookout and could spend another entire dive there cleaning line off. The other boat had some Nav issues and found sand for a bit before hooking onto the Melbourne.



Another decent haul of rubbish to be sorted into various piles and weighed. Perfect job to sort through with a beer or 2, just watch put for the hooks. Some pretty decent rods came back today too.


Day 3

Some trouble over night with possible anchor slippage and rubbing put a hole in a boat. Ken always prepaired has a repair kit but as it was on the sand and tide on the way out it takes the boat out of the equation this morning.

We still got out for a good dive on the Bremer Wreck. Once again finding lots of line, sinkers, hooks and rope tangled up on the wreck. For a slack low we had decent visibility too. About 7 meters.



Back on land so it was time for me to start cleaning gear. Others got a start helping with Kens Boat, Sand was dug away from the stern so they could drain the water and plug the hole. Lucky the neighbour had a backhoe to make it a bit easier.


Garys organised a drift dive which got some interest so they headed out again for that. I helped sort out the waste from the morning dives haul before packing up all my gear and heading off to catch the 2pm ferry.

Another successful Clean up Project trip. Still lots more work to be done but it's a nice feeling knowing you're doing a little bit to help.