November 6th, Thursday, we drove north to the Town of 1770, built on the site of the second landing by Captain Cook and the crew of the HM Bart Endeavor in May 1770. On our way we stopped at Bundaberg for lunch and to enjoy their famous root beer. We stayed in a small cabin in the woods for two nights just outside of 1770 at the Captain Cook Holiday Village.
Early the next morning we boarded the Spirit of 1770 at Roundhill Head for the 75 min ride to Lady Musgrave Island, a 35 acre coral cay. The island is set on 3000 acres of living reef with a deep water coral lagoon which is unique to the entire Great Barrier Reef region. One big swimming hole. We entered the lagoon via a deep water channel and moored to the reef pontoon. Once we got on the spacious floating reef pontoon we found our snorkeling gear and jumped in the warm ocean water to swim with fishes and the colorful variety of marine life. We saw several turtles and lots of bright colored fish. After a delicious buffet lunch we took the glass bottom boat to the island where we had a guided island walk. There are an enormous number of birds on the island, the White Capped Noddy Tern nest in abundance in the Pisonia trees, the primary vegetation on the island. There is camping allowed on the island, a maximum of 40 people, except in Feb and March to protect the turtle hatchlings. The island is a nesting place for Green and Loggerhead turtles. On the way back to the pontoon we stopped to view the abundance of coral through the glass bottom viewing area in the boat. There was time to go snorkeling again around the pontoon where they feed the tropical fish, and I was surrounded by a multitude of colorful fish in all shapes and sizes..
After 5 hours on the reef pontoon it was time to head back to the mainland. When we arrived back in the Town of 1770 we drove up to view the plaque of Captain Cook who landed here in May 24, 1770, over 200 years ago. We ate dinner at the Tree Restaurant enjoying the views looking out over the bay, contemplating our wonderful day on the Great Barrier Reef.
Video Tour of Lady Musgrave Island