Adventuring is an art form. Some, like ourselves, are newish on the block and still finger painting our way along playing dot to dot while others just have it 100% sorted. Jethro and Marianne are those people.
Welcoming us to Hervey Bay as we arrived, the Jeffress couple had come up that afternoon from Sydney and were joining us for the coming week. The town of Hervey Bay was sleepy and a bit quirky, however we all happily sussed out the local area over a day and a half, highlighted by the the loooooong pier and shark museum, before stocking up for our week at sea. Heading for Lady Musgrave island it was a solid day and a half of motoring so we pulled up at Fraser Island on the Sunday afternoon in complete isolation. Early Monday morning and Le Vessel purred in to action, this was to become the roughest day on the water yet. 3m waves in very confused water had us rolling and pitching for the next 10hrs making for a crazy uncomfortable ride. But then we saw it.
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| The Castle |
A castle of sand, reef and greenery had us giggling with excitement. Disguised in unassuming casual attire the undercover royalty were home. To the crew they were just ‘our mates’ but on Lady Musgrave island they were of true nobility. Having spent a total of few months here over their time they only knew of one other bloke ‘Dave’ who might have been there more. They had the place wired.
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| Tuesday |
Tuesday: Slight wind, palatable excitement. Morning snorkel in the crystal clear water with hundreds of different fish and more sea turtles than you could count. Island tour from the royals with awe resonating throughout as this untouched beauty was hitting home. The incredible wildlife (including a 3-4m tiger shark meters from shore) lived without inhibitions as we spectated along barely noticed by the locals. A cast of the rod in the afternoon and the day was done.
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| Wednesday |
Wednesday: Euphoria. The best day of the trip so far and one of the best the royals had seen throughout their time. Early rod cast, swim, paddle + food before the regal snorkel session. Opening with Manta rays feeding we swum on the outside reef. Coral, fish, turtles and sharks were up second before a stray baby humpback from a passing pod of whales decided to swim within a meter of us. Life complete. A passing ‘how’s it going’ to Nemo and friends before coming in for a late breaky. Afternoon activities saw the crew split with some fishing, chilling and snorkelling before meeting up to applaud the fishing spoils of the king and share a drink upon sunset. Fish was on the menu as the day faded off in to the history books.
With lead brick hearts it was the weather and deadlines determining movements and we were on the high seas again heading for Gladstone. Ideal weather did made the trip a pleasure and left us all reminiscent. Reflecting on the last 2 days in paradise it was hard to welcome our arrival in such an industrial eyesore. With Friday to explore we were all done by 11am and threw some elbow grease at our cherished chariot for the afternoon in preparation for our next leg.
Farewells were made on Saturday to our Musgrave royals as they departed back to Sydney and the crew we off again on a 3 day bender to Mackay. ‘The Narrows’ are named as such due to the tight passages of water and was our first challenge for the route. Being incredibly shallow as well, the area requires a full tide to get past and is largely used as a cattle crossing to Curtis Island on the low tide as it completely dries out. Slightly daunted we made our way through and a few skips of the heart later we were through. Day 2 took us to Port Clinton where we set up for the night before heading on to the Duke Islands on day 3. Changing scenery along this journey had the deckhands clicking away on the cameras as islands and water revealed a country/tropical side. With no surf now for 2.5 weeks improvisation was taken up as the Duke Islands provided the perfect backdrop.
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| The Narrows |
On to Mackay today (Tuesday). The deckhands have an excursion booked from here taking them to Byron Bay for Splendour in the Grass while the captain picks up a mate to travel onwards to Airlie Beach. The next post will be splendiferous. Bam. Thanks to the royals for being awesome.
Bon Voyage,
Le Vessel
