Serious Travel Article 13: Lady Musgrave Island

Lady Musgrave island is a small coral cay, at the southernmost tip of the Great Barrier Reef. It is, without doubt, an unspoiled tropical paradise thanks to superbly strict visitor regulations courtesy of the Australian National Park System.

Lady Musgrave Island. Spectacular, Secluded, Idyllic. You get the Idea.

Lady Musgrave Island remains the picturesque vision of a remote coral Island thanks to massively restricted tourism. No more than 40 visitors can camp on the island at any one time, the waiting list is long, but, if you're patient, you too can experience the wonder and majesty of this magical island.

As I lay on the beach, recovering from the hellish trip that one has to endure to reach this tropical utopia, I wondered how on earth I would keep safe from the giant, biting centipedes with supposedly roamed this land. I had heard stories of campers being woken in the middle of the night to find their tent had been invaded by hordes of these giant insects, hungry for human flesh! Well, I may exaggerate a little, but these little beasts are notorious.

With my eyes peeled, I eventually summoned the strength to carry my supplies to the camping grounds and pitch my tent. Supposedly, the camping grounds revolve around the island, continually changing places to preserve the natural Eco-system and to help the baby (freshly hatched) turtles, who have a torrid time trying to avoid ravenous seagulls.

Distinguished Artist, Pianist and Poet Alan Boarder, next to our Tent on Lady Musgrave Island, Great Barrier Reef

Any visitor to Lady Musgrave will notice the numerous signs warning against "interfering with nature". The Turtles of the Capricornia Cay's National Park were once hunted for their meat (to be used in soup), so I found the urge irresistible to help turtles get pass the deadly gulls as soon as I could. I figured humans screwed up the turtles chances of survival, what's wrong with giving them a helping hand? 

Me Holding a baby turtle which I had rescued from gulls on Lady Musgrave Island. The signs warn against it but the turtle didn’t seem to mind!

Before plunging into the watery depths, I decided to explore Lady Musgrave's jungle. The Island has a thick canopy of Pisonia Trees which are inhabited by duck sized, black and white birds called White Capped Noddy Terns. All day and all night they squawk happily, but just 20ft below lies a Tern Graveyard. With no real predators on the island, the Terns which inevitably perish, the old, the lame, the stupid, rot on the ground below. Often I would see turns walking around on the ground unable to fly, they would just stare at me hopelessly, waiting to die.

A buff banded rail. Similar to a Chicken, they make a living from stealing food from campers

Aside from all the grimness, the numerous buff banded rails which inhabit the island will delight any visitor by dashing around you, creeping up on you and running away as soon as you glance at them. You can have a lot of fun with a rail!

Another Funny little bird you might see on Lady Musgrave Island

The waters around Lady Musgrave Island are spectacular. The coral reef teems with life, big and small and despite some coral damage from past cyclones, the diving here is much better than any you might find around Cairns or Port Douglas. Here you don't have to compete with hordes of tourists or pay through the nose, you can relax, and snorkel at your own pace, something with is impossible further north where companies take you Chinese Tour Guide style on 2 hour visits to maximize the efficiency of the conveyer belt. If you're lucky you'll see fully grown turtles glide in the lagoon, dolphins playing in the distance and sharks lurking in the shallows.

One evening as I was walking through the shallows (with a cut toe due to sharp coral) I was visited by a friendly, inquisitive shark. It was a 4 or 5 ft long reef shark, swimming masterfully in 1ft of water. As it got closer I could tell it was attracted by my blood, showing no fear, I kicked it square in the nose when it came too close. These sharks need to be told who's boss! 

Me Standing in Shallows of Lady Musgrave Island. The lack of people and vivid colours seem astounding after being in China for nine months.

That night, the sky was electric with distant thunderstorms, and as the sun went down, the sky transformed into something which was indescribable. (But I'll try!) Distant lightning bolts lit up towering thunderclouds on the rim of the horizon, their brilliance reflected in the mirror like black sea. The stars came out in their tens of thousands and suddenly I felt I wasn't on Earth, with no reference points other than gigantic flickering lanterns, mighty but distant thunderbolts and a galaxy of stars perfectly reflected in the crystal clear sea, I was in the outer reaches of space, with stars above and below and with shimmering, violent but silent nebulae all around!

I stayed for 5 days, I wish it was 5 years!

The journey back was a lot smoother.

Serious Travel Article 12: The Town of 1770 and the journey to Lady Musgrave Island

It was a crisp April morning in the town of 1770, a small port town on Queensland's "discovery Coast", so named as this was reputedly Captain Cook's first Aussie landing point, his ship sheltering in its estuary in the year of 1770. On that morning 241 years later, I sat beside the same estuary with a feeling of dread. My gaze was transfixed upon "the spirit of 1770", a catamaran, moored in the calm and sheltered water which lies adjacent to the Town. At dawn the air was still but now the wind howled, churning the sea beneath it.

The Spirit of 1770, docked at The Town of 1770, the only town in the world with a number for a name.

A picture of me loading luggage into the hull of the Spirit of 1770. The hull is filled with water with the luggage stacked precariously on a platform with no sides. In bad weather your luggage WILL fall into the water despite what the crew say. Do Not put anything valuable or electronic down there.

Before loading the luggage (1 tent, a few cameras, clothes, books, food and lots of water) I had taken some super strong anti seasickness tablets which by their own reckoning said "may cause severe hallucinations". Despite being excited about the prospect of visiting a tropical paradise, the hell of seasickness would come first.

A wise man once said, there are 2 stages of seasickness:

First stage (The OK one): When you think you're going to die.
Second Stage (The bad one): When you wish you would die!

I decided to sit on the top deck of the boat, with the sea breeze in my face and my eyes fixed on the horizon to minimize seasickness. But despite my best efforts, what came next was worse than anything I could have Imagined.

The calm waters that surround the Town of 1770's headland. They give a sailor false hope.

 As we passed the headland and with it the sheltered water, the water grew deeper, darker and more sinister. The wind began to whistle and whirl. Cloud swept over the sky, transforming what has been a an endless sapphire into a great grey slab of concrete. The waves began to lash against the boat and as we changed direction, we smashed our way head on through the growing swell.

As the continent grew smaller the waves grew bigger, smashing the boat high into the air. I began to regret sitting on the top deck. With each wave passengers were sent hurtling high into the air. Sitting on a bench at the back of the ship (so that I had a clear view of the horizon) was a poor decision. Those of us at the back were flung more than most, we held onto the railings for dear life, each wave bigger than the last.

While my hands were locked into position like a vice holding on, my seasickness medicine began to take effect. In the sea I saw dolphins racing alongside our ship, they distracted me from the pounding the relentless crashing up and down was giving to my ass, from the pain in my hands and arms and from my inevitable stage 1 seasickness. Turtles then joined the dolphins, leaping out of the water and smiling at me. My palms became sweaty and my whole body began shaking but the sound of vomiting around me once again focused my attention onto the aquatic circus which was before my eyes. Before I knew it platypuses had joined the turtles and dolphins, then enormous floating jellyfish which looked like hot air balloons, then crabs, then for some reason dancing sausages. Out of nowhere came a man running full pelt across the sea, so fast that his feet stayed dry with the water tension. I looked at his face and saw it was me, my likeness waved at me and I smiled back. All the time my body was being pounded by the waves, the sickness was engulfing my body, I wanted to be sick but I couldn’t let go of the rail, my sweaty hands had no feeling left in them but I had to grip, otherwise I would surely go overboard into the unforgiving sea the way each wave sent me up into the air then crashing back down again. To distract myself from the morbidity of my situation I followed the likeness of myself until I saw a small Island in the distance, at which point, my wonderful, albeit hallucinatory friends vanished.

A rather grey looking Lady Musgrave Island, taken with a seasick hand.

As we grew closer to the island, the waves lessened and the wind became a breeze. The boat moored at a day trip Great Barrier Reef pontoon. The passengers began snorkeling and those of us who were planning to stay on the Island long term disembarked, withered and shattered wrecks of people.

End of Part 1.......