Great Barrier Reef Tour 🛥️ 🐢 🐟 🐠 📱

 Tuesday, May 21:

This morning I had a Zoom appointment 💻 at 4 a.m. Tuesday my time ⏰ (11 a.m. Monday California time). Afterwards, I tried to catch up on my blog instead of going back to bed.

I took a few more photos of the apartment

The deck

At 8:30 I checked in at the 1770 marina for my Great Barrier Reef tour to Lady Musgrave Island. 

Charlie gives the safety talk

I sat with these two women, Vicky and Ann, at a table on the big boat. They went on the tour while their husbands went golfing. They kept me company during the whole trip.

It was a large boat, and quite a choppy ride to the lagoon where the island is, but I managed to keep my breakfast in.

Heading out of the “creek”

First glimpse of the island (middle of shot)

They served us “morning tea” (with biscuits and jam and cookies), and then a glass-bottom boat drove us to the island for a tour. 

Darker sections are where the reef is

Extensive section of reef and two other islands in the background

Inside the glass-bottom boat

Approaching Lady Musgrave Island

The coral beach 

(Quoting Charlie: “Lady Musgrave island is a coral cay, 

made from coral and bird poo.”)

Some unique birds

(black one in the center of photo above,

brown one in photo below.)

The island was very windy on one side, 

and much calmer in the center.

The boat returning to pick us up

Next, we took another ride in the glass-bottom boat (the glass was freshly cleaned while we toured the island) and checked out the reef below. We saw some sea turtles on the surface and below the boat, and of course lots of coral, sea cucumbers, and fish.

A turtle swimming at the surface

Two turtles on the lagoon floor

We had lunch upon returning to the large boat (sandwich wraps, coffee or tea, and an apple), and then it was time for snorkeling around the reef.

The dark area in the center of the photo is one section of the reef (where I saw the turtle on the bottom), 

And the dark area at the top of the photo is a larger section that we swam alongside, not above.

The highlight for me was seeing a large sea turtle resting at the bottom of the reef, and following another sea turtle as it was swimming far below me. I also saw a lot of fish, coral, and sea cucumbers. Unfortunately, the waterproof cell-phone bag I used leaked. I realized this early on and swam back to the boat. My phone still worked. I left it on the boat and went out snorkeling again. I’m glad I chose to wear one of their wetsuits, because the lovely blue water was a bit chilly.

The trip back to the marina was faster and less harrowing than the trip to the island.

Ocean as far as the eye can see

Tired travelers

Yeah! Land in sight! The 1770 headlands

They say the 1770 Marina is the 

best place to see the sunset

The town of 1770 is named for the year that Captain Cook landed in this area. It was the second place he landed in Australia. (The first was Sydney.)

When I got back “home”, I plugged in my phone, but a warning came up saying to unplug it due to moisture detected . That was a scare! I tried a few home remedies (rice, blow dryer) that I later read were bad ideas, then I put it by a fan all night, and after a little more waiting in the morning, the charging worked! Phew!