Oh the Blue! - Lady Musgrave Island

Stretching north from the QLD-NSW border, the coastline slowly transforms from fine sandy beaches and high surf to placid seas and mangroves.  We hadn’t yet crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, but the days were getting already becoming warmer and longer.  We stopped at one of the last surf outposts at The Town of 1770 before the Great Barrier Reef tames the swells of the South Pacific Ocean.  The peculiarly named Town of 1770 is hardly a town at all, consisting of little more than a collection of holiday homes and one modest shopping center.  It gets its name from the its history as the second landing site in Australia by Captain Cook and the crew of the Endeavor on May of 1770, but these days its most well known as the jumping off point for Lady Musgrave Island.  Lady Musgrave is the second southernmost island to be a part of the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands and is one of the few true coral cays in the whole reef system.

The island lies 60km offshore and on the particular day we elected to go there were some large residual swells from a recently passed storm.  What started out as an exciting roller coaster ride quickly became a torturous and unpleasant hour and a half trip out to the island.  I won’t tell you who, but at least one of us didn’t keep their breakfast.  It was with great relief to almost all on board when we finally laid anchor in the safety island’s lagoon from which we would be snorkeling.  It all proved to be worthwhile however, as the sea life was put on display almost immediately by one of the crew throwing some bait into the water.  Suddenly a flurry of fish of all sizes and colors shot to the surface of the water to devour the delicious fishie morsels!  

Shortly thereafter we were loaded onboard a smaller boat and carted off the do a short walking tour of the island itself.  The small quarter of a square kilometer island supports a small forest of Pisonia trees and is a breeding destination for thousands of birds in season.  Luckily for us this was not that season, as the guide informed us the when occupied the very ground we were walking would be colored white with you know what.  If you aren’t familiar with what a coral kay is, the island’s beach might not be what you expect.  The island is made up entirely of dead and broken bits of coral and the sediments that have built up on its shores over time and the beach reflects this.  We were also informed by our guide that the reason snorkeling was not allowed from the beach (on our tour anyways) was because of the presence of a small venomous snail called the Cone Snail.  Some varieties of these snails can deliver a sting powerful enough to be fatal and their shells blend in with the coral bits along the beach.  Needless to say - collecting shells is not recommended.

The island "sand"

The Pisonia forest

From here we took a brief glass-bottomed boat tour around the lagoon.  We were able to spot loads of fish and different types of coral, but best of all was a group of sea turtles! As we drifted over there were at least 4 of them collected around one bowl shaped coral structure and to our delight the guide informed us that we would be allowed to snorkel there when the time came to get into the water.  You can imagine then that when that time DID come, everyone on the tour made a B line directly for that structure and we were surely a part of that exodus.  The turtles didn’t seem to mind though, and Kayleigh and I were able to get fairly close to the group.  As luck would have it, one of the turtles came out of the bowl to grab a breath of air and I followed it and watched as it lazily drifted and “flew” through the water.  By some fluke, most of the rest of the tour group had moved on to other sections of the reef and what an amazing experience it was as the turtle and I floated together there, suspended in that moment.  I managed to get some pretty good video using our new GoPro, but you’ll have to wait until the next home videos to catch a glimpse :p.

This shot through the glass bottomed boat will have to hold you over until you see the video :p

I should note here, that the visibility in the water was surprisingly fantastic despite the wind rushing over the surface of the water.  You easily see some 34-40 feet.  Once we’d finished snorkeling the sun did finally come out and Oh-My-God how blue the water was.  It shined like I’ve never seen water shine before and practically begged for another inviting dip into the fairyland below.

Bliss

Fraser Island

Australia boasts innumerable islands along its coastline, many of which are located only just offshore and easily accessed via ferry services.  Despite their proximity to the mainland many of these islands remain largely undeveloped, pristine slices of paradise cherished by the locals and tourists alike.  Fraser Island, soon to be known by its aboriginal name K’Guri (meaning Paradise), was the first such island that we had the pleasure to visit.  Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island at 1,840 sq km, but you’d never guess by looking at it.  This is because by same strange evolutionary miracle it’s almost completely covered by rainforest, making it the only place on Earth where rainforest (or much of anything for that matter) grows on a bed of pure sand.  Intrigued? You should be.  The island was once treasured by the logging industry, but luckily by the 1990s the loggers were cleared out and the island became a world-heritage listed national park for all to enjoy.  We opted for a guided tour of the island since Major Tom wouldn’t last a second on the sandy 4x4 tracks carving up the island.

Arriving on the island via ferry

In the rainforest

There are a number of historic and beauty spots on the island, but the most famous of all is Lake Mackenzie.  This permanent freshwater lake is one of many perched lakes sitting on a thin impermeable layer of plant matter on a massive sand dune.  The lake is said to be a natural spa of sorts with soft and fine sugar-white sands that can act as an exfoliant, and the soft freshwater of the lake a natural conditioner for both hair and skin.  Of course the lake is no slouch in the beauty department either, so even if you’re not going for a swim you’d still walk away from this place feeling relaxed.

The shores of Lake MacKenzie

The main thoroughfare of the island is Seventy Five Mile beach which is the only beach in all of Australia that doubles as a highway, but don’t bother trying to swim because if the scary rips here don’t get you then the scary sharks surely will.  It was along this beach that we spotted one of Australia’s wildlife icons, the dingo.  Originally brought to Australia a few hundred years ago by Asian fisherman, the local aboriginals noticed how effective the dogs were at hunting and bartered for a few of them.  Today they are considered an alien species as well as a pest and set for gradual extermination, but the Fraser Island dingos are considered to be the most pure bred in the world and it is the only place in Australia that they are a legally protected species.  I was quite surprised when I learned that the dingo is a solitary animal as I’d always assumed they were pack animals, but I was doubly surprised at how emaciated they looked.  Apparently they run a bit lean naturally, but the ones along this beach had gotten used to being fed by tourists and had forgone trying to hunt.  Since feeding the dingos has now become illegal for safety reasons, the more stubborn dogs have become a bit malnourished and some have become aggressive towards humans.  Luckily, we didn’t encounter any of the latter.

Up close and personal 

Seventy Five Mile Beach

The next noteworthy beauty stop was Eli Creek.  This small creek, like all creeks on the island, is fed by pure filtered spring water pumping from deep within the sand island.  The water is so pure that there is no problem drinking it right from the creek (provided you do so a bit upstream of the drunken swimmers further downstream).  The creek is also flowing at a good click and many people choose to float downstream on this natural lazy river (bring your own tube).

Eli Creek

We hadn’t quite realized the size of the island and the time it would take to get from one place to another, so doing a day trip to the island was a bit frantic thanks to the tour itinerary.  I would have liked to spend more time at the beautiful swimming spots of Eli Creek and Lake Mackenzie and omitted some of the other sightseeing we did like the colored sand cliffs and the shipwreck.  If I could do it again, I might opt for an overnight trip, but all in all it was a good day and the tour guide provided some excellent and interesting commentary on the european and aboriginal history of the island as well as the aboriginal uses for many of the plants in the environment. 

Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast

Lying about 100km to the north of the Gold Coast is the capital city of Queensland, Brisbane. The city is part of the rapidly growing south-east Queensland growth corridor and is busy vying for its place amongst the other famous cities of Australia, but with one major disadvantage: the city is not an oceanfront city and has no natural beach to call its own.  In order to remedy this, the urban planners designed a shnazzy little area known as South Bank in which, amongst many bars, cafes, restaurants, parklands and entertainment venues, exists a man made lagoon style swimming area overlooking the Brisbane river as it winds like a snake through the CBD.  Now it claims to be the only capital city in Australia with a beach within the confines of the CBD.  Clever stuff.  I’ll admit to you, Kayleigh and I weren’t all that impressed with the first glimpses of the city, with its industrial clutter, coffee brown river, urban sprawl and ya know, lack of a beach.  I can tell you first hand however, that South Bank puts on the charm hard and was the beginning of the transformation of my opinion of the city.

To be fair we did something of a whirlwind tour through the city, visiting some 5 different neighborhoods with our only experience of the majority consisting of what we could take from the window of a moving vehicle.  From the hills and views of Paddington to the historic Kangaroo Point, my perception of the city slowly changed.  There is clearly something stylish burgeoning here.  By the end of the day I felt I hadn’t seen enough but unfortunately we hadn’t the time to dilly dally in the city, so begrudgingly I moved along.  I’m not sure when if ever I’ll be able to revisit the city, but perhaps by the time I do that bud I witnessed will be in full flower. 

South Bank Parklands Beach

Skyline from Kangaroo Point 

Another 100km or so to the north, completing the Brissie beach sandwich is the Sunshine Coast.  The Sunshine Coast is the northern end of the busy SE QLD growth corridor and is a more mature and relaxed answer to the rambunctious Gold Coast.  Our first stop here was the Glass House Mountains, whose peculiar name comes from the legendary James Cook who fancied their likeness to the stacks of glass houses back in England.  They are a striking set of “mountains”, whose grey and green peaks rise sharply from the flat farmlands forming narrow spires.  Given their geography hiking to the top of one of them without special equipment wasn’t feasible, so I had to resign myself to climbing a nearby hill for a panoramic overlook.  From there we raced towards the coastline, but unfortunately as has often been the case while driving the east coast on the verge of winter, the weather turned on us the first day and our time that was suppose to be spent sunning and swimming on a nice beach turned to hiding from the wind and rain in our house (aka Major Tom).

The Glass House Mountains 

The second day we had a bit more luck and found ourselves on the northern border of the Sunshine Coast in the town of Noosa.  This beautiful little resort town has the blessing of a north facing beach which is sheltered from the large swells coming up from the south.  We spent most of the day splashing around in emerald waves of the main beach.  In many ways, Noosa is the Sunshine Coast city responsible for the Sunshine Coasts reputation.  Its green leafy streets are beautifully landscaped and lined with sophisticated clothing retailers and diners.  To balance it all, a old-school surfer ethos flows like an undercurrent through the city.  The Noosa Heads National Park stands testament to it, being one of the only headlands in all of SE QLD that has retained its natural character due to the efforts of locals in fighting off a real estate developer.  Thanks to them, it remains one of the most intact ecosystems in the region and is home to one of the largest populations of koalas in Australia.  It was here that I got my first look at a koala in the wild - now if only I had a telephoto lens! 

Noosa Heads 

It looks more like a teddy bear than a real animal!