Great Barrier Reef Trip

Back in August we headed North for a holiday on the Great Barrier Reef. Our destination was Lady Musgrave Island which is located about 30 nautical miles off the town of 1770 on the southern Queensland coast. LM is unique in that it is a true coral cay with the largest navigable lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef . The lagoon covers about 1200ha and is over 8kms in circumference. The island covers 14 ha, has no freshwater and only 40 campers are allowed at a time. The only building is a composting toilet. A 22m catamaran cruise ship travels daily to the island -weather permitting. Everything needed for your stay (including water) is taken on board the cat. 3 days extra supplies must be taken just in case the boat is delayed by bad weather for your return.


We planned to camp for a week and thought it would be a great place to take the Tandem (Oasis) kayak. We loaded the Tandem onto the roof racks for the 1500km journey. The kayak travelled very well at highway speeds, was very stable on and off road and surprisingly did not really affect our fuel economy.




For $50 extra the cruise company will transport a kayak.


On arrival in the lagoon the cat moors on a large diving pontoon and your camping gear is transported to the island in a glass bottomed boat. I pedalled the kayak to the shore.


We set up camp under the Pissonia trees


The cart was useful moving about the island and for low tide launching over the coral




Everyday we would kayak around the island and explore different areas of the lagoon


The tandem was a great platform for snorkelling. We would stop over a coral bommie and jump in. I had the kayak secured by a leg-rope leash and would tow it behind me.


The underwater scenery and life was spectacular.







We found getting back in to be easy thanks to the stability of the Tandem. A sit on top is perfect for this. (I intend to add Roadrunners handles to make this even easier!)





During the week we experienced varying weather conditions. The Tandem handled them all extremely well. The sail got plenty of use.






Having the Tandem gave us an extra dimension to our holiday on the island.
Thanks Hobie for designing such a versatile craft.
We certainly plan to go back again. Next time I hope to have an AI as well!
By the way-how is that double AI progressing Hobie?

Wow! What a great travelogue. Beautifully illustrated as well. This is better than National Geographic! Thanks for sharing.

Ditto--WOW also! I have been diving at Cook's Passage on the Outer Barrier, at Lizard Island, at Green Island, at Heron Island, and at Fitzroy Island, but your trip would rank right up there with them all. Many congrats and thanks for the great post!.
Best,
Dick

_________________

Stringy, what a beautiful trip. The closest I ever got to the reef is Brisbane a few years ago, ok 27 years ago....

GREAT REPORT and PIC'S ... ... very kool place ...

_________________
Don't want to hear about it
Every single one's got a story to tell
Everyone knows about it


Oscar

Those are beautiful pictures. Thanks for the link so I could enjoy them, too.

What a vacation!!!!

Ray

_________________
Harold Ray Emerson
419 Lake Air Drive
Waco, Texas 78710

Phone: 254-772-3520

That was great, thanks for sharing...

_________________


Quit Wishin, Go Fishin and Take a Kid with You

Thanks all for the comments.
Ray and ninja,
Bringing this older post back up has reminded me to copy it across to the more suited Places to Kayak forum (which didn't exist when I first posted it).

Beautiful pics, and even though it is years snce you posted it, I'm still laughing about camping where you find Pissonia trees

Yeah, never was a tree more appropriately named .

_________________

Thanks for the link that looked so wonderful. It must be nice to live so close to a natural wonder. Perhaps we will get a bit more adventurous with our Oasis, however after reading all the links to different threads I do think the TI would be worth any extra weight or time for set up. Do you still car top your TI like the Oasis or have you opted to pull a trailer?
Fair winds