My Northern Migration Part 1 (lady Musgrave/1770)

[Ovington]

With the chills of winter beginning to settle in Brisbane I figured it was a good time to escape to the more tropical regions of Australia and tow the boat as far north as I could manage in a 3 and a bit week holiday. My old man had planned a longer trip up to the cape which he is still on now so I met up with him for part of the trip to use his Camper trailer as a more comfortable base than my swag and gas burner. 

The first destination was to be Lady Musgrave island for a week of snorkeling and camping with a hint of fishing. What an amazing location it was as well, we caught a ferry out there after a few hassles (the one we had booked sunk the week prior, can't complain too much I guess we weren't on it!) and wheelbarrowed a weeks worth of camping gear and supplies to the camp site. The amenities were remarkable for what is a fairly remote island with few visitors over the cooler months. We had one other group of campers sharing the island with us for the week but that wasn't an issues as we became well acquainted on the journey out. After setting up out site we were straight into the water for a snorkel. The reef was spectacular with a large lagoon and outer reef edge just a short walk away. The sea turtles and reef sharks were plentiful as well as many other vibrant reef fish and invertebrates.  

After a solid explore underwater I rigged my fishing gear and tried my luck fishing the reef flats on the southern side of the island where the Marine park is not greenzone. The long tom were the main inquiries on most retrieves with a few small cod getting in the mix. Day 2 saw my one and only solid fish from the shore which was an estimated meter of GT that smashed a medium sized surface lure no more than 15m in front of me. Unfortunately, after a 50m+ run my fine gauge hooks let out and the battle came to a short but exhilarating end. I was now regretting not organizing my boat to be taken out to the island!! The days following showed no signs of GTs despite regular walks in search on the high and low tides.  

One of the most memorable days on the island was swimming with a feeding frenzy of Manta Rays just out from the camp site. I counted at least 10 different individuals in the one area all of which were not phased by my presence. I swam with them for about 2 hours before I was exhausted from following them up and down the reef edge and I retired to the beach for a beer to watch the sun set. 

There is so much more I saw and have to talk about so I will leave Lady Musgrave at that. 

After arriving back on the main land the next destination was 1770/Eurimbula national park. We started the trek from Bundy to Eurimbula and slowly beat our way down the rough track to the camp site. Upon arrival I realised I day destroyed the springs on my trailer on the corrugations and tree roots on the way in which put a serious dampener on the adventure. We set up camp and stayed the night and left the boat at camp to try and source some new springs in Gladstone however due to the trailer being a U.S import there was no replacement springs available to get me on the road immediately. I bought some replacements that needed to be re welded on as the springs were too long. I managed to get the boat in the water and chock the trailer up with a block of wood to stop the guard taring the tyre apart so the trailer could be driven to a mechanic to weld the new spring holds on and I drove the boat from middle creek to 1770 to reduce load on the broken trailer on the trip back.

 

The trailer was being repaired and the boat was left in the river leaving me no choice but to go for a fish! I managed a little cod and a flatty and my little sister managed a nice flatty too. 

 

This concluded the southern part of my northern Migration and off to Airlie Beach was next on the cards! Next post coming soon....(there will be more fish and less boring stuff )

[PA Pete]

Good read and cool pic's looking forward to reading part 2