Micropost 1: Lady Musgrave

We've had an exciting few weeks aboard Papillon. Sadly, the internet here is shocking and our normally-reliable SSB has decided to pack it in, so I am rather behind in my updates to you, dear readers. To that end, I'll post a few quick snippets over the next few days to get you up to speed.

After the rain (rather RAIN) we experienced in Mooloolaba, we were dying to get to Lady Musgrave. It is a lovely little coral cay at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, with a small island, a zillion turtles, and some nice snorkelling. Perfect for the tropics-loving Papillon Crew.


Erik and I unloaded our beach gear: giant plastic mat from New Caledonia, beach shelter from New Zealand, towels from PNG.

Erik kindly offered to keep the shelter from blowing away.

The girls, however, pooh-poohed our materialistic ways, and built their own shelter instead.

Much nicer than ours, I agree.

 

A kindly neighbour popped by that evening; he had caught more coral trout than he could eat. We happily took two, and Erik made us a feast. (I generously cooked the rice, because I'm nice like that.)

Delicious.

And then we had an Australia Moment. Normally when we gut a fish, we throw the innards overboard. Some friendly remoras appear, eat the guts, and everyone goes away happy.

But this time when Erik tossed the organs, an enormous shark rose up, gulped the guts, and sank away again.

In the shallow lagoon.

Beside the boat.

Where we had been swimming for two days.

Breathe in, breathe out.

So, lesson learned. In Australia, throwing fish overboard while sailing: fine. Throwing fish while anchored: terrible idea. We'll keep that in mind.

Next stop: a lumpy passage to the Whitsundays.