Day 4 - Saturday, 29 December 2012

Today was my birthday! I was so excited! I got a wetsuit, 2 books, a watch, an anklet and a pocketknife. I also got a game (5 second rule) from the Thieles, a voucher from Uncle Peter and a surfer keyring from the Myers.

We got ready to go on the Lady Musgrave Island Cruise. We departed the marina at 1770 with a full boat load (150 people) some quite anxious about the ride! It seemed to take forever to get there but it was fun trying to stand up on the bumpy waves. It really was a bumpy ride and some people didn't do so well - even with sea calm tablets!

We finally got to the pontoon which was to be our base for the day and after a quick snack we collected our snorkelling gear and we got into the reef and swam around. We saw lots of fish and coral. The rest of the group went on a tour of the Island but we opted out to get some more snorkelling time. We came in and all had lunch together, it was buffet style with cold meats, prawns and salads, even hot chocolate, yum!

After lunch we went on a semi-submarine which travelled on the each of the reef, the water was so low we hit the coral in some spots! When we got back we went back into the water to snorkel some more. Mum, Dad, Hannah, Teslyn and I were on a mission to find a turtle. With information from the life guard we headed quite a way out with no one around. We found a turtle at a cleaning station (coral mound with hole in the centre where fish clean the turtles). Admiring our find I saw a shark close by and I freaked out and wanted to swim away so fast … and I did! Dad was taking control of the situation and telling us all to stay together but I just wanted to get back to the boat. It was so far to get back and was relieved when we were back in the shallows of the reef. Mum told the lifeguard but he was not concerned, he said it would have been a black tipped reef shark and would not hurt us.

Later in the afternoon we went on the Lady Musgrave Island Tour, a short boat trip over. We were not allowed to walk around on our own - it had to be with a guide. The Island was home to many different bird species some which fly all the way from Siberia to nest. The guide warned us not to look up with our mouths open! I think most of us got away without any droppings except Mum realised when we got back there was a nice one on her hat! The Island used to have lots of Green Turtles come to nest but the floodings a couple of years ago wiped out most of their vegetation.

Soon we were travelling back to 1770, 64km and 90 minutes to go. But on entering the port due to severe low tides our boat could not make it back to the marina so we had to swap to a smaller boat which took us back.

To celebrate my birthday we were planning on all getting some take out in Agnes Waters and eating on the beach… but the orders took so long it was dark and not a good option so we all headed back to camp to eat and finished up with a mud cake!

Day 5 - Sunday, 30 December 2012

Finally a day to relax! We went swimming in the morning in the Caravan Park Pool. It was so much fun! Dad organised a surf lesson for Hannah, Teslyn, Bethany and me - we were all so excited! As a warm up we went to the local beach to try some surfing on my board - I got up a couple of times but the salt water really hurt my eyes and I could barely see! We headed back to camp for the surf school pick up. Elisha was our instructor and we were soon sitting on our boards on the beach for the introductory talk. It was blowing a gale, I could hardly carry my surfboard without it flying away. Soon we were out in the white wash - well it was really like a washing machine, the waves were going every which way and it was so hard with the wind whipping us around and the strong waves. Dad and Darren had to help us also as it was so hard to get back out. Not the best surfing experience!

Back at camp to shower and recover we heard Harri who was sporting a half cast for a broken elbow (from Melbourne adventures) had fallen into the shallow beach water attempting to do some sand surfing. With a disintegrating plaster cast, the decision was made to travel to Bundaberg Hospital as has a special fracture clinic to see what should be done. At the start of the trip Lee had plans to remove the cast at Tin Can Bay on 7th January - so the doctors kept to that decision and put another stronger cast on but still no swimming for Harri for another week - come on the worlds!

Day 6 - Monday, 31 December 2012

With another relaxing day to be had we managed to spend many hours in the pool, it's amazing how much time we can spend in there and not get bored! Dad headed off late morning heading down to Bundaberg to get our windscreen replaced as the original cracks had travelled about 30cm across the screen. Dad took Peter and Darren with him and toured the Bundaberg factory and also did our New Year's Eve shopping - 4kg of prawns and hot dogs for the kids.

Soon it was time to shower and dress up for NYE's celebrations! What a feast we had! We stayed back at camp but had lots of fun dancing and playing games whilst the parents enjoyed their champagne and beer!

The kids didn't quite make it to midnight although we celebrated and counted down to the Melbourne midnight! The parents kept going lasting well into the night playing 5 second Rule and Peter's card game which kept them all laughing.

Day 7 - Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Another sleep in to celebrate a new year! Once again the morning was spent in the pool even some parents swimming too! After lunch we went out for a drive to check out the local area. We went to visit Round Hill Lookout and then drove South to Deep Water National Park. We pulled into a few beached enjoying the view and splashing in the water. At Wreck Rock, Lee happened to come across a poster advertising a turtle talk and arranged for the us all to come back at 7.30. So we dashed back to camp, had tea and then went back to enjoy a 90 minutes powerpoint presentation on the local research on turtle tagging by the resident camp hosts. It was great and very interesting and soon we were interrupted by news that a turtle was heading up the beach to nest only 500m away. So the group took off up to the beach but unfortunately it doubled back and swam away before we saw it.

It was lovely standing on the beach at night watching the moon rise but no turtles on our watch, with only 7 turtles averaging nesting per night along the entire 22km stretch we would have to have been lucky anyway! I was so tired on the trip home and couldn't wait for bed!