Township of 1770 [Lady Musgrave Island]– 26 to 31 October 2010

We left Mackay to drive to the Township of of 1770. At the Mount Larcom Cafe and Collectibles [try their Big Mama's Pies which are great!] we met Mats Frankl.  Mat a 43-year-old Swedish-Aussie gave up work to live his dream, rollerblading around the world in the name of peace. He has already rollerbladed 4300km across Europe, and now he’s rolling through Australia. At present he is doing the section from Brisbane to Cooktown. His wife and two young children are his support team. He looked hot, stiff and sore when he arrived at the café as this section of highway is hardly friendly for humans on rollerblades. His journey can be followed on Rollerpeace.com.  Rollerpeace raises money to support the International Committee of the Red Cross in its work to help the victims of war.

From there we drove to the little Township of 1770. It has a lovely old fashioned council campsite right on the beach. The Township of 1770 was the second landing site of Lieutenant James Cook and the crew of the Endeavor in May 1770 as part of their voyage of discovery. During their time here they shot a Bustard which they said was the best meal they had had since leaving England. Considering ships food in those days this would not be hard. Consequently they named the Bay Bustard Bay.

There is a very nice Hotel and Bistro called The Tree so we did not have to shoot our own bustard.

We went on the Spirit of 1770 out to Lady Musgrave Island, named after the wife of Sir Anthony Musgrave Governor of Queensland (1883-1888 ) who was famed for her afternoon teas, but never visited the island. The sea was rough and Trish was sea sick but once she arrived she revived and we had a good days snorkeling in the lagoon and a walk around the island.

We saw several Turtles and a Turtle cleaning Station. This is where the Wrasse Fish clean the turtles of algae and parasites and is like a hairdresser for turtles where they hang out with their friends. We also saw Turtles mating.

Lady Musgrave Island is a coral cay and is the only island with a navigable lagoon. We took a guided walk of the Island and saw the colonies of white-capped Noddy Terns nesting in the Pisonia Trees. There are also Silver Gulls, Bridled Terns, and Black-naped Terns nesting nearer the beach along with wedge-tailed shearwaters (Mutton Birds).  It is possible to camp on the Island although the odor of guano is a bit overwhelming.