Fridays hey...

Friday’s hey?
 
For most humans, Friday is a good day. It means the last day of the working week. It is, the last day of slavery before your two days of freedom. The end of another gruelling slog, dealing with crew you would not normally associate with unless forced to by work. When five o’clock comes around, its tools down and good riddance until Monday… However, we are not your average human…
 
I did not realise it was Friday today, until it was pointed out to me. Today was just another day with light breezes from the South East, expecting to turn to swing to directly East in the evening. Which basically means, lets go adventure and relish this anchorage.
 
We set off bright and early, in hunt for the morning fish. It was bright, but I guess not that early since it always takes a bit to get Bonita’s gears engaged. Once she had indulged in her morning coffee, the tender was packed and off we went in search of some fish. We had anchored close to the entrance of the lagoon, so the tender ride was only a short distance to the outside of the reef. The strong breeze from yesterday afternoon had disappeared and only a calm smooth ocean remained. The water was so clear where we were anchored, you could follow the anchor chain along the bottom, off into the abyss. Marley was given a bone and off we went in search for lunch.
 
The open water outside of the lagoon was just as clear as in the lagoon. The walls of the reef dropped away from only a metre or two below the surface, to the sandy reef bottom 15m down. An amazing spectacle in itself, but I was not here to look at the flowers, so to say. It was spearing time. When the hunt is on, there is nothing else whistling around between my ears but “Come here fishy”….
 
Still getting used to my new speargun and the way it fires, it was not the most successful spearing attempt I have to say. Shooting two fish; a decent Red throat Emperor and a good ole Coral trout. However, both shots not being good holding shots and both fish wriggling free of the spear. No doubt inside some sharks belly by now. After a few words that only sailor’s use came out of my mouth, we took the time to enjoy the underwater scenery and the breath taking spectacle that is the Great Barrier Reef.
 
Returning to Nandji for some lunch of left over dinner, it was time to relax and enjoy what was turning out to be a spectacular day, weather wise. On our journey back to the mother ship, Nandji. We crossed paths with a young family we had met the previous day. Having a bit of a chin wag and discussing the days events, they invited us to go Scuba diving in the afternoon. They had all the gear on board their boat and offered to take us along for the ride. This seemed a little to good to be true, so of course we graciously accepted their offer.
 
Both Bonita and I have our open water dive certifications, however have not put them to use for quite some time. Roughly three years ago in Fiji, was the last time we used them. As you can imagine, we were pretty excited to test out our skills once again. We loaded up our tender ‘la diva’ with our gear and followed the family of four in their tender. Heading out of the lagoon and adventuring around the outside of the reef. Arriving to our destination, we tied ‘la diva’ to the families boat, squeezed into our wetsuits and prepared ourselves for our underwater exploration.
 
We swam into the current along the outer walls of the reef system and then drifting back with the current. We love free diving and spearfishing, but being able to stay down at that depth for a long period of time is truly something else. Your eyes see so much more when you are slowly cruising along looking at the reef. Usually if I am spearfishing, I don’t notice the reef, I only have eyes for fish. Being on scuba we were able to inspect all the little guys and notice so much more. The reef really is quite amazing.
 
Once on the surface again, we floated around telling our stories to each other for a while. Then heading back to the island to watch the sunset. Lady Musgrave is only a very small island and takes roughly twenty to thirty minutes to walk around. We found a place on the lee side, protected from the gentle breeze and tucked into a few cheeky ales as we watched the sun disappear on the horizon.
 
Not a bad day one could say. With the winds looking favourable to leave on Saturday, we have decided to leave Sunday instead so we can spend another day in this paradise. Hopefully this choice doesn’t turn around and bite us in the bum, but only time will tell. If it does, it was a good decision because honestly, I don’t want to leave!!