The next morning, the kids were up early, itching to get down to the jetty and on to the boat to take us to Lady Musgrave Island and its surrounding coral lagoon. Unfortunately the wind had been blowing all night which didn’t bode well for the conditions out to the island so with Leanne and the kids dosed up with sea sickness tablets we set off.
The excitement was buoyed by a close encounter with two humpback whales and a pod of dolphins about 10 minutes into the voyage but it was not long after that Timmy succumbed to the effect of the 2m swell. Two sick bags and several cold compresses later (the crew were obviously well versed in dealing with this sort of thing) he eventually fell asleep in Leanne’s arms (she herself feeling pretty queasy). Ashleigh and Sean soldiered on as they watched a movie that was showing on the TV. As time passed however, Sean started to turn a peculiar shade of green and he too dispensed with his breakfast just before we arrived at the Island!! 
Once the boat entered the protected waters of the coral quay lagoon around Lady Musgrave, everyone felt much better and it was not long before we were downing coffees, hot chocolates, cakes and biscuits for morning tea. After morning tea, we were taken over to the island on a glass bottom boat for a short guided walk where we were told a bit about the island’s history and the importance it plays to the birds and turtles that visit it throughout the year. One we were back on the boat it was lunch then snorkelling for the rest of the afternoon. Seeing the kaleidoscope of colours that the coral and fish displayed was absolutely fantastic and it was great that we were all able to experience the beauty of the reef together. Who knows, when the kids grow up to be our age, there might not be a reef left to show their own kids!! We had a wonderful day on the Reef and none of us wanted to leave! The trip back to 1770 was much smoother and we got back without anyone getting sick again – much to everyone’s relief!! When we arrived at the jetty, we were told that as a special offer, we could do the trip again another day for half price!!. I jokingly said lets do it but Lea felt that her stomach had had enough punishment for quite a while so we decided against it. The next morning we were all up early again. The wind had dropped the previous evening and the morning was clear and bright - perfect conditions for a boat trip. It didn’t take Lea and the kids much persuading (back on the boat to the Reef again – or fishing on the beach?) and we were back down to the jetty to do it all again.
Thankfully the conditions out to the Reef were much better this time and we all arrived with our breakfasts where they should have been!! We skipped the island tour in favour of more time in the water and I also bought a cheap underwater camera to capture for prosperity some of the magic we were seeing. The camera was a film camera (remember those?) so I won’t be able to see if my career as an underwater photographer has any promise until I get the film developed (how do I do that again??!!).Our trip to the Reef completed the last of our Must Do’s for this trip and a memorable Must Do it was!!
And it’s not between your knife and fork!! “Where’s Yeppoon?” has been in the repertoire of Leanne’s Dad’s corny one liners since I have known her so it was a must stop town on our journey southward. The town is the gateway to Great Keppel Island (do they still do those “Great place to get wrecked” ads?) and also for some reason has a museum dedicated to race driver Peter Brock (I thought he was a Victorian?).