Lady Musgrave Island: Noddy Experience

Australia serves up yet another cracker highlight with this lovely island trip.

The original Indigenous name of this island, 50 km offshore from Bundaberg, was Wallaginji or beautiful reef. Later in the century Lady Musgrave got a lookin as the wife of the Queensland governor.

Tours access the island from 1770 town and Bundaberg port. We went from Bundaberg with the Lady Musgrave Experience catamaran. Prior to boarding, our temperature was diligently taken to check that we haven't got Covid.

The old 1770 Tour boat burned and sank a few years ago just off LMI...we facebooked with a lady who was on the boat when it sank. Five hours before rescue, what a tough experience. The owner's permit to visit LMI was revoked. Another 1770 boat still operates.

Now the LMI Experience mob have bought the old 1770 boat's licence and pontoon which they are repurposing. They are also building another floating aquarium hotel pontoon which will cost $550 per person per night.

First action on the morning of departure was to take ginger seasickness tablets. After motoring out of port, we spent 2.5 hours careening in easypeasy 1 metre swell in the smart catamaran, before we anchored at LMI. First we snorkelled along the reef. Rob's mask kept filling with water until he realised his moustache was the problem. Should have shaved it off to make the mask seal.

After yummy lunch, we set off in the glass bottomed boat to see a hawksbill turtle at a cleaning station on an underwater bommie formation. Little cleaner fish scurried to pick off debris, detritus and more from the turtle enjoying his spa treatment.

The guide imparted amusing pearls of knowledge. The beche de mer or sea cucumber has a fish that lives in its bottom and darts out for prey. If no prey, the fish consoles itself by nibbling the sea slug's internal sexual organs. Charming postal address.

Next, we motored to the LMI shore and landed amidst old coral detritus and shells.

Over 30,000 seabirds visit LMI. As we walked across the island, white capped noddies in their hundreds flitted and nested in a thick forest of pisonia trees. 

Keeping a close eye on pooping noddy backends, we marvelled at the density of leaf nests. 

Noddies form new mating couples each year after they migrate here from Papua New Guinea. The females carefully inspect leaf litter proffered by the males. If she likes it, she poos on it and sticks it to the nest. Nine times out of ten she summarily throws the leaf away. So the male dutifully collects 1000 leaves for a nest.



The pisonia tree produces very sticky florets just when the noddy chicks fledge. Sadly, some fledglings get stuck in the goo and fall to the ground to be consumed by centipedes who thereby fertilise the soil with nutrients.


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Lady Musgrave Island, Burnett Heads