Orpheus Island - Hiking, Research Station, Snorkeling and Yanks

 We anchored in Pioneer Bay in a well protected spot.  All the public moorings were in use so we had to use our own anchor.  There were lots of good anchoring locations available so this was not a problem.  We took the dinghy ashore to do a hike which took us across the island to a high hill on the east side.  It was not a great hike but gave our legs a stretch.  The next morning we took the dinghy ashore at the Orpheus Island Research Station which is owned by the University of Queensland.  We were met at the beach by a nice young staff member who offered to explain the programs at the station before we went on our planned “creepy crawler” hike behind the station.  The tour was very low-key but pleasant.

The hike was up and over a ridge through jungle and then down the east side to a rock beach at the ocean.  As we came down a dry creek bed towards the ocean side we found several trees with interesting flowers or growths coming out the trunks.

Flowers growing out of tree trunks

Closeup

The growths are all over the trees.  They could possibly be some other parasitic organisms 

After our hike we motored True North a few miles south to Hazard Bay where we were able to pickup a public mooring.  We went ashore to Yank’s Jetty which is a site where the Americans supplied warships from during the Second World War.  It was also used to demagnetise the ships hulls to lessen their danger from magnetic mines.  The dock itself has suffered damage since my last visit with one of the spans of the bridge from shore to the dock missing and several piles installed at the end of the floating pontoon to secure it more securely.  We went ashore and snorkeled around the dock where a lot of fish and some good coral structures could be found.  The best coral was found growing on the old remains of the WW II dock scattered on the bottom just south of the current dock.  Once back ashore we discovered a new trail recently completed by the Queensland Parks.  They did a great job with the trail which took us up to WW II ruins and then to a lovely lookout before looping back to a campground and the beach.

A view from the lookout with True North moored offshore

Another view from the lookout towards a mangrove area

Yank’s Jetty


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