Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds has nothing on the birds of the Chesterfield Reef. We took the dinghy ashore and walked along the reef to the small sandy islets. Birds wheeled overhead, like a swarm of bees. The most aggressive of the birds perhaps unsurprisingly were the smallest. The frigate birds soared overhead with their red throats puffed out. The male frigate bird puffs out a massive red throat pouch with the hopes of attracting a mate. He who has the largest red throat wins. Booby's sat on nests made in the sand totally unconcerned at our presence, while their furry young sat in the bushes awaiting feeding. All of these islands are home to thousands of sea birds. We didn't want to disturb any nesting birds so we retreated back to our dinghy.

The next morning we saw large tracks up and down the sandy beach - nesting turtles. Sadly we lifted the anchor and carefully motored across the reef to a narrow channel on the Western side. We slipped through the reef which divulged even more beautiful blue green lagoons on the Western side, hoisted the spinnaker and set sail to Australia.