We left Fitzroy heading for the reef. The trusty spinnaker giving us a good pull, saving our fuel yet again. We went past Green Island which was very busy with tourist boats. Apparently there is an aquarium there. Then a narrow passage marked with buoys took us into the centre of a whole complex of reefs and sand spits. For this part we dropped the spinnaker. After the narrow buoyed passage we were in effect in a lagoon area which we crossed to the far side, our destination, Michaelmas Reef. When we arrived we were quite surprised the reef is full of nesting birds. Although it is a bird reserve tourist boats visit and land on the tiny island with the birds reeling over head. There must have been about 200 people on the shore. Surprising really that the birds haven't migrated elsewhere. The last time we saw so many birds was on the Chesterfield Reef. We were the only people there. The only boat. There again the Chesterfield Reefs are in the middle of the Coral Sea between Australia and Vanuatu, so are a bit off the tourist route.
Here tourists arrive in large high powered catamarans. Small tenders are left on buoys by the reefs to convey the tourists ashore. They have about an hour or so before being counted back on board and rushed off to their next destination. However, by 3pm they have all gone, and the reef and the birds are left to themselves. Only two other boats remained overnight. We got out the dinghy and snorkeled some of the reefs here. The fish are remarkable, but as often in Australia the tour companies feed the fish to enhance the tourist experience. The coral displays were excellent. The photo shows one of the giant clams that can be found off the island.