23rd Oct 2017
Hi there Family and Friends,
Well if yesterday was special then today was magnificent to say the least. We arrived at Chesterfield Reef at about 0830 – look it up on GoogleEarth. It is a vast reef arrangement about 67nm long by 38nm wide containing a huge lagoon about 45m deep pretty much in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It has a variety of sand cays scattered around its perimeter and we are nestled in a group of them in the SE corner. Arriving in light wind we had men up the rat line scouring the horizon for land and surf – Cam gave us the ‘Land Ho’ signal first.
What hit us first was the absolutely iridescent turquoise water over the white sand as we approached the fringes of the lagoon – so much that any birds flying by with white underneath actually glow turquoise – we even saw clouds with a turquoise underside. We have decided that the most appropriate term for the colour is “Turquidescence”.
– Sea snakes in the water.
– Black tip reef sharks, chased by our most wild hunters with spears and clubs.
– Bright red hermit crabs hiding in the shade of anything they can find, in large groups.
– While snorkelling we spotted fish of all colours including blue, yellow, striped yellow and black and bright coral trout.
– And we found gorgeous complete Nautilus shell. A couple of other things to note:
– Cam is wearing a custom built ‘holiday shirt’ which was lovingly crafted by Suzi from two sarongs from Kupang – West Timor.
– Rob caught a decent Frigate Mackerel (a small Tuna) which has incredible red flesh – we enjoyed wasabi sashimi and curried fish, courtesy of our galley legend Gwylim, for dinner as a result.
– At sunset, we enjoyed some spectacular crepuscular rays and enjoyed learning a new word and a new nickname for Ray.
– We also enjoyed briefing Rob Latimer with a taste of the details of the day and our hopes for him to have a good day in the office, we received a one word reply……..
We will be hanging here for some exploration and relaxation and some jobs tomorrow before heading SW for SYD the following day.
Wishing you were here,
Jonno [Photos kindly provided by previous visitors]
Wow
Wow that sounds like an absolutely amazing place to experience! Thanks for sharing and the great photos.
Great description… what a an amazing experience!