Australia - Queensland - Great Barrier Reef- Morris Island

We sail in from the outer reef, we creep slowly in to a sandy cay; the brightness of the sandy bottom and light turquoise water is blinding. Before I can see all the birds ashore I get a whiff of guano in the air. Oh yes, the familiar sounds of chattering birds, smell of guano and piercing beauty of this little cay makes us very happy that we get to spend the night here. Having something to look at besides wide Open Ocean is a welcome sight for us.   This cay is home to a well-established field of Agave Sisal.  The Agave plants and a couple of coconut palm trees provides habitat for a number of roosting birds, Noddy’s, Terns, Gulls, and Oyster Catchers. A lot of the Agave plants were in bloom, a spectacular site to see so many blooming at the same time, its lifecycle ends after it blooms.

High Tide

Low Tide- People have seen crocodiles here before, we did not see any and didn’t chance going in for a swim

Noddys

Colony of Agave plants in inflorescence (flowering). Agave is harvested for its leaves, which produce fibers that can be used to make plastics, textiles and paper. Sisal rope is made from this plant.

Even when overcast with clouds it is still beautiful

We found dozens of cuttlefish bones on the beach; which are loaded with minerals and calcium. These bones float on the surface and naturally end up on the beaches. We collected for a friend who has some birds, thinking they might be useful. We ended up leaving them behind as they need to be steriled for safe use.

We walked around the whole island, it didn’t take long

The windward side had scores of rubbish, fishing nets, buoys, slippers, the usually flotsam