We took the dinghy ashore after breakfast. It was soon after low tide so we went in quite slowly but there was plenty of water. There is a lovely sandy beach with a picnic table and toilet, behind which a path heads off to the other side of the island, which is quite high and steep.
The path was quite well marked with red and/or white tape on trees and bushes. Most of the way we were in bush but near the top it opened out into grassland. There were spectacular views at the top, back towards Little Pioneer Bay where Jasmin was on a mooring and both north and south to other islands.
After a few minutes admiring the sights we turned back down the track. A while later we felt we had got lost, since we couldn’t see any of the marker tape. Angela stayed next to the last tape we could see while Julian went around the various tracks until he found the way. After that it was straightforward to find our way back.
We saw some superb examples of the orchids we are growing at home plus a number of interesting bird nests. There was a small bird (sunbird?) working very industrially at one of them, flying off to another tree repeatedly to bring something back. We weren’t sure if it was building the nest or bringing food back to something in it.
We returned to Jasmin (a lot quicker since the tide was now in) in time for lunch, after which Angela went for a sleep. The sea breeze had come in while we were on our walk and came in strongly by around 2:00pm. It was from the N/NE and we found that a swell as wrapping around the island such that our previously sheltered mooring was now in a washing machine. We motored over to the mooring closest to the shore on the other side of the bay and couldn’t believe the difference – there was much less wind and the water was nearly flat.
We did a couple of odd jobs during the afternoon but otherwise took things easy reading our library books. Our main exercise was doing our best to reduce the marsh fly population.
Angela cooked spag bol for dinner while we watched and listened to an impressive thunderstorm on the mainland. It gradually worked its way out to us but didn’t bring a lot of wind and there was no rain.
We watched this bird industriously fly back and forward from its nest 
Angela enjoying a rest at the lookout 
At the top of the walk, looking south at the east side of Orpheus Island 
Looking back down to Jasmin on the mooring 
The trees gave way to cleared grassland as we approached the top. It was still a steep climb though 
We thought our orchids at home were growing well, but this put things into perspective! 
A beautiful bird’s nest had been built on a native orchid 
Ruins of the Shepherd’s Hut, dating from early European settlement.
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