Lizard Island

Our small plane took off from the runway at East Air terminal at Cairns and climbed up into the clouds which were obscuring the view of the reef below. But not long into the flight, the clouds began to dissipate and it was revealed as hundreds of little islands and atolls scattered along the coast in the sparkling turquoise sea.

Viewed from above, the repeating slices of reef stretching south to north at regular intervals looked like grains of rice lined up on a turquoise field. From up there, it is readily apparent why this natural marvel is called the Great Barrier Reef, each piece forming one small part of the 2300 km long reef shielding coastal Queensland from the vast Pacific Ocean beyond. As our flight continued, we could not stop smiling with glee.

The view was spectacular and paradise was not far away. I think there is something about a tropical holiday that brings joy in a way that no other type of holiday does. The sun and sand, sunny days, blue skies, swimming in clear water, cocktails on the beach and warm evenings. It’s the perfect kind of holiday to relax and we were really excited for our four day tropical getaway.

Flying above made me realise, for the first time, the true scale of the GBR. Despite reading the statistics and hearing the oft repeated factlet that it’s the world’s largest living structure, and can be seen from space, I had not really appreciated the scale of it until that moment. We flew for an hour from Cairns to Lizard Island, covering only a small stretch of this natural wonder of the world.

As our plane landed on the airstrip we could see a small contingent of hotel staff waving at us from the side of the runway, amusingly reminiscent of the welcome scene in season 1 of The White Lotus. After receiving a cold towel to refresh our face, we were taken in a golf cart to the hotel lobby for champagne and a three course lunch.

After champagne, cocktails and a long lunch, we were taken, again by golf cart, the short distance to our room where on arrival we were delighted to find that we had been upgraded to the plunge pool suite. When booking the trip I had really wanted to book the room with a private plunge pool but couldn’t justify the extra cost, and so we were incredibly grateful for the upgrade and made the most of it, having a dip at least twice a day every day during our stay.

We spent the first afternoon with a bottle of champagne by the pool, dipping in and out to cool off, and photographing the different birds that came to the trees around our bungalow as dusk approached. There was a beautiful rose-crowned fruit dove that would appear on the branches above the pool every afternoon at around 4.30pm to collect twigs, presumably for a little nest it was building.

After enjoying the sun set, we walked over to the restaurant where we had yet another delicious three course meal. The meals at the hotel resataurant were excellent, with each meal having seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes to choose from. Although, we were always a little disappointed by dessert, which the chef seemed to decide needed to always be light and fruity. We thought a little chocolate would’ve gone down a treat.

The next day we hired a dinghy to take to Mermaid Beach, which was located on the west side of the island, about a 30 minute ride from the hotel beach where we collected the dinghy. We were told by lots of the staff that this is where we would find the best snorkelling on the island. We were lucky it wasn’t windy and so we were able to go.

We picked up our dinghy - LIZ 4 - from the Beach Club, and it was already packed with a picnic lunch, cold drinks, two beach chairs, a cabana, beach towels and our snorkelling gear. Despite having good weather, the open water still seemed choppy for our little 4-stroke and so we were relieved when we got around the point and entered the calm bay of Mermaid Beach.

There are few parts of the Great Barrier Reef that still look like this; a dense underwater garden of brightly coloured corals and schools of fish darting in and out of their hiding holes. It was spectacular snorkelling and we felt so lucky to experience the reef looking like this.

Sadly, much of the reef doesn’t look like this anymore and instead, has been bleached from years and years of warming, with mass bleaching events occuring in four of the past seven years. And although the last few years of mild summers improved the levels of coral cover in some parts of the reef (including at Lizard Isaland), there are fears that the expected El Niño weather pattern for this summer may undo the recovery.

After our snorkel, we ate our picnic lunch on the beach and then rejoined our dinghy to explore another beach on the east side of the island called Pebble Beach. The water was so clear and as we pulled up towards the shore to anchor, I spotted a small manta ray gliding beneath our boat. Besides the ray, we were alone on the beach. We spent an hour or so swimming and snorkelling, enjoying the seclusion of our own private bit of paradise.

Later that afternoon we dropped the boat back to the Beach Club, enjoyed a stroll down the beach and a couple of cocktails as we watched another beautiful sunset before dinner.

The following morning we woke up a little earlier so we could go on a hike before the midday sun was too hot. After a quick breakfast, we left the hotel and followed the path towards the Cooks Look track which would take us to the highest point on the island. It was a steep climb and carrying all the camera gear made it a little harder than we’d been expecting, but in under two hours we were at the summit. From there, we could see the whole island, the airstrip a prominent line across the south west corner, and the reef encircling the island.

We stopped by the restaurant for lunch when we got back to the hotel, by now realising we could not eat a three course meal for both lunch and dinner, and so satisfied ourselves with a main dish only. We then headed back to our room to change for our afternoon sea darts experience. We were a little apprehensive, never having used sea darts before, but it turned out to be fun, even if a little uncomfortable.

The darts are like small jet skis that you hold out in front of you to propel yourself through the water. In the end, I decided I preferred the slower pace, and stillness, of snorkelling. But we were able to explore lots of different parts of the reef around the island. The highlight for me was seeing the sea turtles.

I left the sea dart to bob along beside me while I floated above the turtles, so effortless in their movements through the water. After enjoying some peaceful minutes in silence we continued on to the clam garden, where we saw a puffer fish and rare giant clams, their enormous shells opening and closing in slow motion, as if inhaling and exhaling a deep breath.

Feeling quite cold by now, and our body aching from holding ourselves over the sea darts for over an hour, we decided to head back. But on the way our guide spotted a grey nurse shark, lying still on the sand at the bottom of the reef. She took our GoPro down for a closer look:

That afternoon we spent some time walking along the beach and the boardwalks around the hotel looking for birds.

We’d been trying to find a pheasant coucal to photograph, which kept proving to be elusive each time we had our camera out. We found a small snake along the way, and were just about to give up and head to the bar for an evening cocktail when we spotted one and just managed to get a half-decent photo before it took off again.

While we were enjoying our drinks at the bar, someone else ordered cocktails to go, and deciding that was a brilliant idea, we did the same. Some minutes later we were down at the picturesque Sunset Beach, with our take-away mai tais, truly feeling like we were on holiday.

We arrived with time to set up the tripod and take a few photos as the sun was starting to sink toward the horizon, casting a beautiful orange glow across the water. And as it started to set in earnest, we sat on the cool sand and drank our mai tais until the first stars appeared.

Dinner that night was another delicious meal, and we went all out with three courses, champagne, cocktails and wine to make the most of our last night on the island. (Still no chocolate for dessert though.)

And after a leisurely sleep in and our last breakfast, we were back at the airstrip to take the tiny place back to Cairns, and to leave paradise behind.