Lizard Island


Wednesday April 27

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We left on Virgin to Cairns at 9:15am - rescheduled from 12:30pm a few days prior - this suited us just fine. The plane was half-empty so we each had 3 seats all to ourselves. We arrived at our hotel, the Pullman Reef International around 12:30pm and were able to checkin straight away. We dropped our bags and headed to Hemingway’s for lunch - best pub in the southern hemisphere.

After walking around a bit we went back to our hotel to settle in and have a rest and showers before going to Coco’s, the restaurant in the other Pullman (international) right across the road for dinner. It was a bit chaotic due to lack of staff but they comped us our wine - with Accor half-price dining the whole meal was $60.

Thursday April 28

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Off to Lizard Island today - we arrived at the East Air terminal at 10am as requested - one hour before the flight and about 45 minutes too early. There were only 2 other guests on the flight plus a few staff. We were met on arrival at the airstrip for the short buggy ride to reception. Since it was now 12:30pm we headed straight to lunch. The main dining and bar area are lovely. After lunch we were shown to our villa - a garden view suite - which had amazing sea views - a great choice on Dieter’s part.

You don’t need to walk around much to see why the island is call Lizard - there are many of these handsome creatures all around.

We settled in, unpacking and susing out the resort before showering for dinner.

Friday May 29

We had a dinghy reserved for 9am but alas it was cancelled due to high winds so they dropped us at Watson’s Bay beach for some snorkelling. The coral was excellent and there were many giant clams. When we got out of the water an off-duty staff member on the beach pointed out a school of reef sharks chasing bait fish right near the shore - some were up to 1 meter. 

Back at our villa we cleaned up our gear and showered before heading off to lunch. We lazed about in the afternoon then had dinner - we opted for an early dinner as we were planning to get up at 5am for the hike to Cooks’ Lookout.

Saturday April 30

My alarm went off at 5am but since it was still very dark we stayed in bed a while longer then set out around 6am for the hike. It takes 15 minutes to get to the start then another 20 minutes to get to the “real" start of the ascent which is at the far end of Watson’s Bay. The whole trek, reaching 370m above sea level should take 3+ hours return. It was extremely rugged and very steep and hairy in places - it took us about 2 hours to reach the summit (from our villa) - we, me in particular, were exhausted on reaching the lookout - which has wonderful views. I signed the guest book and we headed back down as it was blowing a gale on top. We had the great idea to radio the beach hut and ask for a dinghy pickup at Watson’s Beach cutting about 20 minutes off the return. We got back about 10am and probably could have squeezed in breakfast which goes from 7-10am but Dieter fell in the water getting out of the dinghy so we returned to our villa to strip off wet clothing. After a brief clean up and showers we settled for a couple of Nespresso’s.

Since we were both really tired from the hike we put other strenuous activities on hold - focussing on eating and drinking and wandering around the resort for the rest of the day.

Sunday May 1

Ah a bit of a sleep-in this morning - after a couple of Nespresso’s we went for a leisurely breakfast. We spent the morning snorkelling at Anchor Bay right in front of the resort - easy access right off the beach and good coral and lots of fish. Then it was back to our villa for showers and gear clean up which takes longer than the snorkelling.

We spent more time sitting on our terrace gazing out to sea and watching our local birds - 2 fly eaters named Lizzie and Leo who seem to spend most of the day sitting on a particular branch with constant quick swoops to catch morsels of flies, etc. There are also 2 yellow humming birds twittering about - at one stage they took turns sitting under a dripping pipe and grooming themselves. There are also Pied Imperial Pigeons - zipping around - common at Lizard from late August through April - so they’re about to head off for points unknown.

After lunch which wasn’t quite up to the usual high standard, we got a dinghy transfer back to Watson’s Bay for more snorkelling on and around the giant clam garden. It was low tide so had to circle the reef but saw lots of fish.

Then it was home for showers and gear clean up then onto dinner.

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Monday May 2

Last full day on Lizard - a bit of a slow start - still quite windy so a ride to Mermaid Beach looks iffy. We snorkelled at Wilson's in the morning and off the beach in the afternoon. With lots of eating and drinking in-between. At Watson’s we saw 7 green turtles just cruising around - not shy at all - they were pretty large about 1/2 meter in diameter. The previous evening a huge super yacht named Redemption, arrived - perhaps some Russian Oligarchs looks for refuge - it was still there in the morning but left later in the day.

After our final snorkel Dieter checked Google at my request and found that Lizard is a “crocodile hotspot” with National Parks working to relocated troublesome ones. Fortunately Fango et al have kept off their radar.

Tuesday May 3

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So time to go - at breakfast there were a few items missing from the menu (in particular the fruit plate) - we were advised on asking that the barge was due in that day - not a 10 out of 10. 

So we lazed about, had lunch and left on the 3:30pm flight to Cairns with taxi tansfer to our hote,l the Pullman Reef International. We had dinner at Hemmingways which was “perfect”.

© Patricia Schafer 2022