Lizard Island

Tuesday, 13 September to Wednesday, 28 September 2011

We have heard so much about Lizard from various friends that there was a risk that it might not live up to our expectations. I am happy to say this was not the case. "Blizzard" Island lived up to its name for most of the two weeks we were there. I don't think the wind dropped below 25 knots in the first week. It didn't stop us enjoying what the island has to offer and we quickly got used to the wind.

We saved our first snorkel until the white caps had disappeared from the anchorage. The clam garden had huge clams, a range of different hard and soft corals and a wide variety of fish. We later snorkeled along the rocks, at Turtle Bay and on a very small bommie that must be the equivalent of Hong Kong in the coral reef world. The number of fish on a bommie that measured about 4 meters across was amazing!

There is a well behind the beach where you can pump good quality water that we used for washing and cleaning the boat. We also showered here after our swims to get rid of the salt. This meant our 690l of water lasted very well.

We walked to the Research Station and had a very informative tour and also walked to the Blue Lagoon on the southern side of the island. We watched the reef sharks stalking fish in close and admired the handiwork of some creative folk who had created a wind chime using bamboo.

One highlight was the climb to the top of Cook's Look where Capt James found a passage through the reef after repairing the Endeavour after previously running aground.

Hard work to climb the 359m to the summit but what a view!

The real highlight of the trip was the many interesting yachties we met at the 5pm sundowners on the beach each day. There was an average of 20 boats each night, but when the first weather window came after a week anchored, 10 boats left for Cairns. We elected to stay until the next window which was to be 10 days later. You need to have plenty of time available to wait for the right weather if you are going South. Print this post