Our Day in Paradise began on a rather painful note – a 3:15am wakeup call for our 6am flight to Cairns. It was a sleepy bunch indeed who gathered in the hotel lobby for the last time, but we were all hardy professionals and ready for our next adventure
Uneventful 3 hour flight to Cairns, the principle city in Northern Queensland. This was my 3rd time to visit but didn't have a chance to see more than the airport until Sunday. A transfer driver took us to a small private hanger where we boarded a Cessna Caravan 12-passenger plane.for the 1 hour flight to Lizard Island. Dave Thomas is our tour director. None of us thought the 2 pilots were out of high school as questioning looks shown on our faces but they proved extremely competent.. It was raining when we boarded the plane, but soon the rain stopped and dark gray skies started to give way to blue skies.
The Great Barrier Reef is truly one of the great wonders of the world. Stretching some 1600 miles and covering 133,00 sq. miles it is located on the Coral Sea off the northeastern coast of Australia and is the world's largest living reef. Looking down at sections of the reef was an incredible sight.
About noon we landed on Lizard Island. The resort is the only property on the island and is Australia's most northern island resort. It's famous for both diving and game fishing as well as a luxurious resort..
A friendly staff from the resort greeted us with cool fruit drinks and/or sparkling wine which is ever present in this country. I've recommended Lizard Island to clients over the years and was excited to have a chance to see it for myself. After a quick tour to the villa Kate and William would have occupied had they chosen Australia for their honeymoon, we were more than ready for a delicious lunch and, naturally, more wine.
The resort is set on a broad sweeping stretch of beautiful beach along Anchor Bay, and I could walk right out from my patio to this beach (above view is from my patio.) This luxury resort is all/inclusive with a staff ready to bend over backwards to insure their guests lack for nothing.
By now the early morning was taking its toll and I fell into bed for a brief nap. We had been invited to take a sunset cruise so I changed out of my warm traveling clothes and hurried down to the beach to join our group on the boat. The weather was beautiful this evening and nothing could have been more pleasant than cruising in and out of various bays while sipping (yes, more)) champagne and snacking on Australian and New Zealand cheeses. The sunset was beautiful and the perfect culmination to our first day in Paradise.
Linda
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