We departed Cooktown with barely a breeze
blowing so initially progress was slow, but within an hour the wind had
increased so much we were at times travelling at ten knots. This meant we could
reach Lizard Island before sunset, so we bypassed capes Bedford and Flattery to
anchor at Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island. Captain was excited to catch a large
mackerel on the way, which kindly provided dinner for the next week.
There were already around 12 boats at
anchor and we discovered over the regularly held sunset drinks that many of the
couples visited Lizard Island each year, or regularly anyway. (This is an
unusual anchorage in which almost every boat has a woman on board!) Being quite
large, Lizard Island is an easy place to become entrenched, and it’s not hard
to see why some boats move in for weeks if not months at a time.
The island has a good supply of fresh water
via a bore with a hand pump so running out of water is not a concern, though
carrying it back to the dinghy inspires frugality with its consumption. At the
‘phone box’, about 200 m above sea level and around half way up the ‘Cook’s
Look’ trail (from the top of which Captain Cook allegedly found his route
through the reef to deep water) it’s possible to get up to three bars of
internet reception and make phone calls. So, isolation is not complete.
If fishing floats your boat you don’t have
to go too far to avoid the ‘green zone’ (in which it’s prohibited). We’ve also
discovered foraging to be rewarding as there is an abundance of bush
passionfruit, coconuts are available on the other side of the island and
delicious yams are plentiful in the swamp area. (They are tasty roasted anyway
– we’re yet to try other cooking methods.)
Snorkelling is a delight, with a variety of
corals and fish to be spotted on clear days with good ‘viz’. Matey is honing
her underwater photography skills with the Go-Pro. She is discovering close-up
shots work best though convincing the fish to pose for portraits is proving
challenging. We spent a night at nearby Eagle Cay and Matey was excited to see
her favourite coral-based friend, the Moorish Idol, once again.
Eagle Cay, the site of last year’s near
sinking of Ebb Tide (then Total Care) nearly took us out once again. Captain
wasn’t eager to leave the cay but with the tide going down and the wind
predicted to howl later in the day Matey had to hurry him along. While Capt and
Matey were ‘discussing’ mainsail raising and good communication the port rudder
became intimately acquainted with some coral, and the rudder shaft was slightly
bent. Of course, if you have absent-mindedly (!) drifted over shallow coral
with the sails up what better way to get out of it than sail over the top! With
Matey gesticulating from the front of the boat to indicate what she hoped was a
path over the deeper coral we managed to sail though without further incident
and be on our way. It’s at such moments one is reminded of the skill of the
crew of the Endeavour. We were convinced Ebb Tide must have suffered serious
damage and that we were jinxed at Eagle Cay, so it was a somber trip back to
Lizard Island. Miraculously though, after investigation back at Watson’s Bay,
apart from being slightly bent the rudder and its compartment seemed fine, as
is steerage. Matey can only hope the coral also was relatively unscathed by the
encounter!
Lizard Island has some memorable walks. The
Australian Museum’s marine research station is located here and they offer
tours on Monday mornings. It’s about 4 km to walk to the station over a sandy
4WD track. The beach route around the island is more pleasant if you don’t mind
clambering over rocks. Or, you can of course dinghy around. The tour of the
research station is informative and gives a sense of what is currently being
studied. It also highlights the very large gaps in our knowledge of many marine
species.
The Cook’s Look walk to the top of the hill
at around 350 m above sea level provides great views in all directions,
including of the Great Barrier Reef. There’s also a track across to the lagoon
on the southern side of the island, which is bordered by the smaller Palfrey
and South islands. The lagoon embodies tropical island paradise. From this
track you can also access a ‘trail’ (marked by the occasional blue thong and
sometimes evident by slightly trampled grass) to Coconut Beach, a south-east
facing windswept but beautiful beach. Accessing the beach requires scaling down
a long rock wall, aided by a rope and buffeted by the relentless wind, which
gives it a barren feel, yet the coconut grove and patches of lush vegetation in
this valley indicate otherwise. The fine grains of densely packed sand rival
Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays. We were warned at sunset drinks that
climbing down the rock face to Coconut Beach was challenging, but it was
definitely worth the effort and mild anxiety resulting from looking down.
The wind blows hard most days at Lizard
Island and Watson’s Bay beach is wide with a gentle slope so Ebb Tide is
anchored close to shore. This enables rowing ashore, a minimalist’s joy we’d
almost forgotten while anchored in the shipping channel at Cairns.
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| Beautiful friend, the Moorish Idol |
