Day 3 - Wednesday...Lizard Island...

On Tuesday evening, we arrived at Lizard Island. This island is considered the most northerly resort island of significance on the Great Barrier Reef. It was named by Captain James Cook in August 1770 after the large Monitor lizards that inhabit it. The island has 24 beaches. This pricey resort is the only life that lives on the island...http://www.lizardisland.com.au/ and apparently is often visited by royalty and movie stars.

After dropping the anchor, we saw several large fish swimming around the boat, as they were attracted to the lights of the ship. We even saw a very large shark, which some people said was a sleeper shark and a fish that literally glided across the water for at least 10 seconds! It was pretty exciting to see!

Steve woke up bright and early and watched the sunrise on yet another beautiful day. Everyday was hot and sunny. We didn't see any rain the whole week, which is very lucky considering that it is not only the rainy season there but also cyclone season. Turns out the bad weather was around Brisbane and caused many beaches to be closed and serious flooding in several areas. A good week to be away on holiday!

The sunrise.
I met up with Steve on deck at 5:50 a.m. to go catch the 6 a.m. boat to the island. We decided to brave the 2-3 hour hike to the top of Lizard Island, which left early to beat the heat. Captain Cook climbed to the top of the island twice in one day, in order to see a way to get his ship, "Endeavour" out of the maze of reefs that surround the island. The hike was a tough one and even at 6 a.m., you could already feel the hot sun!! The view from the top was worth the effort though and the ship gave us each a certificate for completing the difficult hike.
Our ship, named "Reef Endeavor", which was built specifically for the route that it does.
The start of Cook's Look track.

A few pics that were snapped along the way to the top.

We weren't sure if this was many worms or one big one...

This is where Captain James Cook would have planned his escape from Lizard Island. We sailed with the Captain Cook Cruise Line.

At the top...
Our ship looked very little from way up there!

We spent the rest of the morning snorkling and relaxing on Lizard Island. Steve took these pics with the camera in the waterproof bag, so even the land ones are a little fuzzy.

Steve started to get a tummy ache while we were at the beach and by the time we got back to the ship, he was quite sick. Turns out there was a nasty stomach flu going around the ship and he caught it! 3 other people got sick the same day and a few others the next. The crew said that it was a 12 hour bug and they were right, he felt much better by the next morning. Crappy that he got sick, but timing wise it wasn't so bad. We had already seen Lizard Island and I quite enjoyed a lazy afternoon and evening.