“Are you off to the Lizard?”
The pilot introduced himself in the lounge of the Hinterlands air charter service in Cairns and gave us safety instructions. We lifted off the tarmac with heavy rain pounding the windscreen in front of the pilot and no visibility out of the windows to our sides. Twenty minutes later, we emerged into clear skies. The lapis lazuli of the sea below was punctuated by the mottled green, brown, and blue turquoises of the Great Barrier Reef.
An hour after departure, the pilot banked the plane around the largest, tallest island that we had seen on the flight, then landed it on an incongruous asphalt runway running through the tropical landscape. For the next four days, various weather forecasts came and went, but the weather remained ideal for our purposes: no rain and smooth seas.
We snorkeled, boated in small skiffs, and hiked as our mood directed. One afternoon, we were taken to a stretch of the outer reef for our snorkeling; on another, we trolled with lures for fish, landing three. One of the catches turned out to be as much of a battle as I could handle after part of the butt of the rod snapped; after which, I had to push down and pull back simultaneously with my left forearm to stabilize the rod while maintaining pressure on the fish, a giant traville. The next morning, I found bruises along my left forearm from internal hemorrhaging of muscle (I bleed more easily now that I have to inject myself each day with a blood thinner, Fragmin, as a prophylactic measure against formation of blood clots).
Our room (no. 3) was set on the highest point of the resort. Its open balcony’s view of the resort’s anchorage had just about every element other than snow-capped mountains that one could put on a wish list: elevation; a view through tropical foliage swaying in the breeze; a small island; a few boats at anchor; a crescent of white beach; a rocky promontory at the far end of the beach. Lying in a hammock, I was so tranquilized by this view and its associated sounds—rustling leaves, splashing surf, bird calls and echoes of bird calls—that ambition and restlessness left me: I would hold a book in my hand without raising it to my eyes for minutes on end.
The resort on Lizard Island accommodates up to 80 guests; during our stay, there were, including us, between four and 14. The quality of the food and wine was excellent, and the level of service, given the ratio of staff to guests, extraordinary. So we experienced one of the wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef, under idyllic circumstances. Lizard Island was a very good place to celebrate Susan’s birthday, on one of four of the best days of our lives.
