Once we cleared Cape Melville, we were able to bear off enough to improve the comfort level aboard considerably. We made it to Lizard two hours before our original estimate.
We had been to Lizard Island before in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid epidemic. Our Remote Communities transit pass was unequivocal about how we were not to go ashore then. This time, we started with a snorkel to the northern wall of Watson’s Bay, which we both recalled as being our favorite before. It seemed even better than we had remembered.
Plenty of giant clams
In the morning, now that we were allowed to land, our plan for the day was to walk to Lizard Island’s highest point, Cook’s Look. We understand it is just short of being able to be classified as a mountain. It seems poor Captain Cook spent almost as much time climbing hills as he did sailing. It was at Lizard (named because lizards were the largest fauna he saw) that he finally spotted Endeavor’s escape from the reef at what is now known as the narrow Cook’s Passage. Ironically, after finally escaping the clutches of the reef, Endeavor was faced with trying to beat into the heavy seas of the deep ocean to stay clear of the reef to leeward. After a couple of harrowing days of edging ever closer to the breakers, they finally reentered the safety of the flat water inside the reef at what he dubbed Providence Channel.
A nice hike from the beach to the top of Cook's Lookout
From Cook’s Look, the Cook Channel looks like a narrow sliver through the various Ribbon Reefs. Maryanne and I enjoyed the cooling breezes of the trade winds up there before descending back to the beach in the lee of the island.
When we got there, Maryanne revealed to me that she wanted to now go see the marine biology research station on the other side of the island. I had been pacing our drink supply to get us out to Cook’s Look and back. Now our bottles were empty. Well, the walk was flat. Why not?
Walk through the paperpark swamps to the other side of the island.
It turns out there is not much shade on Lizard Island’s paths at solar noon. Also, a lot of them are hard-going sand.
The first half of that part of our day was okay, but the rest of it could well be classified as a slog. We arrived to find the research station unoccupied, apart from its two caretakers: Ruth and Arthur. The rest of the occupants were on hiatus until the wet season ends. The caretakers were very nice. Arthur showed us around and answered all of our questions intelligently. Most of the specimen tanks were empty, but he did show us around to the station’s giant new solar farm and lithium-ion storage bank. Oh, what we could do with just one of those panels and just one of those batteries. My very favorite part of the tour was the water fountain with a little tap for pouring ice-cold water into water bottles. We filled and drained each of ours twice and then took a third fill for the road.
At the research labs, we were given a nice welcome and a tour by Arthur and Ruth (the current caretakers)
The walk back didn’t seem nearly as arduous as the walk to the station now that we were fully hydrated. We took a route that passed through the island’s ridiculously expensive resort. Rooms start at $3,000 per person per night. Even though we thought we may get booted out for not having a jacket and tie, we decided to see if we could get overpriced umbrella drinks at the resort’s beachfront bar.
Alas, it was shut, so we will never know. As we were leaving the resort to return to the beach and Begonia at adjacent Watson’s Bay, we were passed by a vehicle. Most of the resort’s vehicles are electric golf carts carrying staff that are always friendly. This particular vehicle was a full-sized SUV with windows tinted so dark we couldn’t even see the driver. How strange, I thought. What possible use could such a vehicle have here? There’s only two miles of roads. As it passed, we saw a sticker on the back – The House.
Ah! That explains it. The House is the resort’s most expensive property. It goes for $38,000/day. I’m not sure if that is also per person or not. The car seems to be included, as is I’m sure at least a chef and a few cleaning staff. I suppose the Nicole Kidmans of the world are probably sick of having even the $10,000 a night crowd interrupting their dinners and fawning all over them. There’s a lot to be said for our $0 beach.
Back across the island well in time for sunset
When we got back to the bay Begnoia was anchored in, we met Rick, and one of the other owners of Luminel: Dave. Even though we were pretty tired and grubby, they insisted we stop by for a look after freshening up. Wow. Their boat, a Bahia 46, was so lovely. It was basically on the same layout as Begonia, except that all of the dimensions are 20% bigger. That 20% makes all of the difference, since most of it is in the form of better storage with easier access. They don’t have to sleep on their engines. I would have happily gone for a trade, but then I realized their mainsail alone must weigh a hundred kilos, so maybe not. Still, it was niiiice inside!
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