More glorious sunset view from Lizard Island...

Day trip out to Mermaid Cove

Woke up much later today at 8am+ and headed for breakfast before jumping onto our dingy (boat) to head off to nearby islands and beaches for more snorkelling. I honestly cannot get enough of it.

We decided to head off to Palfrey Island coastal first before launching off to Mermaid Cove next. Its about 30mins away even though they seem so near. As you sped off into the sea area, one could see the different dark patches scattered near the shallower waters that indicates a good coral ground.

Each snorkelling takes over an hour. The current near Palfrey island was much much stronger since it wasnt sheltered by any mainland so it takes more effort to swim against the current to the coral spot. The sun was shining high noon sun and it was blistering bright. No matter we had fun. After my jaws started to ache from the mouth tube, we decided to take a break and move on to the next spot.

Steering the dingy is fun except it gives my hand the unwanted vibrations from the motor. It took a little accustoming since we had to be careful to slow down and avoid hitting any corals that may be higher than the rest with the motor engine as we enter and leave any bay.

As we enter the serene bay of mermaid cove, we were treated to another unspoilt and private empty beach to our delight!

As we camp off at Mermaid Cove, we saw our first monitor lizard for the trip. Which is considered amazing since Lizard island as the name itself is self explanatory, we should have seen more which we didnt on the main land. We tried to grab a closer shot but it scurried away and nestled itself into the greens and so we left it as that. Instead, we channelled our renewed energy attacking our packed lunch, wolfing down every bit of it being careful not to leave any bits for the birds.

With our food source energy replenished, we jumped back right into the sea and again the sealife was amazing! It was even better than other spots we have seen! Plus being sheltered, the sea surface was much calmer and condusive for us to snorkel. Its amazing seeing all the colours of the corals, and multi coloured fishes "standing" vertical and having other smaller fishes nibbing at them, cleaning their scales and gills. The fish actually looked damn shiok and satisfied! Somewhat the contented feeling liken to someone cleaning the inside of your ear for you.

While we were out there, the staff made their usual boats rounds of all the beaches to check we are all ok at all the spots we had informed them

By the time we head back the main island by the curfew 4.30pm, we were dead tired. We decided to postpone tennis and fell into deep siesta slumber.... It had been another great day!

Down at Cod Hole

We signed up for a full day trip out to Cod Hole. They got us a great fishing boat Facsination III as the diving boat was out for repair.

It was a long way out and what made this place special is the Potato and Camo' cod! The Cod Hole was first made famous by Rod & Valerie Taylor. I saw so many giant potato cods (up to 30kg) and my husband doing the dives even get to feed them out in the sea. You do not feed food directly from your hand, in case you get bitten. You have to rem these are HUGE fishes with SOLID teeth attached. So instead, a containter with holes at 4 sides are used where you can stick your hands within the container as a shield and distribute food from there. The sea current will sweep the food out and attract the cod.

It was amazin at how tame and subdue they are! If they come close enough, you can even gently pat them on the sides or under their chin, which apparently is their favourite part. However, never stroke a fish on the top as they might extend the fins and slash your hands if they felt spoked.

The Ribbon Reefs run parallel to the coastline and offer a huge range of stunning dive sites. As these reefs are visited by fewer operators then the outer barrier reef and as such are in pristine condition. The nemos and the corals were amazing! As I was the 2nd to get down while the rest made their way slowly, the guide in water pointed out the 2 black tipped sharks beneath me. These sharks are pretty harmless and doesnt attack human, well normally at least unless provoked. It was amazing! I wished they would surface closer since they were much further down but well, one has to be content that they are not in captivity to do our bidding. By the time the rest of the 5 people got into water, the sharks swam off. Lucky me!

There were plenty of

• humpback warsse,


• trigger fishs,


• Clown Anemonefish


• ribbon worms,


• trumpet fish,


• Emperor Parrot fish,


• rabbit fish,


• butterfly fish,


• damsel fish


• Blue-spotted fantail ray


• Barramundi cod


• Potato cod


• all assortment of corals


• HUGE cods etc etc all over me.

I got to touch the blue starfish, as well as a SUPER HUGE sea cumcumber probably the length of my arm and fatness of my 2 hands put together. I simply couldnt name them all offhand! U name it, I probably saw it! A pity I didnt get to see any turtle this time but to be expected as the water was pretty choppy the day we were out. However, the corals were every bit bright and colourful as one would expect from Great Barrier Reef!


All the senior americans and the malaysian girl was clinging on to ONE Buoy. I didnt know why people who are not comfortable with open water sign up for such activities. The poor guide had to look after the 5 of them and dragging the buoy with them along. This time, the malaysian girl got herself a long float tube and while she rested on it, she refuse to budge from the buoy for others who need to occassionally clear our mask, and relieve our cheek from the mask pressure due to the water conditions. To me, having been out jumping in and out of water non stop for a week back snorkelling with the whales before in worse sea conditions, this trip was truly child's play. So i decided to just stand water and clear my mask.

The idea of snorkelling is that you have to "surrender" yourself completely to the water and trust your body and legs (and flippers) to do the work. By floating and your face submerged into the water, you wont be able to sense the water choppiness, and most of all, you hear nothing except the serenity of the animals in the their coral home. You simply just float and the flippers and hands movement to guide and change direction. With the water pressure againist your face, and without much facial movement, a good fitted mask will not fail you and water will not seep in.

However instead, most of the people in the group that day choose to treat the ocean like pool water and tried to wage their personal challenge againist the current by treading water, only popping their head downwards where the guide pointed to them. With such a vertical posture, of course all seawater are splashing against them, and into their tube. With such a huge vertical body and water resistance, it was only tougher on them trying to stand than flatten their body out on the surface. Some didnt even know they need to clear the hair out of their mask so that it doesnt break the vaccum mask seal. So all they do is complain their mask is leaking water.......

For my water comfort level, I had to thank my mum for showing me that my body could float on water when I was really young. She used to bring me out to the pool often, and she asked me to trust her that my body would float with my face facing up. The initial reaction had been panic, distrust and chocking on water when i struggled with my mouth opened in protest. When I finally got the hang of it, it was easy. I couldnt even remember what it was i had initially feared about. All i had to do ocassionally was to fan my hands under my back to keep my upper body afloat. So till this day, after every lap swim, I still do a short water body float facing the eve or morning sky to unwind and block out all the noise.

Only the other American teenager girl and her dad was able to swim comfortably on their own, and she was pretty much out wandering with me most times, away from the crowded buoy. She was really good and at ease and I couldnt be happier than to snorkel around with her.

I reckon the resort should have done a "water comfort" survey before hand and gauged the necessity for a 2nd staff in water if the majority were not strong swimmers. That would have given us a better deal in the water, instead of having to babysit the weaker ones. Still, I expected they had assumed there wont be too many stupid people out there risking it. What can i say?

In any case, it had been a good day, until I got a little queasy from the rocking boat. They didnt have motion sickness pill and the rest of the group was taking forever to board.... so i threw up my greasy mushroom sausage breakfast and fed the fishes a small treat. You should have seen them jumping all over the surface for a grab of it...

At that precise moment, I couldnt decide what was grosser, my food regurgitation, or the fact that all the fishes were enjoying gobbling down my puke...

(Note: "All Photographs displayed are courtesy of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)

About this girl on the trip...

On my first afternoon on the island, I jumped into my gear and headed straight for the beach to snorkel after lunch. It was a perfect sunny day with 33 degrees and nice breeze! The waters was suppose to be about 26-27 degrees, pretty warm out in the sea!

My husband went off seperately for his diving refresher, while I went to look for a guide to show me the snorkelling sites near the resort.


While waiting, a Malaysian girl with her Caucasian boyfriend was also there signing up for some other activities and rental of gear. The reason I mentioned this couple was the fact that we found her really truly one of those superficial people, which is strange because typical Malaysian girls are so unlike her. I think I can say that especially when I have Malaysian cousins and friends. I can only attribute to the fact that she was working in London with a good investment bank and so she had it in her head that she is better than everyone else there, plus she is with a white boy.

It didnt occur to me at first the sort of person that she was, until we were in the waters. On the land, she was constantly flirting with the male staff, braying her laughters and exclaiming with pride about her "lzay" eyes when renting her mask. I had lazy eye too, and i honestly didnt see what the fuss and highlights were about.

Then I quickly realised her lack of sense while the staff and I had to wait 30mins for her to remove her contact lens and change into her swim wear. HALF an hour for her to unbeautify herself for nature activities. Now why would she bother to come to the sports center to do activities all deck out in makeup and beauty fashion gear is already unthinkable. To top it with contact lens was the cream. Whoever had heard of divers and snorkellings attempting sea activities with contact lens?

I noticed her freezing friendliness upon introduction. Her Brit boyfriend was much nicer and warmer, normal I should say. Perhaps she didnt like possibility of Asian competition to show her up.

When we hit the waters after her long drags, she claimed she had done snorkelling and was able to swim. Yet, she whine and complain about the mask, without being able to accurately pinpoint what was wrong. She wasnt even able to breathe through the tube.

She said she felt the water was getting into the mask, which both myself and the staff couldnt see a droplet inside. So the staff had to get out of water 3 times, to the beach house and get her either a new snorkel tube and 2 masks. There, she wasted another 20mins of my time. I gave up and started snorkelling nearby on my own. She wasnt too pleased when she obviously saw that I had more fun than her, seeing all the fishes and spotted rays before her.

She requested and said there should be a " snorkelling vest" to keep her afloat which the resort didnt have and quite frankly, unecessary in my opinion because your body naturally floats in sea with flippers. There, I made up my mind that she is a complete fraud and B.S. Why did she even want to pretend she could snorkel was beyond my sane comprehension.

Finally, Dylan the staff had to make a final 4th trip to carry a safety buoy out with us because the malaysian gal simply wasnt comfortable in water. She Clinged on to the buoy for her dear life, even on waters where we could stand up straight in shallow waters. I think Dylan realised finally he had held me up and we made a quick swim out to open waters. I was marveled by the colours beneath me! I could hear the parrot fish munching on the corals and there were 1m to 2m in width CLAM all over!! They had velety protuding parts in beautiful greens, blues and browns!

Finally it was 5pm and we had to head back after an hour. I could see the relief in the girl's eyes. While I had been happy to swim off myself and saw many things, she was panicking too much to enjoy her day. When we made it back, Dylan congragulate us and I think in being nice, he said both of us were great out there! He smiled at me and I think we both know the comment wasnt exactly true for the other girl.


No matter, the girl decided that because of her own incompetence and inadequacy, she will ignore me for the rest of the way which I found her strangely amusing. However, she didnt stop to balatantly laughed like a donkey with the rest of the MALE staff.

After I had washed up and toweled dry, I told my husband about the girl and he agreed with me about her being a typical poser, thinking she is better than the rest. The funny thing I realised later was that while she claimed that she has mild lazy eyes and perfect vision on the other, it hit me what a lie that was. Which also explains why she kept quiet and didnt say a word when i was making a conversation saying that I shared the Lazy eye trait too.

For those who isnt aware, someone with lazy eye including myself, didnt need glasses or contacts at all if we have perfect vision in the other. Our perfect eye will auto compensate the flawed one, giving us vision just like someone with perfect vision. While I could say that comfortably for an impair vision up to 400 degrees. Which was why I had never needed glasses except that I prefer to wear it during reading and computer. Yet for the girl, it appears she couldnt see much without her contacts. Why would anyone brag and lie about some minor thing reflects much about her state of mind.

Well, we will see how the next 3 days will be like and hopefully we wont see too much of her then...

Lizard island

Lizard island itself was fantastically beautiful, tranquil and serene. Indescribable peace, especially MORE so considering they have a no children and babies policy. (Silent yahoo!!!) So if u have young kids in tow, this isnt the place for u unless you can offload your little joey to someone else during your break.

This is one added reason for me, that before you have finished seeing parts of the world that you desire, don't have kids yet. I am sure parenthood has its share of glory and fun or whatsoever people try to convince me, but call me selfish, I like to rough it out first and hold off boring disneyland, universal studio or sedate kids farmland tour for another while longer. I look forward to the awaiting peace in this oasis for now.

Lizard island is surrounded by many small private beaches pockets and smaller islands that we can grab a dingo and set sail to. We are also fortunately circled by many parts of corals and variety of fishes. I didnt know if 4 days here are sufficient but I think it should. Everything on lizard island is already pre-included into the cost of hotel booking (A$1100/pernite), with exception to sea excursions and extremely premium wine,spa and retail apparels. Otherwise, food, cocktails, wines, juice, barfridge, picnic baskets, dingos, tennis courts etc are already expenses included in the package. I dun drink so i guess I lose out pretty much in terms of cost but if I care about such details, I wont be here now I suppose.

The Anchor bayview suite we got was a good size with our own verandah to sip tea while watching the sun glows in the sunset. Being part of conservative land, that means that the place is buzzing with wild life and untouched, unspolit floral and faunas. While I sat on my verandah, little birds settled comfortably next to me and look at me hopefully for scraps of my delicious brownies... which i had to hardheartedly decline the little birdie.

This little bird perched below my verandah is a funny one. It eyed me as i unpacked my gear out in the verandah. When it saw my brownie in a transparent box, i positively imagined its eyes widen in excitement :) When i pop back to the room to grab some tea, I l left the brownie box at the foot of my snoozing husband out there. I returned in a minute and was amused at the little birdie pecking industriously at my box lid trying to eat the brownie, completely ignoring husband presence. It prob recognise that snoring means "no danger". When it saw me, it hesitated and as I stood still closer it, it jumped off the verandah. I guess for once, I looked more "dangerous", compared to my bigger male counterpart with facial stubs:)


The birds watched you as you eat your lunch in the greenery facing the sea. The cheeky ones will try to venture close to peck at food on the table given a chance which of course we shoo them away. I do not find them an irritant, but rather I am sorry to tempt them with our food while they share their space with us. Plus it is OUR duty not to feed wild animals and birds, because we SHOULDNT domesticate them and break their natural feeding habits. Mind you, these birds are persistent. They do swoop in so quickly that before u can turn your head, they would have flown off before you and appear from behind!



The sunset is pinkish violet hue more than the orange I am accustom to. No matter, its pretty. I love the natural quietness. On our first night, there was a blackout during the end of dinner. For that 10minutes, I had the best silence except for the insects cricking away and gentle waves towards the rocks and shores. The sudden change impressed upon me how "noisy" the low humming of electricity and lights were. Being thrust into sudden nature's peace with no man made noise, I felt like it was a paradise beyond words. Everyone took in silence and enjoyed the moment while it lasted. The power trip was a gift to me. It enhanced and imprinted the power and beauty of nature on all of us there.

Only that I didnt see much sunset during my stay because if I wasnt out doing something, I would be dead tired and unwinding in my bed, catching a well deserved snooze.



Sometimes it annoys me a great deal... that People often forget, it is us beings that intrude into their homes on land and in sea. We should co-exist in peace but yet often than not, we often callously shoot and spear animals or sharks to death in the name of serving justice....when in truth, its only because of our own stupidity not to exercise greater caution in the realm/ habitat of wild animals and sea life. If u ask me, I think while not all, many a great number of those injured by sharks, crocs, snakes etc probably rightly deserved it...

Anycase, the island is so goregous and the staff are so friendly and warm. Its nice to have someone rem you by your name and chitchat like a cosy community. There isnt television in the rooms except one to share in the communal guest area near the pool. There is however a radio, cd player, and an ipod connector in each room which suited me just fine. I have never been avid TV addict so my ipod was sufficient to recharge me. In addition, the days are so packed that I hardly had anytime to watch any TV. All the unwinding will be done at the restaurants, or lounge area and of course, spa massages for the fatigue muscles.

In all my excitement, I unpacked all my snorkelling gear for the short snorkelling refresher later after lunch at 3pm. The water was warmer than expected so I didnt needmy wetsuit at all!! Thankfully, I had my O'Neil top with me! I have never been more pleased with myself than this moment in my foresight.

To Lizard Island (Cairns) we go!

We took a bus transfer that took us from Cairns domestic airport to the Hinterland plane air strip. We were gonna board a small 10-12 sitter plane as below.

The ride to Lizard island was kinda bumpy, so being in a small plane and flying at lower altitude, my ear was piercing with unrelenting pain from the pressure. It's almost like someone was stabbing your eardrum with a sharp needle non stop for good 10mins that felt like eternal hell as far as i was concerned... My ear has not hurt like this since decades back when planes still had to land at the steep quick landing at old HK airport...

Yet the view was breathtaking. I was caught in heaven and hell sensation, with awe at the splendid partial barrier and lizard island view before me, intermixed with complete agony from the pain from the depths of my ear... I guess for every beauty before me, there was some price to be paid....