Today we were excited to be visiting Lady Elliot Island, on the southern tip the Great Barrier Reef. It's 80 km away from Bundaberg and is reached by air in a small fixed propeller plane and this in itself was an adventure. When you land on the island the runway is just grass so bumpy!
Flying down we could see the glittering white beaches and green interior - it's an eco resort so all about giving sanctuary to the marine life and protecting the coral. We had an orientation session then got on a glass bottomed boat.
Soon we were seeing lots of exotic fishes large and small and even a turtle. There's coral of all types and colours too. Next we put on our snorkeling gear and swam off the boat. What we could see was an amazingly rich underwater world! So many fish in electric colours and also sharks, luckily vegetarians in this case. After about 30 minutes we went back to shore for refreshments. The island is very noisy with prolific bird life and you have to watch they don't steal your lunch.
After lunch we walked to the lagoon which was at low tide. It was beautiful being on the pristine beach but so hot in the sun.
We decided it was time to get in the water again and did another snorkel session - it's spectacular seeing sholes of tropical fish swim just beneath you and we saw several more shark.
Sadly it was time to leave the coral beach and grab a quick shower before boarding the plane - even smaller this time and only 4 passengers - here the pilot is lowering the steps for us to board.
As we flew away we got great views of the island and took away memories to treasure. This island is fully protected and 1200 species flourish here - such a gem with great staff - what a dream job!
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