Places to visit: Lady Elliot Island

We have just come back from spending 3 nights on Lady Elliot Island at the southern most tip of the Great Barrier Reef. The photo I took from the plane says it all, mostly.

We took a 30 min flight there from Hervey Bay which I understand can be extended to have a nosey at any passing whales during the right season. Flights also go from Brisbane, Maroochydore and Bundaberg. Unfortunately, when we went all the whales had finished their holidays and scooted off back down south until next year.

Lady Elliot is a great place to go if you enjoy:
(a) snorkelling or diving
(b) bird watching
(c) great food
(d) excellent friendly service
(e) getting away from it all.

Do not go to Lady Elliot if you don't like:
(a) Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"
(b) the smell of bird poo
(c) being woken up by screeching birds
(d) being crapped on from a great height
(e) being cut off from the outside world until your flight rescues you from the bird colony you accidentally had a holiday on.

Seriously though, I did enjoy my holiday in an eco hut. An eco hut is a part timber, part canvas construction with power, two sets of bunk beds and a polished wooden floor! This was the cheapest accommodation on special offer at $99 per person per night, including a glass bottom boat trip with snorkelling, buffet breakfast and dinner each day, but excluding flights.

I got quite attached to the little bird who was sitting carefully on her egg and quietly chirping to herself at the back of the hut. I found myself worrying that she was in a rather exposed place and I kept popping round the back to see if she was alright and whether her egg had hatched yet. It didn't hatch while we were there and as we were about to leave on our last day, she left her egg briefly to pop round to the front of the hut and have a look in through the doorway at us for a change.

On a tiny island surrounded by coral, Diver Dave was in his element, as you can imagine. Booking on for a dive seemed to be a pretty casual affair since the boat appears to go out just off the island four or five times a day so you can pretty much go whenever you want. I was happy just to snorkel and although I had my own gear, use of the resort's snorkel gear is free. Snorkelling through the coral gardens was beautiful. The local green and loggerhead turtles may not have been ready to come ashore to lay their eggs yet but they were certainly out and about in the shallow waters. I also saw cuttlefish, clown fish, reef sharks and an eagle ray. Diver Dave came back from his diving with photos of lion fish and eagle rays. Diver Dave's Dad, a.k.a. Not Diver Jim, was content with pottering about on the beautiful beaches and taking advantage of free tours around the island.

So all in all, a really enjoyable, relaxing and interesting trip that I can recommend. Just remember to bring a large hat!