Day 2: Happy Australia Day!!! Cook Town and Lizard Island!
Happy Australia Day!!!! Today was an Australian Holiday and the kitchen staff was preparing a special BBQ meal for us later on tonight. This morning, we went to Cooktown and walked around to see the sites. Since it was Australia Day, most of the people and businesses were not active. I made sure to bring my binoculars, because I had a feeling I was going to see many interesting birds! In the bay area, we could see different egrets along the shoreline and spotted eagle rays swimming in the shallows. When we walked around Cooktown, we got to see many interesting bird species like the rainbow lorikeet, friarbirds, Australasian fig birds, and honeyeater species, to name a few. We had a choice of visiting the museum or going to the botanic gardens. Of course, I chose the botanic gardens. When we got to the gardens, we saw many interesting trees and flowers. Also, it was good that I wore bug spray, because the mosquitoes were pretty thick in the forested areas. You could see Australian wildlife in the enclosure, but since it was a holiday, I guess the kangaroos remained in bed. The rainbow lorikeets and masked lapwings were very active and pretty to look at! On our way back, we passed a few memorials and statues before returning to the boat. Cooktown was a great place to visit! We only had a few hours to spend here before we move on to our next destination, Lizard Island!! Cooktown, Australia! There were many boats in port! The flora was amazing here!!!
On the way to Lizard Island, you could see the dune systems along the Australian Coastline. Some of the dunes were massive! During the trip to Lizard Island, I was able to look for rare ocean/ pelagic species of birds. There were shearwater species everywhere! During the travel time to Lizard Island, we had a small lecture about corals and some rest time. One of the small things people loved was the tea time. They had a large assortment of teas, coffees, and expressos people could try with a small cake or dessert. I was on the top deck reading a few books and watching the horizon for any potential bird or mammal species. The top deck/ bar/ library/ tearoom. Lizard Island Reef
Around evening, we got to Lizard Island. There was a thunderstorm over the mainland, so we only got to see a partial sunset. The water was perfect and very warm. We got to have our first opportunity to snorkel! Lizard Island Reef areas were amazing! They were known for having cuttlefish and giant clams. When I went swimming through the reef areas, I saw many giant clams! They were massive!!! With the giant clams, there were burrowing clams that were in the corals. Some giant clams were over three feet and were a couple hundred years old! They were very colorful. Mostly the insides of the giant clams were bright blue and green. I got to see a variety of fish such as triggerfish, chromis, sandperch, slingjaw wrasse, stingrays, and coral trout! Make sure to scan the open sand areas between the reefs, you could see a green or hawksbill turtle. Many sea turtles and cuttlefish love to swim in this water. Feather stars could be seen on many of the coral structures as well. Many of the parrotfish swim with you and were a little curious. One blue streaked cleaner wrasse was confused by my presence above his cleaning station. (Few snapshots of from the Lizard Island Reef)
After our snorkeling event, we got to relax and prepare for an Australia Day BBQ! We had many unique Australian foods including marinated kangaroo, which was actually really good. There were many unique fruits, sausages, and salads at the buffet line. The BBQ was amazing, and I got seconds. <_<;;; Outback by the stern of the ship, we got to watch the crew feed large fish. There were white tipped reef sharks, giant trevally, nurses harks, and mullet eating the small fish the crew was throwing out to them. It was a great evening for BBQ and to watch large fish compete over small fish. The nurse sharks were quite large and majestic when they swam through the water. Overall, a great evening!! Tomorrow, I will be waking up early for the Lizard Island hike!!
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 day ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
2 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
4 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.