Small ship cruising review with photos on the Coral Princess II

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Sorry about the typos last night...I was so tired! I really do know the difference between threw and through...honest! Now names instead of "named" I have no explaination for. :o

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Okay we are all back on the Coral Princess II and starting to make our way back north to Cairns for Monday mid day.

 

We were told we would have "Sundown Sippers" on location so we enjoyed the ride, the sun, afternoon tea and the pure relaxation:

 

 

About 5:00 the boat anchored and we could hear the boat lift putting the glassbottomed boat in the water and saw the zodiac being lifted down from the top deck too. We had reached our destination of Orpheus Island National Park.

 

Orpheus Island lies off the north Queensland coast, 110 kilometres north of Townsville and 45 kilometres east of Ingham. Access is by charter or private boat.

 

An announcement was made that we were supposed to be on the dock, called "Yanks Jetty" but repairs had started so we would have to settle for the beach...hard life, I know.

 

Yanks Jetty is so-called because it was originally built as part of a degaussing (demagnetising) station during WWII. There is story that General Douglas McArthur used the idyllic setting as a love nest for trysts with local girls…

 

I don't know about that, but it is beautiful so I guess it is possible. Irrelivant fact still talked about apparently. But with all beauty in Australia there is a risk. We were told to watch out for cone shells that get washed up onto the beach. Now, cone shells are beautiful, but the molluscs that make them are predators which eat small fish and suchlike creatures. They sneak up on their prey in a slow and snailishly sinister fashion and then from the narrow end of their shell gradually extend a proboscis, at the end of which is a tiny harpoon with which they inject venom into their victim. They don't distinguish between human and other creatures so if you pick one up expected to get hurt and they are toxic. Just a friendly reminder.

 

Hard to remember that when we were faced with the golden glow of the sun setting in such a setting as this:

 

Over in the glass bottomed boat we go with Anna and Alice who would be setting up the bar for the "sippers" part of the agenda:

 

I swear I did not photoshop these pictures. It really did turn this golden with the setting sun:

 

 

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It was magnificent! We walked up and down the beach before anyone was even interested in the "sipping" part!

 

Day 4 - Monday March 31: Fitzroy Island & Cairns

 

Sunrise this morning was 0623 and sunset was 1820. This was the last day of of our first segment and the first day of our second segment of this voyage. 26 passengers were to depart (all except DD and I) while only 16 were boarding.

 

Itinerary for the day:

 

0700 Continental breakfast and hot breakfast in the dining room

 

0800 Transfer to Fitzroy Island for a rainforest walk to Nudey beach. We were welcome to snorkel from the beach or just relax. This beach is made of coral rock rubble so footwear is required.

 

10:30 Transfer back to the boat and return all snorkeling equipment to the back deck (except for DD and I)

 

11:30 Lunch will be served in the dining room. Leave packed luggage out front of your cabin for the crew to prepare for disembarkation in Cairns. Please note, that the cruise attendants may start to clean your rooms at this time, but the rooms are yours until disembarkation.

 

12:30 Group photo on the upper deck. Bring your cameras and smiles!

 

Since DD and I were continuing on we would just walk into Cairns upon arrival and spend a few hours.

 

But I get ahead of myself! Fitzroy Island is a national park and is of great spiritual significance to the Gungandji Aboriginal people who live on the mainland. They believe that during the Dreamtime a person named Gulnyjarubay came to the area and named the island Gabara meaning 'the fist'. It was a way of saying that the arm and the wrists had been submerged and all that was left was 'the fist' standing up out of the water.

 

Captain James Cook named the Island in 1770. In 1876 Fitzroy Island became a quarantine station for Chinese people heading to the Palmer River goldfields, and in the early 1900's was the site of an Aboriginal mission where fruit and vegetables were grown. Fitzroy Island has also been used as a pearling base and in WWII as an artillery gun base.

 

Since it wasn't long past high tide, the beach was very narrow for landing and the coral rubble was thick so footing was a bit tricky. Since everyone else was dressed for their travels we all decided on the rainforest walk to Nudie Beach.

 

The name quite alarmed DD who thought we would have to take off our clothes. Alice told her it doesn't mean "that"...but the we later learned differently. I guess Alice was just trying to make DD feel better and knew that at this hour it was doubtfull to encounter anyone practicing the name of the beach in real life.

 

 

A view along the walk...it wasn't a hard hike, but it wasn't easy either!

 

 

But very worth the effort!

 

We collected real pumice stone here that had drifted ashore. Once I told the other ladies what it was they all went home with a "piece of the rock".

 

Alice just sat on a rock and let us explore the beach area. We knew enough by this point to not venture into the water without stinger suits.

 

 

Along the hike:

 

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We received a letter in our cabin that told us exactly what to do as guests that were staying aboard. We were told to reboard by 4:00 for a 5:00 departure.

 

So as all the staff lined up on Trinity Warf in Cairns to do a "receiving line" for the departing guests we said 'see you later' and walked into Cairns to hopefully find some free WiFi (the only reason to go to McDonalds) and try to connect with DH and DS back home.

 

It was another hot and sunny day and all the back packers were using the WiFi at McDonalds but I did try for over an hour. I could get a message out but no photos and I did that by signing on as a tourist to the Cairns Community WiFi. Mission accomplished. We did a bit of shopping and DD bought ice cream, the essential food in the tropical climate.

 

We boarded the boat on time and sat in the top lounge with our new companions for this leg of the voyage.

 

There were a few less crew members and some had shifted. Our itinerary for the last part of Monday included:

 

Cairns and Double Island

 

1700 Safety and trip briefing in the top lounge

 

1800 pre-dinner drinks in the bar.

 

1845 Alice will present tomorrow's activities

 

1900 Our wonderful Chef Roberto has prepared seafood buffet (this was the only repeat on the dinner menu).

 

Double Island was on view throughout dinner but I didn't get any photos as I was eating (sorry). We did not anchor overnight, as is the custom, as we would be steaming overnight towards Cooktown.

 

But I did get a photo of it while riding the Skyrail a week earlier from Cairns up to Kuranda:

 

Then the internet allowed me to copy a few more views for you:

 

 

North Queensland is, today, a veritable jewel in the Australian crown. The Cairns region of the GBR is widely regarded as providing the best opportunities for reef viewing. This is because the outer reef is much closer to the coast and the water depth is much less. This makes it quicker to get to the reef and ideal for viewing the reef by snorkelling, diving or glass bottom boat.

 

Captain James Cook certainly left his mark on the region. The Low Isles, like so many of the islands in the region, were named by Cook as he continued his fateful voyage North. The extensive sand cays and robust mangrove woodlands of Low Isles are protecte and under control of the GBR Marine park Authority so there can be no collecting, fishing or spear fishing.

 

When Captain James Cook sighted the offshore Hope Islands he made the fatal decision to sail further offshore, thereby becoming wrecked on Endeavour Reef. having past the two small Isles earlier he named them "Hope", as he was hopeful to be able to reach them after running aground and taking on water.

 

 

Cook found navigating through the reef to be extremely frustrating and many of the names he gave to points, mountains and bays reflected his mood at the time. The Cape adjacent to Endeavour Reef he named Cape Tribulation and the mountain behind it he named Mt. Sorrow - in all it was not one of his most enjoyable voyages.

 

Here is Cape Tribulation beach, taken by me a week earlier when DD and I did a 13 hour tour from Cairns up to Cape Tribulation and many places inbetween. This day was also a highlight of our trip:

 

 

Captain Cook is a main theme for Tuesday with a visit to Cooktown and the museum named after him.

[RuthC]

Sorry about the typos last night...I was so tired! I really do know the difference between threw and through...honest! Now names instead of "named" I have no explaination for. :o

Normally I have no trouble with those multiple spelling words, but I see the wrong one used so often on CC that I have come to doubt myself. I knew what you meant.

 

Now "names" and "named" is easy: just a typo as the two letters are next to each other on the keyboard.

 

Still loving your posts about the cruise, and am opening every single link to the pictures. They are lovely scenes.

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oh my...I spent an hour doing up my first post on Cooktown and somehow CC lost it. When I pressed "submit" I was told I hadn't logged in and I know I did as I posted on a roll call. When I logged in I was told I had already logged in and to hit the back button....only to find the whole post gone.

 

No time to recreat it now...sorry, I will try to redo it over lunch.

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Back on track, I hope. I just wrote this in Word and cut and pasted it into CC to save time.

 

Day 5 – Tuesday April 1st, Cooktown and Lizard Island.

 

A confession – I don’t have the Tuesday edition of the “Coral Sea News” so I guess you will have to put up with my memory! It is either that or wait until I find it but I didn’t figure you would want to do that. I don’t usually lose things but our house is rather upside down at the moment with a few projects going on and international visitors arrive in 2.5 weeks.

 

Tuesday morning we did not awake to the sound of the anchor being raised, the only day on our week long voyage for this to be the case. We only heard the anchor because of our cabin location; people on the middle deck said they never heard a thing. We had sailed all night and arrived in Cooktown while we ate our breakfast, before 8:00 in the morning.

 

DD and I were anxious to get to the museum as we had been hearing so much about Captain James Cook since arriving in Cairns one week earlier. We couldn’t escape that nearly nothing in Far North Queensland avoided being named by him, even if a prior name existed. This area was no exception. His ship, The Endeavour, was badly holed on the reef (now called the Endeavour Reef) off the coast from Cape Tribulation. Cook made his way further north by jettisoning everything and anything of any weight in the hope that making the ship lighter would allow it to float off the reef in high tide. They also tarred one of the sails and wrapped it over the outside of the ship in hope of plugging the hole. The effort paid off and the ship found an inlet that is now the Endeavour River and is currently the location of the coastal township of Cooktown. Except for the fact that a large piece of coral (found lodged in the ship’s hull) helped plug the hole in the ship, this story may never have made the history books.

 

The crew spent seven week repairing their ship and it was here where the English crew experienced their first sightings of a kangaroo and also had their first contact with Australian Aboriginals.

 

Here is The Coral Princess II at the dock in Cooktown:

 

Yes, this is the whole dock!

 

 

 

It was a lovely bright and hot morning and there was nobody around, or none that we could see. We got a map from Alice on our way out and started our walk. According to the 2011 census, Cooktown has a population of 2,399, but none were up and about on April 1st by 8:30 anyway. It was a ghost town.

 

Hard to imagine that that Cooktown was once the second largest port in Queensland and boasted a population of 30,000 people with 94 licensed purveyors of booze and 163 brothels. Today the township has only two or three hotels where it had over 30 during the gold rush. DD and I did notice more than usual number of properties up for sale.

 

Never mind, it was a lovely walk to the museum. DD and I did it in a leisurely 15 minutes but I imagine if you really wanted to it could be done in 5 minutes.

From the ship you take a right, walk a few minutes along Charlette Street which runs along the river, turn left and the museum is located on the next block. Thing is, there is so much to see in the parks that run along the river!

 

Endeavour Lions Park, with toilets, BBQs and children’s playground is the location of this lovely children’s play facility…a musical ship!

 

DD went in it and everything inside is musical. Since the evening dew was still quite thick on the grass and there was a deep ditch I took her word for it and I don’t have any photos of the inside. But DD played everything and I can say that I wish more parks around home had such structures, but I don’t think it would survive our northern winters.

 

A bit further along the path is a monument to Captain James Cook himself.

 

 

To the right of it is a replica of one of the Endeavour’s cannons that were found on the reef.

In 1969 researchers, using a magnetometer to scan the reef in the area shown on Cook’s charts discovered the six cast iron cannon. Invisible under two centuries of coral growth, underwater explosives were used to free the cannons from the coral. The wooden stocks, if they survived, were not retrieved.

 

In the same year, an expedition from the American Academy of Natural Sciences successfully located and raised the six cannons which are now displayed in London, Wellington, Philadelphia, Cooktown and two in Sydney (at the Australian National Maritime Museum).

So much information and we haven't even made it to the museum itself yet! Who knew I was such a history buff...DH must have rubbed off on me! He has his undergraduate degree in history.

 

Edited June 24, 2014 by 1of4

[1of4]

As you walk further up Charlette Street you get to Bicentennial park which holds both a life-sized statue of Cook himself and a cairn making the exact landing site back in 1770:

 

 

 

The site of modern Cooktown was the meeting place of two vastly different cultures when, in June 1770, the local Aboriginal Guugu Yimithirr tribe cautiously watched the crippled sailing ship limp up the coast seeking a safe harbour. The Guugu Yimithirr people saw the Endeavour beach in the calm waters near the mouth of their river, which they called "Wahalumbaal".

 

Cook, wrote: ". . . it was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, and it is remarkable that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place that our present circumstances could have afforded us the same relief".

 

The British crew spent seven weeks on the site of present-day Cooktown, repairing their ship, replenishing food and water supplies, and caring for their sick. The extraordinary scientist, Joseph Banks, and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, who accompanied Cook on the expedition, collected, preserved and documented over 200 new species of plants. The young artist Sydney Parkinson illustrating the specimens and he was the first British artist to portray Aboriginal people from direct observation.

After some weeks, Joseph Banks met and spoke with the local people, recording about 50 Guugu Yimithirr words, including the name of the intriguing animal the natives called gangurru (which he transcribed as "Kangaru"). Cook recorded the local name as "Kangooroo, or Kanguru".

 

The first recorded sighting of kangaroos by Europeans was on Grassy Hill, which rises above the place where the ship was beached. Cook climbed this hill to work out a safe passage for the Endeavour to sail through the surrounding reefs, after it was repaired.

 

Cook named the river the "Endeavour" after his ship, and, as they sailed north, he hoisted the flag known as the 'Queen Anne Jack' and claimed possession of the whole eastern coast of Australia for Britain. He named Cape York Peninsula after the then Duke of York

 

Cooktown has a public library, bowling green, swimming pool, golf and turf clubs, historic cemetery, Chinese shrine, James Cook Museum, Botanic Gardens with walks through to the beaches, the heritage-listed Grassy Hill lighthouse, and a new $3 million Events Centre next to the Cooktown State School, built to double as an emergency cyclone shelter for Cooktown. The Information Centre and an Environment Display are in Nature's Powerhosue in the Cooktown Botanic Garden. Charlotte Street is the main heritage precinct.

 

The front of the post office shows the history:

DD and I wished we had more time but we had decided before we docked that the Museum would be our focus of our time in port today.

 

Turning off Charlette Street you can easily see the museum on the corner

 

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Here is a view of the riverside walk along Charlotte St:

 

 

You can see squares in the pavement. There are all sorts of tiled "stories" for lack of a better word embedded in the path:

 

These picture tiles end in the Milibi Wall (Story Wall) which was designed and constructed by local Aboriginals, as part of a Gungarde project. It is a collage of Aboriginal art. The story wall is composed of three curved sections.

 

 

Getting back to the museum:

 

Here is a side view showing a bit of the newer portion. The museum has exhibits all around the outside too:

 

 

 

The James Cook Museum is operated by the Queensland National Trust and is regarded as the best regional museum outside any capital city in Australia. The building was erected as the convent of Saint Mary and was built during the gold rush era in 1888-9. This was the first high school in North Queensland.

 

During World War II, the building was used as a U.S. command post and the Sisters of Mercy were evacuated, never to return. The building fell into disrepair until 1969 when it was restored to its former glory and was reopened by the Queen in 1970 as the “James Cook Museum”. It was again refurbished in 1999 and now houses the anchor and cannon of the HMS Bark Endeavour and Chinese, Pastoral, Mining, and Indigenous collections.

 

The museum is a large, two story building located on Helen Street between Furneaux and Walker Streets and should not be mistaken for the Cooktown museum (privately owned) on the corner of Walker and Helen Streets.

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The museum doesn't normally open until 9:30 AM but as soon as they hear the Coral Princess II has docked, they open the doors. Since we had to be back on board by 10:30 we were very glad of this.

 

There are wonderful verandahs and porches on the orginal structre, but I can tell you, once inside those big double doors it was HOT with little to no air movement and it was only 8:30 in the morning close to autumn!

 

 

 

 

 

We paid our entrance fee and instead of climbing the stairs to the second floor, like most do, we were advised to start in the room to the right of the entrance. This made a nice progression through the history of the building and of Cooktown, itself. We later read in some of the exhibits that students were never allowed up the stairs, only the sisters. We also read that the sisters were not always kind....

 

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The museum was so interesting that we could have easily doubled our time spent inside. The first room we entered used to be used by the sisters as a chapel:

 

 

The next had a glass case of all the school related items plus around the perimeter of the room was all the mining information and articles.

 

The new extension across the hall houses everything to do with Captain James Cook and the ship the Endeavour:

 

 

 

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The anchor is HUGE. Logically I guess it would have had to been that large, but I had never thought about it before.

 

 

 

The canno'sn wooden base is a reproduction, but the rest was brougt up from from the reef where it had been thrown overboard in 1770

They even have the tree that the ship was tied to:

 

 

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The rest of the building was just room after room contianing the history of the area and how the building was used. Fascinating:

 

Looking out through the shades on the window above:

 

 

 

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View from upper verandah. This porch was accessible by 3 of the rooms on the front of the old building which were used as bedrooms by the sisters.

 

Our time in the museum was drawing short so we said good-bye to the nice woman who opened early for us and started walking back to the boat.

 

This is the view from the corner of the museam looking towards Charlotte Street and the river beyond.

 

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Our walk back to the boat took just as long, if not longer, as I took pictures of the town and more monuments.

 

I don't know if you will be able to read any of these, but I thought I would include them just in case:

 

 

 

 

 

[RuthC]

Those dolls are precious! I would love to see them in person. Not to mention I would love to get a close-up look at that china.

 

This truly was a most different type of cruise from what posters on the HAL board (the original home for this thread) take. It has opened my eyes to how different some specialty cruiselines can be.

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Those dolls are precious! I would love to see them in person. Not to mention I would love to get a close-up look at that china.

 

This truly was a most different type of cruise from what posters on the HAL board (the original home for this thread) take. It has opened my eyes to how different some specialty cruiselines can be.

 

I will look to see, Ruth, if I took more photos of the china as there was cabinets of it documenting the first white settler's lives and the items they used from household to medical and everything inbetween. I loved those dolls too but that was the only display - they were in what was someone's china cabinet from the early days. I thought that was special.

 

I do know that I have some china pictures from Sydney when we went to THE ROCKS's children's museum. Fantastic and something I would have walked right by if I was not with my Australian friend and her 5 year old daughter at the time. They were fragments and dishes found under the streets of the oldes part of Sydney.

 

I will put them on Shutterfly tonight and do a a reply on here with those pictures.

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I uploaded more pictures last night so this is Charlotte St, Cooktown about 8:30 in the morning:

 

We were walking in the same direction the car you see was going. Only a few blocks.

 

I posted the police station and bowls club yesterday, here are more of the buildings along the way:

 

Yes, that is a machine gun mounted on top of the welfare office...why...I have no idea.

 

But this building had the same thing. Must be left over from WWII:

 

Unfortunately, since we wanted to get to Lizard Island by late afternoon, there was no time to go in here:

 

 

The post office was open when we walked back to the boat though, I only stopped long enough to take this picture as DD was getting anxious about the time:

 

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Side note - it is getting very annoying that each morning, after I log in to CC, I do up a post and then get told I am not logged in and get kicked out. Luckily today I thought to copy and paste my post into Word first. Lucky for you this allowed me to see all my spelling mistakes. So a disclaimer: I am dyslexic and spelling was never anything to brag about. But please forgive me as I really try hard and do not see my mistakes.

 

Okay, that said, on with the post!

 

I am dedicating this post to Mary Watson whom I had never heard of before arriving in Cooktown but was about to be introduced to her over and over again during the following 36 hours.

Our first encounter with her was a sign on the outside corner of the James Cook Museum that said "Mary Watson's cooking pot used in her escape" or something of the like. This really did pique my interest in finding out more about her.

There, when you walk around the verandah is a...pot...no explanation at all. That didn't help me understand this woman's story.

Here is THE pot, which resides in the Queensland Museum in Brisbane:

 

 

Are you intrigued? I was. Then our second encounter with the name Mary Watson came when we were walking back to the Coral Princess II and on Charlotte street there is a white marble monument/drinking fountain:

 

Mrs. Watson’s Monument is dedicated to Mrs. Watson, who survived an aboriginal attack on Lizard Island, to die later on Number 5 Island of the Howick Group.

The wife of a beche-de-mer fisherman, Captain R.F. Watson, she remained on their fishing station with her infant son and two Chinese servants while he was away fishing. In September 1881 they were attacked by Aboriginals. One of the servants was speared, but Mrs. Watson and her infant son and remaining Chinese servant escaped in a boiling down tank to Number 5 Island. Due to dehydration, as there was no fresh water, they finally perished. Their remains, together with her diary, were found in 1882.

In commemoration of this event, this monument was erected and at one time was used as a water fountain for the people of Cooktown, so that everyone could re-hydrate themselves.

We will see more of Mary's story when we are on Lizard Island. I can't get over that she was only 21 years old when she died.

Below is a statue of "the miner" that commemorates the Palmer gold rush. Commonly referred to as "Mick the Miner", it was put in place on the 125th anniversary of the founding of Cooktown.

 

 

Back on board, DD could relax that we did not, in fact, miss the boat as she was telling me we were going to do as I was "taking too many pictures". I will certify that I was in no hurry and she can run much faster than I can, but we were in no danger of being late.

I can now say that I wish we had more time in Cooktown. For a small town it is very pretty and there is so much history. Next time, I tell myself, DH would love it here and we will get to go to Grassy Hills, back to the museum and to the other buildings along Charlotte St. I guess we better plan on a week!

Here is one final look at Cooktown as we pulled away from the dock on our way to Lizard Island, a place that I had on my bucket list since 1992 when I first learned of its existence.

A popular restaurant right on the dock:

The Endeavour River at Cooktown:

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We are still enjoying day 5! We had lunch and enjoyed just being on the boat while we made our way to Lizard island in time for a late afternoon swim in lipstick clam filled waters off of the island.

 

 

What is a lipstick clam? Well they are very large clams and their insides are too big to fully fit inside the shell so when they close itthey look like lips. They are brightly coloured but I could only find one good picture so here it is, these are turquoise

 

 

Beat took the divers to the Cod Hole while us snorklers enjoyed a late day snorkel off the glass bottom boat to see hundred of these clams and turtles!

 

We were in for another treat as the Captain Nathan was BBQing out on the back deck. Since there was only 18 of us on this trip a long table was set outside too with linen cloths and china and we enjoyed the company of guests and staff as we dined under the stars while anchored off Lizard Island.

 

I can not describe the sunsets. Each night during the 1 week voyage they were spectacular. Tonight was no exception:

 

 

Alice briefed us just before dinner on the next day's activities. We were invited to "Cooks Lookout" which would be a strenuous hike at 6 in the morning. Both DD and I wanted to do it but I knew I wouldn't be able to aymore. DD would not go without me so that was that, plus I didn't want to put Alice in the position of being responsible for a 12 year old.

 

We heard the glass bottom boat being lowered into the water the next morning so I knew some people had taken Alice up on her offer to stand where Cook did to review the reef and find a safe passage through.

 

For perspective, I copied this from a tourist website our cruise went as far south as the southern tip of Hinchinbrook Island and as far north as Lizard Island:

 

Lizard Island is uninhabited in the fact that there are no towns. There is a luxury resort and a research station so chances of seeing anyone else beside the people you are travelling with are remote.

 

Lizard Island is the northernmost resort of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef islands. With its diversity of landscapes, ranging from hills and brush to rain forests and the magnificent coral reefs that surround the coast, Lizard Island is one of the most beautiful destinations in all of Australia. Visitors to Lizard Island are treated to some of the best diving, snorkeling and fishing in the world.

 

 

These last two pictures I took from the web:

 

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Day 6 -Wednesday April 2nd: Lizard Island & Ribbon Reef No. 9

 

Sunrise: 0623

Sunset 1818

 

Itinerary for the day:

 

0500 Wake up calls for hikers

 

0515 Continental breakfast for hikers. Transfer to Lizard Island for the Cook's Look walk at 0545

 

0700 Continental and hot breakfast for the rest of us....

 

0800 Transfer across to Lizard Island for beach activities. You will be able to go on glass bottom boat tours, snorkelling with Alice and SCUBA with Beat. Alice will also take people on a walk down to the Watson's cottage area. Transfers back to Coral Princess II shall be at 1045 for an 1100 departure to Ribbon Reef Number 9.

 

1230 Lunch will be available in the dining room

 

1330 Join Alice in the Top Lounge area for a brief presentation on Aboriginal History in Australia

 

1430 We arrive at our first outer Great Barrier Reef location Ribbon Reef No. 9. Whilst here you can enjoy snorkelling, swimming and SCUBA with Beat and glass bottom boat tours with Alice. Assisted snorkelling tours will also be available.

 

1700 coral Princess II departs for our over night anchorage

 

1800 Pre dinner drinks will be available in the top lounge. At 1845 Alice will recap the day's activities and review tomorrow's itinerary.

 

1900 Dinner will be served in the dining room. After dinner please join us in the top lounge for a game of "Celebrity Heads".

 

Who wouldn't want to wake up to this:

 

 

I forgot to mention, the night before Alice and Anna conducted a live night fish feed. On the first day southern route we were on the lowered boat lift for this, standing in about 3 feet of water. This time we stayed on the deck. In fact, DD disappeared from the top deck lounge and I got a bit panicked as I didn't know where she was. I went back to our cabin looking for her but what happened is that Anna and Alice came and got her BEFORE they announced the fish feed, so she would get a great view before us bigger people came down.

 

 

Okay back to Wednesday:

 

Lizard Island lies about 17km from the Queensland coast, 93 km north east of Cooktown. This group of islands are the only high rocky islands situated close to the Outer Barrier Reefs and on the edge of the Continental Shelf.

 

For many thousands of years, aborigines canoed to Lizard Island from the mainland to collect food from the shores and shallow reefs. On the islands, extensive shell middens indicated the importance of this shellfish food source and are an accurate record of the long history the Aboriginal people have had with the islands.

 

Captain James Cook climbed the steep ridge to the highest point of the island as he had had enough of sailing through reef waters and must have been delighted when the views from Cooks Look showed him safe passage through the outer barrier reefs into the coral Sea.

 

In the 1870's, Robert Watson started processing Beche-de-mer or Sea Cucumbers on the island. The animals were collected on nearby reefs and boiled and dried at Lizard Island. In 1881 Aboriginals who may have felt that their traditional rights were threatened, attacked the settlers while Robert Watson was at sea killing one Chinese servant (there was just Mary Watson, her 4m old baby and 2 Chinese servants on the island at the time of the attack). Mrs. Watson fled the island in a Beche-de-mer boiling tank with her baby son and one other Chinese servant. They died of thirst after drifting for nine days. Mrs. Watson's diary of the ordeal is held in the John Oxley library in Brisbane.

 

 

The waters around Lizard Island (named by Cook because of the goannas and other lizards that live on the island) are the clearest I have ever seen.

 

The Cook's Look hike starts just to the right of DD

 

Edited June 26, 2014 by 1of4

[RuthC]

You sure do pack a lot of activity in a day. I'm exhausted just reading about it!

 

I forgot to ask one question about the Cook Museum (that's the one that once was a convent, right?)---is it handicap accessible? That looked like a lot of stairs heading to the door, and I wondered if there was a ramp somewhere, and if there's an elevator inside.

[1of4]

You sure do pack a lot of activity in a day. I'm exhausted just reading about it!

 

I forgot to ask one question about the Cook Museum (that's the one that once was a convent, right?)---is it handicap accessible? That looked like a lot of stairs heading to the door, and I wondered if there was a ramp somewhere, and if there's an elevator inside.

 

LOL - I think that is why nobody complained about lack of formalized entertainment in the evenings! We were all just too tired and very happy to go to our beds!

 

There is an elevator in the new section of the museum but I didn't see anyone using it and I can't remember now if the woman at the entrance said it was working or not. It would be worth asking. It is an old building and does have a step up/down to access different rooms.

 

Their website says it has disabled access:

 

Opening hours and visitor information

 

Opening hours:

Mon - Fri 9 am – 4 pm

Sat and Sun 9 am - 12.30 pm, 1 pm - 4 pm

 

Closure may occur during the wet season. Please contact the museum if visiting between October and March to avoid disappointment.

 

Entrance fees:

Adults: $10

Pension/Health Care Card: $8

Children: $3

Family: $23

National Trust Members: free

 

Special rates apply to group tours. Please contact museum staff for further information.

 

Facilities:

 

Disabled access

On street parking

Gift shop

Tea and coffee

Contact us:

PO Box 103

Cooktown QLD 4895

Tel: +61 (07) 4069 5386

Fax: +61 (07) 4069 6699

jamescookmuseum@nationaltrustqld.org

Edited June 26, 2014 by 1of4

[1of4]

What a beautiful day on Lizard Island. I was told by one of the crew on the boat that the weather on land has no bearing on the reef. They had seen a lot of rain in Far North Queensland the 3 months before we arrived. But on the reef, not one drop while we were awake.

 

Turns out the intrepid hikers did not get to Cooks Look as it had rained during the night and the path was just too wet to make it safe so they hiked over to the resort on the island and back. I could have done that! But I did it later.

 

 

I will never forget this island and I hope to make it back some day. The water was so clear and calm; the colours just like out of a fairy tale. Just an idealistic setting for a tropical escape.

 

 

 

We went snorkelling from the beach (in our stinger suits):

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2014 by 1of4

[1of4]

While I wanted to hear more of the Mary Watson story, DD did not. So the people who did the hike in the morning volunteered to keep an eye on DD (there were only 20 of us on the shore total, and some were diving, some were snorkeling and some were done and just going to sit on the beach). So I was convinced by Anna that it was okay and DD is 12 after all, so I joined the walk down to Mrs. Watson's cottage.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a freshwater stream in the area which is the only one on the island and the reason the cottage was located where it was.

 

 

I kept wondering...is this the last thing Mary saw as she was feeing the island with her baby and wounded servant: