Great Barrier Reef - Lizard Island

Remember at the beginning of my story when Captain James Cook ran his ship aground on what he thought was rock but was, in fact, the Barrier Reef? After weeks of repairing his ship, Cook searched for safe passage north. He sailed to Lizard Island, anchored off in one of the bays, and hiked up to the highest point, now called Cook's Look, on the northeast of the island to find a way out of the reefs.

Cook was responsible for naming Lizard Island. As you may have guessed, the only land animals he saw were lizards. There are 11 species of reptiles on the island. The most common one is the yellow-spotted monitor, seen wandering around the resort area but found all over.

Lizard Island is the northernmost and last resort island in the Barrier Reef. It is wonderfully pristine with crystal clear waters and an impressive 24 white beaches to frolic on. At the southern end is the deep Blue Lagoon encircled by fringing reefs and three smaller islands.

While Lizard Island is a fantastic haven to escape, it also holds some sad environmental events. Over the last six years, the island has been impacted by coral bleaching four times. Coral bleaching is a result of zooxanthellae being turfed out by polyps when they are under stress. When water temperatures rise, the zooxanthellae produce too much oxygen which the polyps cannot handle. When the zooxanthellae have left, taking the colour pigment with them, the polyps turn white, hence the term bleaching. Polyps can live without zooxanthellae for a short time, but without their food source, they eventually starve and die.

Halfway between Seabird Islet and South Island is a spot illustrating the effects of coral bleaching. Mounds of staghorn coral are devoid of colour, unlike the giant clam right next to it. Some of the Acropora gemmifera, a type of stony coral near the clam, are almost fluorescent purple. It looks stunning and is easily considered healthy, but the colour is a protein released by the coral acting like sunscreen against rising water temperatures. It’s like its final stand.

Some of the coral at Lizard Island have an opportunity to recover and repopulate, provided the weather conditions remain within a reasonable range. Only time will tell.



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Great Barrier Reef - Waddy Point

On the northeast coast of Australia lies the largest living structure on the planet, the Great Barrier Reef. Located in the Coral Sea, it stretches over 1,200mi (2,000km), and its width is between 37-155mi (50-250km). Made up of over 3,000 individual reefs and more than 600 islands, the Great Barrier Reef is so big that it can be seen from outer space.

The first European discovery of the Barrier Reef happened by accident in 1770. Captain James Cook was on a secret mission to explore Australia's east coast when he crashed his ship into solid rock only 12mi (19km) from shore. Cook and his crew scrambled throughout the day to plug a leak and save the ship from sinking. Fortunately, high tide on the following eve dislodged the boat from the rocky ledge back into deep water and sailed into safer waters for repairs. Cook didn't know at the time that the solid rock was a coral reef and that he stumbled on the Great Barrier Reef.

Thirty-three years later, Englishman Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Australia, and while sailing through a collection of reefs on the northeast coast, he promptly named it the Great Barrier Reef. It is a suitable name since the outer reef that sits on the edge of the continental shelf acts like a barrier, protecting the mainland from powerful waves and storms from the Pacific Ocean.

Aside from protecting Australia's shores, the Great Barrier Reef is an exquisite marine environment teeming with all kinds of fish species, colourful corals, lush rainforest-covered islands, shallow aquamarine waters, sandy shoals, and plenty of shipwrecks. It is also home to the "Great Eight" living icons: whales, manta rays, clownfish, turtles, potato cod, giant clams, humphead wrasse, and sharks. The reef is such an extraordinary place that it is Australia's tourism crown jewel and has earned its position on the:

● UNESCO World Heritage list;

● Seven Natural Wonders of the World list; and

● Australian World Heritage site.

Beginning at Waddy Point, a rocky headland on Fraser Island, I head north and start my long journey through the Great Barrier Reef. I look forward to island hopping and underwater exploration, swimming with dolphins, and checking out green sea turtle nesting grounds. I look forward to learning about the Traditional Owners and the impact of climate change on the reef's health. I am very excited to see what wonders the Great Barrier Reef holds.



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Road to Hana - Wailua Falls

With the hairpin turns ending in Hana this next stage of the journey is a little more straightforward with a few gentle curves along the east coast of Maui. A slight detour for more beach opportunities are presented with either Koki Beach for surfing and views of Alau Island in the distance or Hamoa Beach further south that is great for bodysurfing and views of a row of pine trees on Maka’Alae Point.

The pine trees known as Cook Pines are endemic to New Caledonia but have been cultivated around the world including Hawaii. First classified by naturalist Johann Forster, the pines were named after Captain James Cook whom Forster joined on the 1772 round the world voyage. A quirky phenomenon about the Cook Pines is their lack of upright growth and rather obvious tilt. Looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the strange aspect of its lean is that those cultivated north of the equator such as Southern California tend to lean southward and those cultivated south of the equator such as Australia or New Zealand tend to lean northwards. It seems depending where they are planted, they lean towards the equator. One particular tree in South Australia slants at a 40 degree angle.

With no shortage of waterfalls on the highway, Paihi Falls comes into view very close to the bridge. Tucked in a concave position, dense vegetation obscures it coming from Hana until pretty much located on the bridge. It is so close once seen you could almost reach out and touch it. At 50ft (15m) tall regardless of whether it’s a light trickle or full the waterfall is a pretty sight as it falls along several narrow rocky ledges to the pool below.

A quarter of a mile further (480m) is the scenic 95ft (29m) drop at Wailua Falls. Visible from the road, a better view is a short hike to the falls’ base to watch the upper section plunging halfway down onto a rocky ledge before fanning out slightly to cascade into the swimmable pond.



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