The Thirsty Travellers just spent the most wonderful weekend on Lady Elliot Island.
It is a very special place, nestled in the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, just off the coast of Bundaberg and home to 1200 species of marine life.
The Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is a family run and operated eco-tourism business. Peter Gash, family and several partners have held the lease from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to operate the resort since 2005. Since this time, the business has been striving to introduce sustainable initiatives to convert the resort to renewable energy, with the goal to be 100% renewable by 2020.
There is nothing luxurious about the island: adequate, but unremarkable accommodation; adequate, but unremarkable food.
However, the reef that surrounds Lady Elliot is magical. And we snorkelled ourselves silly.
We saw the most beautiful fish and turtles, moray eels and stingrays and starfish and coral.
Ginger can’t swim, so she was kitted out in a life jacket and bravely ventured far from the shore to marvel at the sea life below.
Lady Elliot Island is not the place for wild partying. Each night we were the last one left at the restaurant/bar at the ungodly hour of 8pm.
Those early nights lead us to the beach one morning at 4.45am, hoping to watch the sun rise through the clouds. We saw faint glimmers of pink through the grey before retreating to our sandy room and willing ourselves back to sleep.
We loved our little escape from the real world.
And the weather gods were incredibly kind. While there were showers and bouts of drizzle, they did nothing to dampen our joy at having a few days alone together in such a beautiful place.
The overcast weather also meant Ginger’s pale skin didn’t burn during our hours in the sea.
We would return to Lady Elliot again in a heartbeat. Put it on your bucket list!
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