Lady Elliot Island—My favourite chapter yet

Last year, one of my best friends sent me a message out of the blue asking if Josh and I wanted to go with her and her little family to Lady Elliot Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef to experience the magic of the turtle hatching season. Obviously, I said yes. And within a month or so, we had chosen when to go and made our bookings. The trip was, at this point, months and months away. Even so, I started counting down the days pretty soon after making that booking. By the time the end of February finally rolled around, Josh and I had gotten our drone flight application approved, we had double checked our packing, packed our bags and our snorkel gear into the car the night prior to leaving, and excitedly went to sleep, ready to take off on a new adventure with some of the greatest people that we know. Because our flight was so early in the morning, we got up just before the sun started to rise and arrived around ninety minutes later to the aerodrome that we would be picked up from to fly over to the island.

Getting to the island and off the grid

Lady Elliot Island is a chill eighty-minute scenic flight from Redcliffe Aerodrome. Our pilot gave us a little in-flight box with snacks and off we went in this great little plane. Flying over the coast, you see up around Rainbow Beach before the plane arcs out over the Coral Sea with a view as far as the eye can see to the right of the Pacific Ocean. You can only access the island via the eco resort's own chartered little planes. Because Lady Elliot is in the middle of a green zone, there is no boat activity on the water surrounding the island apart from their few glass bottom boats which can take you out for a tour over the reef. To get supplies to the island, when high tide hits they have quite a short window to get a barge in over a specific part of the reef to get those supplies in before the tide goes out again. Lady Elliot is a green zone paradise and as you can tell, they work exceptionally hard year-round to ensure that it is protected as well as possible to protect the species that frequent this area and even call it home.

An eco resort with the loveliest team

After a little while of enjoying the scenic flight out, we saw the island in the distance at around the same time that the pilot announced that we would be landing soon. I will never forget the view of the island when we got close enough to see the kaleidoscopic colours...I was in awe. Looking over at Josh, we were both smiling ear to ear. We were finally here! As the plane circled around the island, I got my first glimpse at the wildlife in its most natural, beautiful state...a manta ray circling the outer fringe of the reef! You know that feeling when you are literally overwhelmed with excitement and you can practically feel it bubbling up inside of you? That is exactly how I felt. We landed smoothly on the grass that forms the small airstrip down the centre of the island, got off the plane, and were met with what would become the first of many wonderfully friendly and helpful staff members. As our bags were taken off the plane and carted off to the holding area (they would be taken to our eco cabins after they were ready), we got a run down of the island, where we could find everything - including all of the info on what was happening on the island at the time - and then we were let loose.We left from a different place than our friends did. So, we arrived on the island a little earlier than them.

We realised that there had been a mix up somewhere and while we were indeed booked into an eco cabin, we had been put in an eco cabin that had two sets of bunk beds and not one that had a double bed. We were a little disappointed, but with no access to internet we were not entirely sure right away if it was a mix up on our end or theirs (though I was quite sure I had booked an eco cabin with a double bed because my friend and I had talked about the rooms we wanted to book when I was organising a draft itinerary back when we initially booked our stay on the island). We did ask at reception when checking in if we could switch our room but they said they did not have enough eco cabins with double beds to do so the first night and because of covid, they did not want to be switching people from rooms to rooms because it meant cleaning them more often than was necessary (now, remember this, because it comes into play later on in a really positive way...seriously, these guys are unreal). Grabbing our beach towels, we decided it was ultimately okay, we had tried to change and it and were unable to, and it would still be incredible (and really, how much time would we be spending in that room anyway? Not much, so it did not matter). We were a little disappointed but it was all good. How can you be upset in paradise, right?!

With a little time to kill, we decided to walk around and got an idea of the places on the island (namely, the bar and the lagoon). It was immediately obvious just how many birds were around. During the run down shortly before, we were aware that while it was turtle nesting and hatchling season, it was also nesting season for sea birds. There were literally thousands of them all over the island. And they seemed to be entirely comfortable with people walking near them to get around the island. It honestly did seem like we were in the perfect place where the wildlife is respected by humans and vice versa. For the first few hours, I was very aware of the birds and of trying not to spook them or let them do the same to me. However, quite quickly I just forgot about them for the most part. So, we were walking around and ended up by the restaurant where the lagoon was in high tide and the most incredible aquas and deep blues were creating the most vibrant seascape for the day. Sitting down on the coral shore, we were both in awe of just how clear the water was and, to be honest, the water was just as clear here then even the most crystal clear waters in Indonesia that we had seen.

By the time we had spent a little time sitting down by the ocean and talking, they had landed! So, we went to meet them and get their snorkel gear organised for the trip. Because of the virus especially, we were asked to bring our own snorkel gear if we happened to have it, so Josh and I were ready to go and we quickly got all of their gear organised at the little hire dive gear shop on the island. Because their little guy is still pretty young, instead of getting him his own snorkel set they had these floating boards with a plastic screen in the middle so he could hop on and see into the water without having to swim. We saw little signs telling of the spots where mother turtles had made their nests to welcome their babies into the world. It was a promising sign that the turtles were indeed here. Excited and ready to dive in, we walked over towards the ocean to kickstart what would be the first of many epic underwater adventures of this trip! It was not long before we were setting up our towels on the coral shores by the lagoon and lathering on sunscreen before getting in the water. That first snorkel was unreal. The lagoon's tides quickly change and so by the time we got in the water it was already a little higher than it had been when we arrived earlier in the morning. 

Diving into a new part of my favourite place to be

Jumping into the water, we all spent a while swimming in the shallows and being careful not to step on the coral that were scattered throughout even the shallows of the shoreline. Little man loved the board which was awesome and seeing both his and his sister's excitement at all the fish was so awesome (this is one of both of our favourite parts of this entire trip - kids always get so excited around wildlife and it was so great being able to be there and see that!). Our friends were teaching their little ones how to use the gear properly and, holding their daughter's hand while we snorkelled out a little further, we could see all of these beautiful little colourful fish surround us, almost as if they were welcoming us there. She kept doing these adorable excited little screams every time she saw one. We swam back after a bit and all hung out in the shallows taking in the sights and enjoying the crystal clear water. After a little while, Josh and I went out quite far and realised, a little too late, that we had accidentally swam into territory that must have been fish with eggs because we both got bitten and literally chased within minutes of swimming out (don't worry, it does not hurt and feels more like a pinch - if you can even feel it at all).

We swam back to the shallows and decided to head in to get some food. Drying off before heading to the restaurant, we sat down and ordered our food and drinks, talking about the island, what we were most excited to get to do (spoiler alert: we all wanted to see the hatching turtles most of all...no surprises there), and what we were going to spend the afternoon doing. After grabbing some lunch, we spent some time in the pool. The kids had a great time with the guys and we sat dangling our feet in, watching them duck dive and tire themselves out in the water. After a while, the kids were tired out so our friends took them back to the their room to have a nap. We decided that we would head over to the other side of the island to snorkel the coral gardens. And this is when the absolute magic of this place became glaringly obvious. Putting our stuff down near some beach chairs, we put our sunscreen on, grabbed our gear, and headed out. And guys...I do not even have the words to explain how magical this experience was. Heading out to high tide, we walked into the shallows in our reef shoes, put them into the built in shoe holder in the shallows, and geared up. Immediately, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of sea cucumbers scattered throughout the coral clusters. They were everywhere and there were so many different sizes and colours of them all. It was so fascinating.

And that was truly just the start. As soon as we got out beyond the initial shallows of the reef, the colours just exploded around us. We were surrounded by vibrant underwater towers of the most stunning coral. Colourful fish surrounded us as we swam further into this underwater oasis, magic sparkling around us as the sunlight shimmered down from the water's surface. Even in the most unreal places we have been in Indonesia, we had never seen such healthy coral gardens before. It literally looked exactly like the reef scenes from Finding Nemo. We have been to the Great Barrier Reef before and while it was absolutely a dream come true, I think it is important to highlight the one difference that was immediately obvious. The reef is truly a unique underwater paradise. However, when we went to the reef years earlier we went to the main section that tourists are taken to off Cairns' coastline. For this reason, it was some of the most amazing reef we have ever seen but it was quite overcome with bleaching, a sad sight to see. I cannot emphasis enough how unreal it still was. It is one of my favourite experiences and moments still to this day.

Green Zone paradise in the middle of the Southern Great Barrier Reef

Here on Lady Elliot, the island's status as a Green Zone means that there is extremely limited boat activity (so limited, in fact, that the only boat activity allowed is from the few glass bottom boats off the island and the supplies that are carried into the island every now and then when the water conditions allow it). And the reef is absolutely thriving because of it. I am all for Green Zones. So, there we were, diving under and weaving between the giant towers of coral and marvelling in the absolute magic of the ocean. From small colourful fish to coral trout, Angel fish, and lion fish (to give just a few examples of the vibrant sea life that surrounded us from all angles), we were literally in the most unbelievable place we had ever been. I was in love. We are by no means seasoned free divers, but even so it was incredibly exciting to be able to practice our breath holds and truly immerse ourselves in the experience. After a little while, I heard Josh say my name through his snorkel and I turned to look at him and found myself coming face to face with a gorgeous green sea turtle! Our first up close sighting of a green sea turtle...and it was incredible.

These beautiful creatures arc through the water with an almost otherworldly grace. We swam along with her, careful to keep a respectful distance without infringing on her personal space. Swimming with sea turtles is right up there with one of my absolute favourite wildlife experiences. She was entirely aware of us and seemed to be entirely comfortable sharing her home with us. After a little while, I turned to see where Josh was and just a few metres away from the first turtle was another one! Watching me as he propelled himself through the water towards Josh, I was once again struck by their sheer elegance, so graceful and natural in their element. The turtle's shell was more covered in algae than his friend's and he was just slightly larger in size. He seemed to so effortlessly soar through the water, riding the ebbs and flows as he navigated his way through his watery home. He swam right near where Josh was floating near the surface. I looked at Josh and saw that he was also watching the turtle and just floating in the background. That is one of my favourite memories, just seeing them float together, letting the flow of the water carry them around.

It was the perfect moment. There, surrounded by towering coral and vibrant sea life, we were watching multiple turtles go about their days as vibrant species of fish arced around them in the water. They were loving life and it had never been more obvious that we were enveloped in paradise. This is as close to paradise as we had ever been and I wanted to stay there forever. With the ease of the water that day, we did not have to fight hard to stay in the moment, the water let us just take our time and go at our own pace. Two huge fish arced behind one of the turtles as it swam to the surface to catch its breath. It is one of my favourite things to lift my head above the surface as the turtles go up to take a breath, seeing them come up for a quick moment with their little heads quickly tipping up before they soar back down below the surface to go on with their day. Josh and I both came up for air ourselves, grinning at one another and excitedly exclaiming to each other how unreal this snorkelling experience was. Knowing that we were surrounded by turtles and other sea life was such an exhilarating feeling and we were riding the wave of adrenaline from being so close to these beautiful creatures in their natural environment. It is these kinds of experiences that we both love so much, being in their element and not taking them out of it to be able to do so. Eventually we thought we better head back in to meet up with our friends and we got out, dried off, and walked back to our cabin.

My favourite moment yet

We headed back to drop our gear off at our cabin and then we met up with our friends, deciding to spend the afternoon by the lagoon looking for turtles in the shallows and getting some drone footage (full disclosure, if you want to fly a drone on the island then you have to fill out an application and get approval before landing on the island, so if this is something that you want to do then make sure that you contact their island management team to get an application sent out to you). I showed the kids the footage of the turtles that we got to swim with earlier and we got some amazing footage of the island (you can only fly drones on certain parts of the island because it is such a small island and there is a literal airstrip that runs down its centre and drones are not allowed to be flown too close to airstrips). We wanted to catch the sunset, so we eventually started to wander over to the coral gardens. Seeing some people sitting at the picnic area, we walked to the left a little to have a bit of the beach to ourselves. It was the kind of sunset that creates this wild sense of both excitement and peace. Soft, light colours were beginning to bolden, evolving into burnt, bright colours and the ocean was this beautiful soft watery mirror, reflecting the colours of this perfect fading day in paradise. There were a few big pieces of driftwood was scattered on the coral shores and the sight was perfectly accentuated with the magical tinkling sound of the bits of coral washing up against the shoreline. 

I was standing on that line where the ocean water rushed into meet the coral shores. I can remember that moment so clearly in my mind, seeing nothing but ocean in front of me and knowing that we were on a literal island in the middle of the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Complete peace. Total happiness. In Queensland, the sun sets behind the mountains off the coast, so seeing a sunset over the ocean in Queensland's mainland is literally impossible. So, here we were experiencing a stunning Queensland sunset over the ocean. And it was so perfect. We were going to go on a turtle trek after dinner. I had no idea that being here with our friends could possibly get any better. Josh walked over to me, I mentioned that someone had their drone up to catch the sunset and what a cool idea that was, and I asked if he wanted to go for a walk down the beach. And then...an incredible, once in a lifetime moment happened. We were standing there watching the sun set over the horizon, a stunning myriad of colours sending the daylight sinking below the horizon. That sight and the sound of the coral tinkling up against the shore is one of my all-time favourite moments. Josh looked down at his hands, I noticed a box, and then he suddenly dropped to his knee on the broken coral at our feet. I literally jumped back in shock (the poor guy) and I honestly do not remember what either of us said, if I even verbally responded...all I remember is joy and excitement and shock and surprise.

We were hugging and he put the most beautiful ring I have ever seen on my finger. In the middle of green zone paradise, after one of my favourite moments ever, we were suddenly engaged. I know that I will never forget that moment. Our friend is a photographer, so Josh had told her prior to us getting to the island what he was going to do. Thanks to them both - and to her partner who flew our drones overhead to capture video footage for us to have - we have a few amazing photos of that moment and some wonderful little videos too. Josh knows me so well and knowing that he picked the most perfect place - a literal island surrounded by turtle magic, manta rays, sharks, and other wildlife - means so much to me. I did not know that watching that sunset was going to lead to that moment, but it was everything and more. We have been on so many adventures together and have shared so many experiences. This was, without a doubt, my absolute favourite chapter yet. We were so in our own bubble that we did not realise that others were cheering and clapping on the beach. It somehow felt so private and yet others were sharing in our moment. It is still quite surreal to think about. One lovely girl came over and told us that she had done a time lapse on her phone and we happened to be in it, so she airdropped it to us for us to have as well (thanks for that!). I am so thankful that our friends were there to share that moment with us. After the excitement and the reality sunk in, the sun was nearly completely gone. Everyone else had started to taper off the beach. We said to our friends that we would like to stay on the beach for a little longer together to take in the moment just us two and that we would meet them back at the restaurant for dinner shortly.

'If you don't know where you are going, any road can take you there.'

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A moonlit search for turtles

And then it was just Josh and I watching the sunset entirely evolve into a cool night. Walking back to the restaurant shortly after, we watched the moon light up the sky and the island around us. Unbeknownst to me, our friends were lovely enough to go and speak to the resort staff at reception earlier in the day to explain that we were engaged and they asked again if we could get a cabin with a double bed. They kindly said yes and offered us different rooms both nights so that we could have a double bed in the nights after our engagement. The island resort team are amazing and they truly go above and beyond to do everything that they can to make sure that the experience is fantastic. We quickly called my parents to tell them the news (there is very limited reception at one spot near the restaurant). It was so lovely. Not long after we went to meet our friends at the restaurant and we got dinner and popped some champagne to celebrate. I looked at Josh so many times and just felt this overwhelming feeling of joy. After a fantastic dinner and some drinks, we embarked on our first turtle trek! Ordinarily, you take flashlights and cover them with your shirt to avoid the harsh light distracting nesting turtles or misdirecting baby turtles (they use the light of the sun to navigate their right way forward, and flashlights can confuse them).

As it turned out, we did not have to do that. The moonlight was so bright that it cast a silvery glow over the entire island and especially the coral sandy shores of the beach. We walked around the shoreline, taking careful steps and keeping a look out for the telltale signs of mama turtles that have dragged themselves out of the water to make their nests and for the little babies scattering their way down the sand to make it to the water and find their way back home to the big blue. This is a true bucket list experience. It is the entire reason that we came to this island. And here we were, exploring the beach under the light of the full moon and looking for turtles with our friends and their kids. Children make everything more magical and this experience was no different. A few times we thought that we saw them in the distance, however we would carefully get closer to realise they were pieces of coral or nests that were already well established. But not finding the turtles, young or old, did not take away from the natural high of the day. We were engaged, we were searching for one of the most unique and spectacular wildlife experiences on Earth, and island magic surrounded us from all sides. We spent an hour and a bit searching before the excitement of the day gave way to a little bit of exhaustion. 

The wonders of the glass bottom boat

Admittedly, we did go to sleep before we had really given it a solid few hours, however we had another few days to search for turtles and we were all a little wiped out from a big day of adventuring and exploring. So, after saying goodbye we went back to our cabin (double bed and all!) and fell asleep to the sounds of sea birds and the ocean rushing up to meet the shoreline. The next morning, we got up bright and early to spend the day snorkelling around the island. Josh went for a snorkel in the lagoon because it was high tide again and I relaxed on the beach while we waited for our friends. Once we met up with them, we all grabbed breakfast from the restaurant together and got ready for our glass bottom boat tour! We were all so excited for this part. We all climbed into the trailer to go over to the coral gardens to explore the reef from above. The visibility was the absolute best that I have ever seen in my life. As the guys got the boat out further and further, we could still quite clearly see the bottom. So much so, in fact, that at different moments throughout we saw not only fish of all colours, shapes, and sizes, but also sting rays and even what looked like a small turtle! Learning about the ecosystem on Lady Elliot, we were then shown this incredible sunken boat that was twenty metres below the surface on the ocean floor. Even at twenty metres deep, we could clearly see the boat in all its ghostly underwater glory. After a little while, we were steered out to where the buoys were.

The current was much stronger that day than it was the day before and as soon as we dropped into the water, it was immediately super clear that they were not joking when they said we should just float along using the buoy line to pull ourselves along if we were not confident floating along in the one direction. I cannot emphasise enough how epic this experience was...floating along there, we saw fish, turtles, and even a shark swimming around as well as a few large eagle rays soaring through the deeper water to our left. Floating along the fringe of the reef that made up Coral Gardens, this was just the coolest experience. We would not have been in the water more than forty minutes or so, but it was absolutely unreal. Our friend took his daughter for her first deep snorkelling experience that boat trip and guys...she did so well! Especially considering this was her first time swimming so deep in the ocean. We were swimming just ahead of them and even from up ahead, I could still hear her squeal with excitement when she caught sight of a sea creature. It was awesome! Diving down a few times, I would look back and just see this epic view of the reef far underneath them and them floating along, enjoying the experience. This was such a cool experience and the guys fronting the boat made it so much fun for the kids during the tour. After a little while, we jumped back on the trailer to head back to the restaurant once the boat picked us up at the other side of the coral gardens. Once we got back, we went back to the restaurant to grab some lunch and talked excitedly about the snorkelling experience.

Chilling out by the Coral Gardens

We walked back to the coral gardens and the guys flew their drones around and raced them (though to be fair, I feel like the results were inconclusive regarding who won...). Josh and our friend have the quite similar drones and it was pretty wild to watch them flying them around, looking for what they could see in the water. At one point, we saw what looked to be a medium-sized shark swimming around in the shallows. We saw what looked like a massive loggerhead turtle (spoiler alert: Josh and I would find out the following day just how huge she was!) hanging out by the buoy line, coming up for a breather before diving back down to the depths of the reef. And then we saw the most incredible thing...there, on the drones was a small group of spotted eagle rays! And the one at the forefront of the group had the brightest white spots, making it stand out among its friends. We watched on the drones for a while and followed them along on their journey from the sky, watching as they weaved through the coral towers, spreading out and coming together again and again in an aquatic dance sequence that was truly mesmerising. As Josh's drone zoomed out, the large loggerhead turtle came into view in the bottom left of the frame. Lady Elliot Island is genuinely a wildlife paradise and seeing so much life literally surrounding us was so unreal. You might think that we would get used to it but you genuinely just do not. It is amazing every single time.

After we landed the drones we went out to stand in the water. And there, standing in the shallows afterwards, my friend yelled at me, "shark!". For a split second, all of the videos on YouTube of sharks coming in super shallow waters to hunt flashed through my mind and I did admittedly have a slight moment of, "what!? where!?". And then I saw it...a little shark, maybe the length of my arm, swimming by our feet! And then the highlight of that day happened...we finally got to see some turtles up close with the kids! There, in ankle-deep water, on the look out for more baby sharks, we saw a few dark oval shapes around us. These shapes turned out to be some friendly green sea turtles! These two turtles came so close to us that as they floated around our feet and touched our ankles with featherlight motions as they swam around us searching for food in the shallow water. Seeing the kids' faces light up as they watched the turtles paddling around is one of my favourite moments from that entire trip. It was sinking into the golden hour of our first and last full day on the island and the turtle trek the night before had proven to be unsuccessful in giving us the chance to see turtles up close. We all excitedly exclaimed that this was definitely the spot we wanted to try out later that night on the turtle trek. Josh and I were starting to get a little worried they would not appear in time for the kids to see them so close. And then, there they were! We spent a while there and then eventually our friends headed back to their room to relax for a bit before dinner.

A sunset picnic & an adventure to find turtles

Josh and I, however, stayed on that stretch of beach because our friends had organised a surprise sunset picnic for us to enjoy together to celebrate our engagement. We sat down after getting our picnic and champagne and watched as glimpses of a beautiful orange and yellow-tinted sunset shone down between dark clouds. It was such a perfect place and such a thoughtful gesture for us to be able to take a moment to celebrate and enjoy the moment. The clouds that had hung in the sky all afternoon closed in more and more, eventually breaking open as light rain began to sprinkle down on us. We stayed as long as we could, however we eventually gave in and grabbed the remnants of our picnic back with us to our cabin. Walking back along the winding sandy pathway across the airstrip and to our temporary home on the island, we were marvelling at the amount of birds floating and soaring through the air and the insane day we had spent there in paradise. I honestly felt euphoric. We were in paradise. We were engaged. We were with great friends. We were travelling again (even if it was as close to Home as it can get!). We were in an amazing place in every sense of the term. And it just felt like it was this absolutely perfect moment. Because it was. Eating the little bits and pieces of our picnic on our cabin's front deck, we soon caught up with our friends and went to grab some dinner before heading to the turtle trek info night so we could have a better chance of seeing the mamas and hatchlings that night. The one thing I would recommend here is that you go to the turtle info night on your first night at the island just to get a sense of how the turtles navigate it all etc.

After another fantastic dinner and some excellent information about the turtle season on Lady Elliot, we embarked on our second and last turtle trek of this epic trip. We committed quite a while this night, walking around most of the island and using the bright light of the full moon to once again scour the coral shores that form the fringe of the island to find these turtles. And I will be entirely honest with you here. I was a little disappointed. We had seen the nests scattered at the tops of the beaches the entire trip. We knew that they were there...but somehow, no matter how carefully we searched, we missed them both nights. Here is the thing about turtle season there though...the turtle info night made it clear that green sea turtles are fast from the moment they are born. So you have to be in exactly the right place at the right time to see them. It takes just a few minutes for them to emerge, signalled by the first little brave one to make their descent into their ocean home, and make their way to the water's edge at the end of the beach. Loggerhead turtles are a little slower, but even then. So, it just means that we get to go back and give it another shot! And to be honest, it in no way took away from the experience at all...that is the thing about nature...it is natural. You cannot plan it. And I love that. We would have come back to Lady Elliot either way and this is just more incentive to go back asap! While we did not see any nesting or hatching turtles that night, we did at one point catch a glimpse of a little red creature that was quickly scuttling across the coral sand.

It was a strawberry crab! Truthfully, I am not a fan of crabs...like at all. They are the spiders of the sea and I have a phobia of them that I have had since I was a little girl. I cannot explain it. I do not know why. I just do not like them at all, they scare the absolute crap out of me. Even so, even I was admiring them and their bright warm colours as they scuttled across the shoreline around us. Don't get me wrong, I was still wildly aware and careful not to go too close to them, but they are pretty neat up close! We spent a while sitting on the white chairs along the shoreline listening to the ocean roll in and out against the shoreline and watching the little red and orange crabs navigate their way around and over bits of broken coral of all different shapes and sizes. We eventually made our way back across the centre of the island to give the lagoon shoreline one last try for the turtles, to no avail. It was such a calming yet heightened experience, the relaxing cool air and soft moonlight, coupled with the adrenaline of feeling like every shadow and movement you see around you is a mama turtle heading up from the ocean to create her safe nest for her babies, or little baby turtles rushing down to the shoreline. The search is still such a fun experience - especially with little ones! The kids made it so much more fun and even though all us adults were quite tired from a full day of adventure and fun, we held out longer to try our best to give them that experience.

Eventually, it was getting late and the few others that were also out searching for turtles were leaving the beach to go to sleep for the night. So, we walked our friends back to their cabin and then we went to shower and fill up our water bottles and then go to sleep in our own cabin. On an island that small, you are literally so close anywhere on the fringes of the island that you can hear the ocean - especially when the tide is going out or (even more so) when it is rushing in. So, that night Josh and I talked about the day we had just had, we put the GoPro and the drone on charge, and we read for a while. After a while, we fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean and the sea birds. This is one of my favourite sounds in the world and it is one of my fondest memories of our time there. While you would think that the sounds of thousands of sea birds would be off putting, you quite honestly tune it out for the most part and at night they are quite chill compared to how they are during the day. I feel like every aspect of Lady Elliot just adds to the rich tapestry that makes it the unique and wonderful place that it is. None of us had ever been to a legitimate declared Green Zone before...and it was everything that we could ever dream of and so much more.

Waking up to turtle trails on the shores at sunrise

We both slept so well that night and I woke up the next morning early enough to catch the day coming alive. When I first woke up, I almost rolled back over and went back to sleep...almost. I can always go for another ten minutes sleep. However, the sky was just beginning to catch the early morning light. So, I jumped up while Josh slept, accidentally stirring him a little in the process (I knew he would follow me down if he wanted to at some point) and made my way over to the lagoon to watch the sky come alive. I love sunrises. Even though the colours are always somehow familiar and similar, each and every sunrise is entirely unique. And this is one of my favourite sunrises yet. The sky woke up quietly, softly at first, slowly drifting into the eager colours that would welcome the coming day. After a short time, the colours seemed to positively explode all at once, becoming vibrantly brighter and creating a rich canvas that swirled into vivid motion atop the horizon of the ocean that lay all around me. The sounds of tinkling coral perfectly accompanied the sight. And as all of this was happening Josh joined me, walking up behind me to sit with me on the beach and watch the sunrise unfold. I was determined to watch until the sun broke over the top of some fluffy white clouds just above the surface of the water, so when Josh went to get some more sleep I stayed on the beach and watched as the colours of the rising sun in the sky gave way to a blue that was becoming bolder and brighter with every passing minute. When it finally happened, I got up and made my way along the shoreline to walk around to the restaurant and back towards our cabin.

And there...along the beach, were several green sea turtle tracks, the trademark remnants of mother turtles' journeys to lay their eggs, bury them in the sand, and make their way back to the water. We had somehow missed them again! When I was marvelling over the tracks, one of the eco resort's team members was walking along the beach with a pen, marking the new nests so that she could come back and put the signs down that showed guests where not to step in order to avoid accidentally hurting the babies that were buried beneath the sand in a safe nest, awaiting their time to arrive in the world. We initially wanted to go for a sunrise snorkel by Coral Gardens, however when I got back to our cabin, Josh had fallen asleep. We had most of the day, so I went back to sleep for an hour or so with him. When we woke up, we could not find our friends and realised that they must have thought we would be at Coral Gardens (which is entirely fair, considering we did say the night before that this was our plan). After walking towards the centre of the island near the airstrip it was obvious that was what had happened because they were heading back our way. Waving to one another, we waited for them to head across the airstrip. Because they had already had breakfast (they also caught the sunrise from another vantage point that morning), we went to eat while they hung out at the beach by their room for a while.

Josh got a morning swim in by the lagoon again and I sat on the beach admiring the view and watching him float around from my spot on the beach. Josh could stay in the water all the time and while usually I am very much the same, I was happy to just sit on the beach and enjoy the day that morning. Afterwards, we met up again to hang out with our friends by the lagoon before they left (their flight was earlier than ours). The kids showed us the starfish they had found in the early morning and we spent that last morning getting in some final quality time all together before their flight left shortly before midday. The lagoon was amazing and the sun was still shining bright after what had been a rainy sunset the night before with sprinkling showers leading into the night. Seeing the little fish and sea cucumbers in the lagoon, with ocean blue star fish peppered in between, was lovely. The sea life surrounding Lady Elliot Island is second to none. This had been such a remarkable bucket list trip and being there with such great friends made it even more special. Shortly before midday, it was time to see our friends off. So, with our snorkel gear and our towels under our arms, we walked back with them towards the airstrip. We hugged them goodbye and, waving, safely headed across the grass that made up the air strip to head towards Coral Gardens for one final snorkelling experience before our plane left in the early afternoon that day. Our bags were in the lobby to be taken to the plane. All we had to do was be dry by the time it was time to board the plane to go back home. So, off we went.

A final dive into the ocean

We spent a few hours squeezing some final snorkelling in. This is without a doubt one of the most amazing moments of the entire trip. It was this perfect, crystal clear day in the sky and in the water and we were buzzing with excitement, eager to get in the water. We put on sunscreen, geared up, and jumped in. It was high tide again and the current was softer than it was the day before. We swam out and were immediately surrounded by brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes, an abundance of sea cucumbers, and even some eagle rays in the distance. We explored for a while, diving down and holding our breaths to immerse ourselves in the underwater paradise that surrounded us. Looking around me, I was entirely in a bubble of my own. I was looking up above, spiralling around in the water to come up for air, and the rays of sunlight were filtering down from the surface of the ocean above me. Have you ever seen that before? That awe inspiring view of sun rays breaking through the surface of the water, sparkling where the water's surface meets the sky above. There is nothing in the world like it. And then Josh yelled my name through his snorkel and I turned, coming so close to running into a huge boulder that was...sinking? But it wasn't. We had finally met the giant loggerhead turtle! I am not joking when I say she was easily the same length as my entire body. She was beautiful and she was apparently coming down from taking a breather to rest again in a little nook in the reef below. 

We floated there for a while, watching her in awe. We had never seen a turtle so massive before. She was massive yet unbelievably graceful and it was a true honour to be able to share her home with her, even just momentarily. She was absolutely aware of us and she seemed to be entirely at ease in her environment. I had never seen anything like her. Josh and I kept looking at each other in wonder, amazed at the experience that was unfolding in front of us. After a while of watching her hang out at the bottom of the reef, we decided to get out and check the time to make sure that we were not getting too close to take off time. We wanted to have lunch before we left. Coming out for a short break, we got the drone up in the air and found the huge loggerhead turtle again. But that was not even the best part...after wanting to see a manta ray the entire time (even though it was not high manta ray season), Josh took the drone out just beyond the buoy line near the glass bottom boat and just twenty metres or so beyond it was a manta, floating solo in the water. We hurriedly checked the time, realised we had plenty of time, and did a quick evaluation to see if we could swim out to get a closer look. It was way too far out, so instead we watched it on the drone and were amazed to see it floating in the same spot, fighting the current.

Manta rays are a favourite animal for us both. We were watching it there in the most crystal clear bright blue water. It was almost as if the manta ray knew we had been hanging out for a manta sighting all weekend and it was coming to give us the perfect send off from this island paradise. And what a send off it was. Too soon, it was time to head back if we wanted to grab lunch before heading home. We brought the drone in, gathered our gear, and headed back along that thin sandy pathway towards the restaurant. We ordered and sat down with our drinks, looking out at the lagoon and watching the sea birds soaring and spiralling around in the sky. After our food, we took one last walk along the beach, talking animatedly about this perfect weekend. And as our plane lifted off and circled around Lady Elliot Island one last time before soaring back through the air waves towards the mainland, I knew that we would be back. Lady Elliot Island is a truly special and unique paradise. And Green Zones are absolute sparkling magic of the greatest biodiversity in the world. I hope that Lady Elliot always stays the same (and its status as a Green Zone makes me confident it will so long as it is continuously protected). It is too remarkable a place to be taken advantage of and tarnished.

Footnotes From Around The World - Lady Elliot Island

Lady Elliot Island is absolutely one of our new Top 3 Destinations. And the fact that it is about as close to home as we can get is a massive bonus. A natural paradise with the most remarkable oceanic biodiversity that we have ever seen. The perfect place for a magical moment for us...getting engaged!