At the end of the diving days we stopped at Lizard Island and went ashore . The island is the location for a sad early settlers story. A small family arrived with some Chinese servants and set up a business processing sea cucumbers (something of a delicacy in Asia). However, they had not realised that the island is particularly sacred to the local indigenous peoples. Trouble was soon afoot resulting in one servant killed and another injured. The wife took fright and made her escape with the injured servant, sailing in a large vat used for sea cucumber processing. They pitched up on a nearby island but, lacking food and fresh water, died in nine days. Their bodies were found some time later but the full story was known because she had meticulously recorded it all in her journal.

A short and leisurely stroll along the beach and across a headland (during which we did actually see a lizard as well as other wildlife) brought us to the high tech Lizard Island Air Terminal (see photo) where we awaited our flight. We were met by our pilot Emma, who gave out the life vests that we had to wear at all times . She explained that we could sit anywhere in the plane but she would appreciate it if some people could sit in the back row to help the plane get off the ground. The meals service consisted of a small bottle of water as we got on (only one person at a time on the steps please!) and the in-flight entertainment was looking out of the window.

However, the views as we went down the coast were really good and reinforced our view of how big the place is and how few people there are here. On the way over the Daintree crossing a few days ago we were behind a ute (utility vehicle, open back car/truck) with a white Australia outline and the words ‘Fuck off, we’re full’ - ignoring the racist overtones, I’m afraid he was very wrong, there’s definitely a lot of space here!

We were quite pleased to spot Cape Tribulation, where we had been just a few days ago and looked out for Yorkey’s Knob, just north of Cairns, where we stayed with Rosa last year . It was interesting having the pilot just in front of us and we were able to see the knobs, dials and warning lights as she flew us along, maintaining that 700 feet altitude she had promised (in fact our dive computers already said that flying was OK, but it always pays to be safe). The landing was exciting with the plane seemingly buffeted by the wind and we appeared to be approaching the airstrip at an angle. When we actually touched down there was a strong smell of burning rubber from the tyres, something you rarely get on a commercial flight.

We disembarked and said our final farewells to the other passengers as we were all delivered to our hotels etc. We were dropped off at the Travellers Autobarn depot where the very friendly staff bantered a bit about the van being burnt out, stolen etc… before remembering that they hadn’t actually repaired the light yet and dashing out to get it done. After a small delay, therefore, we were on the road again, heading south for Mission Beach. On the way we called into a shopping mall to replenish our food (we had run everything perishable down before we left the van in storage because the fridge had to be switched off). To our amazement, we had found the Cairns Big Marlin! This is another big thing on Jen’s list but she had no details of where it was so she had given up; it was a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack.