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Just over 36 hours ago I was crammed into a city-bound train, surrounded by hundreds of irritated, post-work commuters. I’m now swimming alone on the outer Great Barrier Reef, surrounded by thousands of colourful fish and, all of a sudden, a manta ray.
I’ve dived down close enough to watch the massive animal study me, swimming past multi-coloured coral bommies that surround Lady Elliot Island. I landed on the coral cay at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef on a flight from Hervey Bay, where I had been exploring Fraser Island the previous day.
White beaches and vibrant reefs teeming with sea life can seem a long way away from Auckland’s busy CBD, but within a few hours of leaving the city, you’re immersed in all the natural beauty Queensland has to offer. It was not a difficult transition.
The beachside town of Hervey Bay is easily reached via Brisbane or Sydney, and serves as a gateway to Fraser Island.
The town punches above its weight when it comes to food and drink, with several restaurants offering fantastic cuisine, sourced from local produce.
Within two minutes of taking off from Hervey Bay, you can truly appreciate the size and beauty of Fraser Island — the worlds largest sand island — which forms a massive natural buffer to the mainland.
From landing a light plane on 75 Mile Beach to the crystal-clear, fresh water of Lake McKenzie, there are countless breathtaking parts of Fraser Island to be discovered.
Lady Elliot Island, meanwhile, first appears from a light plane as a green speck surrounded by a turquoise lagoon. It sits alone on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, 80km out to sea in deep water, close to the continental shelf.
“It’s like an oasis” Peter Gash, who owns the island’s resort, tells me.
“The inner reefs have had a flogging but Lady Elliot is a bit likeatime capsule, you know, it’s way out there.
“That distance, as much as it is our protector, it creates one big issue — how the hell do you get there?” Gash says.
Out of the more than 800 islands speckled across the Barrier Reef, Lady Elliot is the only coral quay that boasts an airstrip, which runs almost the entire length of the island.
Gash, whose first career was as a pilot, says there are three ways to see the reef — swimming in it, boating on it, or flying over it — and they each provide a different perspective. Visitors to Lady Elliot are treated to all three.
“It’s a stunning sight from the air, it just invokes awe and amazement.”
Once you’re on Lady Elliot, you’re free to walk around the small island, which is inhabited by thousands of seabirds, or sit back in the restaurant overlooking the lagoon.
Swimming in the calm waters of the lagoon in front of the resort you will spot sea turtles and other marine life, while a glass-bottomed boat trip and a guided snorkelling tour will introduce you to manta rays and small reef sharks.
“When we go swimming at Lady Elliot between May and October, you’ll hear whales singing and you’ve got a good chance they’ll swim up to you,” Gash tells me.
Gash arrived on the island in 1979 as a visitor and quickly saw its potential.
“I was quite young, saw it, fell in love with it and started to hatch plots in my head. It took me 25 years but I got there and I bought the resort.”
He says the 150-bed eco-resort he has developed could be an example for the rest of Australia how to balance successful tourism and sustainability.
“I look at Lady Elliot and think, ‘this is a fantastic platform to show that the world can be run by using alternative power and other methods to minimise our footprint’,” he says. “The more we give to the environment, the more the environment gives back to us.”
Seeing the best of the place
HERVEY BAY: You can takeajet-ski tour of Hervey Bay and Fraser
Island with Aquavue Jetski Tours, where you can expect to encounter
sea life, including turtles or dolphins. Visit Eat at Dan and Steph’s for breakfast or sample some of the region’s best seafood at The Vinyard.
FRASER ISLAND: It’s worth the bumpy drive to the clear waters of
Lake McKenzie, surrounded by white sand at the centre of the island.
LADY ELLIOT ISLAND: Take a guided snorkelling tour of the reef where you’ll see countless reef fish, turtles and manta rays, with some visitors lucky enough to encounter whales.
Getting there: Qantas flies daily from Auckland to Hervey Bay, via Sydney and Brisbane.
Sоurсе: nzherald.co.nz
