Off to Lizard Island - Thursday, December 27

Up before the sun this morning.  We take one last run along the Esplanade in Cairns before breakfast.  We leave our hotel and head for the airport.  We are catching a very small airplane out to Lizard Island to meet up with the dive boat, The Spirit of Freedom!  There are only 12 seats on our little plane.  David and I manage to sit right behind the pilot.  We can see all of the gauges and dials and equipment as he's flying the plane.  It's really interesting.  One hour later we land on Lizard Island which is north of Cairns out on the Great Barrier Reef.  The island is teeny and it's HOT!  The boat is waiting for us in the bay.  We hop in the zodiac and off we go!  Once onboard, we go through briefings about living on the boat, briefings about diving, set up our gear on the dive deck and unpack our backpacks in our little room.  We do two dives in the afternoon.  It is wonderful to finally be here!