on the 3rd night of our stay on lizard island, ever the "bougoneux" (french canadian for grumpy), i complained to maria that her luck was running out... indeed, after 3 days of cold wet weather on the island, i was starting to seriously doubt my suggestion of coming to this paradise spot on the great barrier reef - after all, june is the beginning of winter down under.

maria always brought me luck for beach holidays. before meeting her, no matter how carefully i chose my diving spots, it invariably ended up meeting records rainfalls or other crazy whims of nature. so, it was surprising to me, that for the 1st time in 4 year it would rain so much on our holidays.

true to herself, maria brought back the sunshine and on the wednesday, we chartered a boat for deep-sea fishing and scuba diving. the gods must be with her because not only the weather was absolutely fantastic, but the diving was also incredible, and she caught a gigantic spanish mackerel.

but the most amazing highlight of the day was on our return to the resort. ever hopeful to see big things jumping out of the sea, maria was on the look out for wales (june is the season when they migrate north) and so, ever the eagle eye, she caught sight of one. we approached and first thing we knew there were 36 of them (as counted by the boat's skipper). naturally, we jumped in the middle of the deep blue sea and had an amazing 1 hour of snorkeling with them while they came close to us and said hello in the way only wales know how to. an amazing turn of our luck believe me!!

the resort was excellent. but most enjoyable to me was the wine list by the glass. 53 options in total and all from australia and new zealand. since the rate was full room and board, it meant the bar was totally open and we were able to taste the entire list during our stay. i made some sensational discovery, especially about shiraz from barossa and riesling from tasmania.