Mount Lidgbird and Mount Gower loom over the island

 

Lord Howe Island
Beautiful island off the coast at the same latitude as Port Macquarie
Lord Howe Island is located 702 km north east of Sydney and directly east of Port Macquarie. It is, by any measure, an exceptionally beautiful holiday destination which has become one of those secrets that visitors prefer to keep to themselves.

The island is crescent shaped and is 11 km long and 2.8 km wide. It covers a total area of 1455 hectares and there is a coral reef which runs for 6 km down the western side of the island enclosing a lagoon. The shape of the island, as the famous travel writer Jan Morris once observed, is 'some sort of a sea scorpion, with the two high mountains at its southern end representing the sting in the tail.'

If you are looking for a modern, unspoilt paradise this is probably it. The island was totally uninhabited when, on 17 February 1788, Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who at the time was the commander of the HMS Supply, discovered it. Ball was on his way from the infant colony of Port Jackson to Norfolk Island when he sighted the island. He named it after Richard Howe, a British Admiral.

The first settlers arrived in 1834. The group, taken to the island on a whaler, comprised three Europeans from New Zealand accompanied by a small group of Maoris. The 'settlers' returned to New Zealand when they were offered money to leave by a couple of Sydney businessmen named Dawson and Poole.

 

View from Kims Lookout south across the island

 

Dawson and Poole tried to set up a settlement. Dawson became disenchanted and left. Poole persisted and by 1851 the island had a population of 16 all of whom lived off the produce of the sea and what they could grow in their gardens. The appearance of the community meant that it was visited periodically by trading and whaling vessels and a small trading business emerged. In 1182 the whole island was declared a Botanic Reserve. By 1900 there were about 100 people living on the island. The economy was a mixture of subsistence, a small trade in palm seeds and some trading with passing boats. It was until the 1940s that the island really started to develop. A regular flying boat service from Sydney brought tourists to the island. The flying boat was replaced in 1974 when a small airstrip was built. In 1982 the island was World Heritage listed. It is currently administered by a board which ensure that World Heritage values are sustained.

Things to see:  

Physical Features
Lord Howe Island is part of a series of volcanic pinnacles which lie on a submarine ridge which runs from the north island of New Zealand. The volcanic action occurred 7 million years ago. The pinnacles include Balls Pyramid (it stands 552 metres out of the sea and was first climbed as recently as 1965); Gower Island, Sugarloaf Island, Mutton Bird Island, Blackburn Island and the Admiralty Islands. Both of the island's mountains - Mount Lidgbird (777m) and Mount Gower (875m) - are volcanic in origin. Over the past 130,000 years sand and saltwater have combined to form a rock known as calcarenite which is common on parts of the island. This calcarenite has fossilised a number of unusual extinct creatures including a large horned turtle.

The coral reef of the western coast of the island is the southernmost coral outcrop in the world and has over 60 different species.

 

What is its World Heritage Listing?
The brochure on the island's World Heritage status explains: 'the Lord Howe Island Group is considered to be an outstanding example of an island ecosystem developed from submarine volcanic activity, having a rare diversity of landscapes and biota. The high proportion of endemic species make the Group a superb example of independent evolutionary processes at work.'

 

Flora and Fauna
It is claimed that when the first Europeans landed on the island there were only three types of animals - two lizards and a bat - native to the region. There were, obviously, more substantial numbers of birds, insects, spiders and snails. Today 18 species of landbirds and 14 species of seabird breed on the island.

The Lord Howe Island Board have produced a number of excellent sheets which provide detailed information on the flightless and rare Woodhen (the island is home to this endangered species), the island's range of land animals including all the birds and invertebrates, the island's plant life, the marine life and the seabirds. This is an island where the nature lover, with a pair of binoculars and an eagerness to explore, can spend weeks investigating the flora and fauna.

 

 

Walking on Malabar Hill

 

Walking Trails
There is really only one road on the island and it runs from a little beyond the jetty in the north down past the airport to Salmon Beach in the south. There are numerous tracks around the island including tracks to the top of Mount Gower (875m) (this can only be undertaken with the assistance of a guide as their is no path) as well as the smaller rises - Intermediate Hill (250m) and Mount Eliza (147m). The Lord Howe Island Board has produced a sheet describing each of the island walks and rating them from one to ten. The walks include:

Transit Hill
A grade 3 walk through rainforest and along the Blinky Beach.

Clear Place
A grade 2 walk through a palm forest and along Middle Beach.

Stevens Reserve
A grade 1 walk through a rainforest with interpretative signs.

Max Nicholls Track
A grade 4 walk up Dawsons Ridge, through rainforest and on to North Beach.

Mount Eliza
A grade 3 walk up Mount Eliza offering good views of the nesting seabirds (in season).

Old Gulch
A grade 1 walk along North Beach to a deep cavity in the cliffs.

Malabar and Kim's Lookout
A grade 3 to Malabar and grade 5 to Kim's Lookout with excellent views over the island and an opportunity to see nesting birds (in season).

Coastal Track to Rocky Run and Boat Harbour
A grade 5 walk around the coast to see birds and enjoy the view.

Goat House
A grade 8 walk to Goat House Cave on the side of Mount Lidgbird. Great views and walking through wet rainforest.

Intermediate Hill
A grade 6 walk up Smoking Tree Ridge through the rainforest.

Little Island
A grade 2 walk through a palm forest with great views up to Mount Lidgbird.

Mount Gower
A grade 10 walk to the top of Mount Gower (875m). You must be accompanied by a licensed guide. Be warned: if you are scared of heights there is one section where you walk along a path which is only about 1 metre wide and there's nothing between you and the ocean far below.

 

 

Cycling is a popular mode of transport

 

True Quietness
There is a limit of 400 on the visitors to the island and the speed limit for the few vehicles is restricted to 25kph. Consequently there are no crowds and there is a true sense of tranquillity.

 

The Blue Peter
On the horizon, particularly when you are at an elevated point on the island or cruising around the island, can be seen the remarkable formation known as Balls Pyramid. It rises sheer from the ocean for 552 metres and was first climbed as recently as 1965. It has always presented a temptation to visitors but the regular coastal cruise boats have been restricted in their access to the pyramid firstly because of its distance from the island and secondly because of the swell and the speed of the cruise vessels. It is hoped that the new Blue Peter, a 35 foot twin-engined Kevlacat built at Mooloolaba in Queensland and capable of carrying 12 passengers and crew will be able to make more regular visits to Balls Pyramid. It can also be chartered by fishing and diving.

 

 

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Lord Howe Island