Lord Howe Island.... Dramatic! PART ONE!!

For quite a while a very good friend (Paul who has now been upgraded to great friend!!) of ours had been telling us how good this little island off the NSW Mid North Coast was... he had been ten times!

After a bit of research and discovering that Lord Howe Island had been World Heritage Listed since 1982, had a maximum of 400 tourists at any given time, population of 350, no mobile phone coverage and was only 11 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide this sounded like something we HAD to explore.
Another gladly received tip was of a nice old friendly lodge called Pinetrees which would include all food and was the only place with beachfront access - it sounded ideal. A few days spent in Sydney visiting family and friends and we boarded a 36 seater plane to make the two hour trip north to Lord Howe.
It was a pleasant shock when we arrived to see the one kilometre long air strip but the ease of how we touched down and the sunny skies that awaited us and our first glimpse of the island including the very small airport (small old house) gave us no stress.... a sign of the next five days where you left your troubles back on the mainland - as the locals referred to Australia. :)

Qantaslink plane arriving

Lord Howe International Airport

Walking off the plane and you could see the small group of friendly locals awaiting their new guests and when we met Rachael one of the four owners of Pinetrees she instantly made us feel welcome. Even on the way to the lodge we got a tour of the south part of the island (in case we didn't go that far :)) and we saw close up the imposing Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird and knew we would for sure come back to get up close and personal.... but no way were we climbing Mt Gower! Rachael gave us an idea of the island's attractions and some info regarding how you had to be a local to buy there and had to be employed. Also as we we drove back as it was a hot afternoon Rachael picked up some golfers and gave them a lift - island hospitality at it's finest.

Once we made it to our lodge we enjoyed a complimentary drink.We were directed to an info board on all the things we could do and this also gave us weather conditions as we soon learnt on this island things changed quickly! First thing was to get into some shorts and cross the road to the beach! On this island no rooms are locked as they don't have any crime so we didn't need to worry about keys. Before reaching the beach we ventured past the boatshed with it's honesty bar.... again a lot of trust put in but you felt already comfortable and safe.

The Boatshed looking towards Mt Gower

Lagoon Beach

Part of the attraction of our accommodation was the fact all the meals were catered for and already it was time for afternoon tea at the lodge. This is very helpful as the island only receives a ship every two weeks from Port Macquarie and not having the thought of what and where shall we eat was certainly another reason we enjoyed it.
The tip from the staff was that due to the weather being so sunny and clear to head down back to the Boatshed and get ready for the sunset. Looking towards Blackburn island from Lagoon Beach we were indeed quite grateful for the tip and sat and enjoyed what was a superb sunset.

Sunset over Blackburn Island

Enjoying the Serenity

Our first evening dining experience followed from the sunset viewing and this was mouthwatering with a four course meal available. We also made friends with two lovely ladies next to our table who relayed how on the Saturday they flew in from Port Macquarie but after attempting it four times had to turn around and go back due to inclement weather. We joked about it and laughed that it wouldn't be so bad to be stuck on the island and little did we know how prophetic our words would be when we would depart.
Being so remote made the evening sky stars all so more bright and we sat and looked up at the deserted boatshed after a beautiful dinner.
The next morning and we thought the alarm hadn't gone off as it looked like the sun was up already but we didn't know that the sun rises a little after 5am on the Island..... a pleasant surprise. Breakfast wasn't till 8am but we were on island time and after enjoying the continental buffet and then being able to choose a cooked option we were raring to go.
The staff visit you at your table during breakfast to see what you have planned and we thought we would do some exploring and go to Ned's Beach, in this case they organise to bring lunch to you to cook on a BBQ (more details later).
Of course there is only one place to hire a bike on the Island so after a short walk we were sorted with our transport. The speed limit is only 25km/h and there are hardly any cars apart from the locals but they do make sure you wear your helmets!
Just a short ride through "town" and you go down Ned's Beach Road to arrive at Ned's Beach. We had heard the fish come up to you to be fed so we dipped our toes in to see if this was true and after a little while we did indeed come across these mysterious fish who were more than willing to come up to you!
As promised Rachael arrived with the promised BBQ delivery in a large esky loaded with sausages, rissoles, chops, fish, cheese, salad, sauces, fruit and of course even the matches! All we had to do was leave it in the shed and they would pick it up later, this was indeed the life!

BBQ time at Ned's Beach

Time to tuck in!

With a promise to return before we left we jumped back onto our bikes and spotted a local cemetery we went and had a look at. Sometimes there are some interesting stories in those old gravestones and this was of course evident on Lord Howe Island. After we got back to Pinetrees we dropped off some of our stuff and headed to the Turtle Tour we had booked for 3pm.
Unfortunately the tour had been cancelled due to the low tide and we had to wait till the next day. The honesty of the tour operator was okay for us as we would rather be delayed than go when it may not of been ideal conditions. Still we knew there was lots more to do so after negotiating a large hill up to Andersons Rd and leaving our bikes in one of the many bikestands on the island we went towards Middle Beach.
Luckily a decision had been made to change into our hiking boots and the rain jackets in the backpack were used as we made our way down the incline to Middle Beach to see what a low tide can provide... dry snorkelling!

Middle Beach at Low Tide

Two happy explorers at Middle Beach

 So we spent a wonderful afternoon tip toeing around the coral which was exposed enough for us to look at closely without getting wet (well not from below - just a slight drizzle) and the beach was again almost deserted.A photography group from Pinetrees were just leaving as we arrived and left probably because of the rain but it really didn't bother us at all.

After a while we knew it was time to go back but we knew another exciting four course dinner was awaiting us. It was so quiet on the Island and we truly felt like we were on a holiday!
Of course the meal didn't disappoint and over dinner we discussed with the other holidayers and staff the prospect of climbing to Mt Eliza the next day before our Turtle Tour at 1pm. Everyone was smiling and nodding in agreement we could do that but in hindsight we should have realised that everyone was being overly agreeable.

Again during breakfast we mentioned our plan to walk up Mt Eliza on the northern end and no-one really said it wasn't achievable. In fact it was relayed to us that it was nesting season so you could only go half way up so should be no dramas.We grabbed our Lunch Packs and took our bikes to Old Settlement Beach and began our trek by going past a paddock with some cattle before we got to the base of the first ascent which was Malabar Hill with an ascent of 210 metres but a lot of old stones as steps. It was a particularly muggy day but we were determined to get up there!

 

Nice long treks!

Smiling but very sweaty!