Lord Howe Island....Dramatic!! PART TWO

Once we reached the peak of Malabar Hill we took a well deserved break and noticed a "short" hike of 500 metres to Kim's Lookout which we though would be nice to do later. It only really took us just over twenty minutes to get up the hill but now we had to get down an equally steep descent to North Bay. This trek seemed a bit more up to date and we passed another trekker who informed us he was in training to do Mt Gower and was on the Island for two weeks... lucky bugger.
North Bay was a worthwhile destination by the time we arrived and we could already see the amount of bird life evident on Mt Eliza. We took in our surrounds and made a detour to Old Gulch which was something again - adding drama to this unique Island!

Old Gulch

The view from North Bay

Well we had made it but time had got the better of us in regards to climbing Mt Eliza with our Turtle tour upon us yet we had another hike back up again and we managed to share a laugh at the hiker going past us wearing thongs. Time for another breather and we saw the reminder for Kim's Lookout and we couldn't not go and have a look as we were up this far already. The beginning of this hike started flat but once we started climbing again we knew we may get a view but I think we were both surprised at just how good. The only thing missing was some safety barriers but the location made up for it! :)

Two weary travellers!

Lord Howe Island...Dramatic!!

After collecting our breath and with our impending Turtle Tour not far we begrudgingly made our way back down Malabar Hill. Still there was time at the base where we could sit overlooking Old Settlement Beach devouring our Lunch Pack from Pinetrees, we were two hungry trekkers! The weather looked ominous so when we reached the tour it was decided against snorkeling and with no crime on the island it was no dramas to leave our boots in our baskets on the bikes!
It was a pretty low tide again but looking through the glass boat bottom and you felt incredibly close and after watching the other group members emerge from the water looking blue and shivering we were happy with our decision to admire the coral dry. Our guide really was informative and we found "small" turtles which we thought huge and a very scary stingray. The coral alone was amazing and this is new regrowing due to the flying boats no longer coming since the 1970's.

Dry Snorkeler!

View from Turtle Boat Tour

Luckliy we made it back to shore as the tide was receding rapidly and after all that fresh air and activity both of us were looking forward to our evening meal. Even more so as I (Jason) had.... fish!! The Barramundi was great and tender and funnily.... not fishy! As with every other meal we had it couldn't be faulted and that really made the trip so much more relaxing.
Friday was here already but we still had a lot more we wanted to see so in the morning it was onward to Blinky Beach for a morning swim. A short ride and this beach is opposite the small airstrip and home again to some unique bird life. The conditions were a bit too much for swimming but that mattered little as we wandered along this beach capturing our surrounds.

After abandoning a swim at Blinky Beach we knew a small strip literally at the end of the airstrip with some beach which we thought might suit our needs a bit better. The tide was high and we really only got knee high but being able to sit in this quiet spot all by ourselves was more than enough to please us. Being on holidays our hunger knew it must be another meal time and with the title "Friday Fry Up" it sounded ominous. As thought we discovered a buffet salad bar with.... more fish! This time the famous and delicious local Kingfish was on the menu and again Jason enjoyed but did have a lot of chips to balance it!
When we arrived on Tuesday we noticed some photographers waiting for the plane and the opportunity for us to be this close was one we couldn't ignore. Hurriedly we jumped again on our invaluable bikes and set up awaiting the plane to arrive. Sadly today it came in from a different angle and you think you would have heard it but it was quiet.... still it was cool to see them pull up so quick!

The airport is on the south end of the Island and the "Dramatic" Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird were still inviting us to head on down there to walk to a place called Little Island which apparently was at the base so it was onward to more exploring.