LIFE L08

L8 THE AUSTRAL IAN F INANC IAL REV IEW DECEMBER 18 -20 ● 2009

TRAVEL LORD HOWE ISLAND

Take a walk where everything comes naturallyIt’s always a good time

to visit this World

Heritage site, writes

Marguerite Winter.

Clockwise from far left, Old Settlement

Beach; a group climbing Mount Gower;

Pinetrees; Ball’s Pyramid; Capella

Lodge. Bottom left, kentia palm

saplings. Photos Tourism NSW,

courtesy Pinetrees, Capella Lodge and

Lord Howe Island Tourism Association

Unlike Queenslandislands, there’s nosummer monsoonor stingers. Andno snakes or creepycrawlies, either.

On our first walk to Little Bay, atthe southern and more dramaticend of the giant’s claw that isLord Howe Island, a pensive youngman is coming up the rise towardsus. He is deep in thought butnonetheless salutes us on thisdeserted road, the island’s mainthoroughfare. He is the onlyperson we will encounter in that90-minute stroll.

There are cattle in the tiltedgreen fields that sit in the lee oftwo brooding granite peaks as weapproach Little Bay. The stillnessof the late afternoon, thepreoccupied young man on theempty road – it’s all very19th century somehow.

This impression is reinforced thefollowing morning when we takethe glass-bottomed boat to theother end of the 11-kilometreisland (it’s a kilometre wide) towalk along the littoral with IanHutton, the island’s internationallyrespected naturalist – a man witha very 19th century interest inspecimens great and small.

Hutton came to the island – anequidistant 600 kilometres fromSydney or Brisbane – 30 years agoas a weather observer with theBureau of Meteorology and stayedon to observe, photograph,research and record the island’snatural history.

It’s a story he has taken to theworld. He has 10 books to his nameand is on the international eco-lecture circuit. He’s leaving for NewYork the day after our walk and hislatest book is sponsored by twoAmerican sisters who are notednatural history philanthropists.

To the raucous backdrop ofhundreds of terns nesting in thegrassy sandbank, our little bandmoves off along the beach to lookfirst at some of the marineanimals that have washed up onthe shore. Hutton picks up theskeleton of a type of sea urchin,the heart urchin, and describeshow these creatures live under thesand and use their bristly exteriorto move through the sand ‘‘like araised galleon’’, rowing their wayas they ingest and break downorganic matter from the sand,which they later expel.

The tiny bleached skeleton is, asHutton says, a beautiful object andlots of visitors take them home assouvenirs. ‘‘This is allowed underthe Lord Howe Island Act,’’ headds; and we are instantlyreminded that the whole of thisbasalt island group is a sanctuary– one of only four to be inscribedon the United Nations Educational,Scientific and CulturalOrganisation’s World Heritage listfor the global significance of itsnatural beauty and heritage.

This significance wasunderstood early; the islandattracted much scientific interestfrom the time of its discovery in1788, when the commander of theSupply came upon it en route tothe penal colony of Norfolk Island.At various points in its shortinhabited history, the island’s tinybut doughty population (now 370)

has banished introduced speciessuch as feral goats, pigs andcats, and a huge weed eradicationeffort is continuing.

The announcement of anambitious and thorough programto eliminate rats (which cameashore from a vessel in 1918)received front-page news on themainland in October. It is thoughtthis last effort will return theisland to the near-pristine state inwhich it dwelt for millions ofyears, sustaining a unique andutterly natural environment.

For a time in the 19th century,whalers used the island for foodand fresh water. This happenedboth before and after the arrival ofthe first settlers – three couplesfrom New Zealand – in 1834.

When whaling declined in the1870s, the islanders (now morethan 40 people) supplied seeds ofthe kentia palm (Howeaforsteriana is endemic to LordHowe) to the European market tofeed the Victorian-era craze forparlour palms. Forests of thesehandsome specimens, interspersedwith the remarkable banyan tree(Ficus columnaris), create acanopy for the island’s manyupland walks and are just one ofthe ‘‘exceptional range ofecosystems’’ that are part of the‘‘outstanding universal value’’ forwhich Lord Howe gained itsheritage listing.

The families looking aftertourists today are descended fromthose who provided hospitality tothose 19th century whalers andthen, in turn, to the tourists whobegan arriving from the mainlandat the beginning of the followingcentury. Among the mostprominent of these families are theproprietors of the legendaryPinetrees, sisters Pixie O’Rourke

and Kerry McFadyen and theirmainland husbands Ed and Bruce.

Pinetrees is now 100 years oldand has been receivinggenerations of the same families.These days, it has the feel of anold and treasured guesthouse withcabins scattered about the lushand exotic setting. It was afavoured place for many of theSydney bar and their families overthe second half of the 20thcentury, when flying boatsreplaced the old passenger shipfrom mainland Australia.

These have been superseded byQantasLink’s daily flights to theisland. Pinetrees’ simple boatshed,sited along the edge of thesheltered aquamarine lagoonwithin the crescent of the island,

remains for many of its long-timevisitors a hallowed place for asundowner at close of day.

That Lord Howe is a place ofreturning prodigals is borne out bythe story of the island’s mostrecent developers of resortfacilities, James and HayleyBaillie, whose now five-year-old,quietly glamorous and justoverhauled Capella Lodge isattracting a new kind ofsophisticate to the island, of thedomestic and international variety.

Asked why they chose LordHowe as the first of theirdeveloping list of upmarket lodges(which includes Southern OceanLodge on Kangaroo Island), JamesBaillie has this to say:

‘‘It was Hayley who introducedme to the spell of Lord Howe. Inmy days at P&O, she used to travelwith me to the likes of Lizard,Bedarra and Heron islands, andshe always used to say that I hadto come with her to Lord Howebecause it was a paradise. Hayleyhad spent her childhood holidayson the island with her parents,Dick and Pip Smith, who hadhoneymooned there.

‘‘Well, one weekend we did go toLord Howe and the rest is history.The island is unique; in manyways it’s an anti-resort place –more quaint [village] amidst aworld-class maritime wilderness.What it doesn’t have is probably itsbiggest attraction. And unlikeQueensland islands, there’s nosummer monsoon or stingers.’’

And no snakes or creepycrawlies, either. With atemperature that rarely goes below10 degrees or above 28, LordHowe Island is the perfect placefor year-round walking (there arefour levels of walking tracks),snorkelling and diving. There are

some spectacular walks on theeastern, ‘‘wild’’ side of the island,from which you might unwind inthe casually salubrious spaces ofCapella where, from the petite spato a delectable table d’hote, youare ministered to by an attentiveand discreet staff.

At dinner we discover that ourpensive-looking young man on theroad was Capella chef PhilWoolaston, perhaps consideringthe possibilities for the kingfishserved tonight.

Capella Lodge was established atthe less populated end of the island,up against the impressive profilesof Mount Gower (875 metres) andMount Lidgbird (777 metres) – allthat remains of the 6.4 million-year-old lava flows that filled alarge volcanic caldera.

Elsewhere, there is a range ofaccommodation for all tastes andbudgets, including houses andstylish apartment developments. Inaddition to a good cafe andrestaurant, a number of theisland’s resorts open their diningrooms to non-guests, includingArajilla, a luxury spa-in-a-forest atthe Old Settlement end of the islandwith an excellent reputation forfood. Arajilla uses the Ayurdabeauty range and incorporatesayurvedic therapeutic treatments.Something you’d only consider, ofcourse, should you really believeyou need pampering in paradise.

Getting thereMore information:www.lordhoweisland.infoThere is a daily QantasLinkBombardier Dash 8 flight:www.qantas.com

The author travelled withthe assistance of theNSW Government.