Visit Lord Howe Island - an Extraordinary Paradise
Breathtakingly beautiful, this unspoiled paradise off Australia’s east coast can be reached within just two hours’ travel from the mainland.
Born of volcanic activity about six million years ago, Lord Howe Island Group (LHIG) lies in the Tasman Sea, 700km northeast of Sydney. The islands are truly remarkable, boasting spectacular landscapes that abound in natural wonders. Nurtured by a mild oceanic climate described as perpetual spring’, the lofty peaks of the main island rise on steep ridges swathed in pristine rainforest, palm groves and grasslands containing many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.
The island’s ragged coastline is a mix of sheer bluffs, rocky inlets, tidal platforms and white sandy beaches, with a turquoise lagoon fringed by the world's southernmost coral reef. The beaches, cliffs and rocky islets teem with local and migratory seabirds in breeding colonies that are vital to the conservation of their species.
Lord Howe also has a rich and colourful history, from the time of its discovery in 1788 to its inscription on the World Heritage List. The resident population of around 400 enjoys a relaxed island lifestyle, shared by tourists restricted to roughly equivalent numbers who have reached the island by a mere two-hour flight from either Sydney or Brisbane.
Volcanic Origins
Lord Howe Island is the youngest and most southerly in a chain of nine submarine volcanoes (seamounts) that stretches more than 1,000 km along the western rim of an undersea plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. Lord Howe and nearby Balls Pyramid are the only seamounts above the ocean surface, while the coral-capped guyots of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, 200km to the north, are exposed only at low tide.
The chain began forming about 25 million years ago as the Australian continental plate moved northwards, passing over a stationary ‘hot spot’ in the mantle and triggering a succession of volcanic eruptions through the seabed. Then, about seven million years ago, a large shield volcano erupted at the southern end of the Rise, creating a mountain with a base about 40km wide by 80km long, rising steeply from depths of 3,500m below sea level to a terrestrial peak in excess of 1,000 metres. Lord Howe’s northern hills are older than its southern peaks of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird by some 500,000 years. Over time, the sea eroded more than 95 per cent of the original volcano, leaving scattered remnants that today comprise the group.
The iconic twin peaks of Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower behind the inside lagoon
Lord Howe Island
The LHIG comprises 28 islands, exposed rocky islets and associated coral reefs dotted over 1,463 square kilometres. Lord Howe, the largest island in the group, is an irregularly crescent-shaped strip about 10km long and three kilometres at its widest point, encompassing 14.55 square kilometres.
Truncated by sheer sea cliffs, the northern section rises to Malabar Hill (209m) and Mount Eliza (147m) and is covered by relatively untouched forest. The southern part is dominated by the spectacular volcanic peaks of Mount Gower (875m) and Mount Lidgbird (777m), with densely rainforested flanks that drop steeply to a rocky, convoluted shoreline.
A view of Neds Beach from Malabar Hill
The hills and mountains at each end of Lord Howe are connected by a narrow low-lying isthmus of calcarenite, a white sedimentary rock of compacted sand and coral debris accumulated during ancient times into dunes rising to 80m at Transit Hill. The rock contains 40,000-year-old fossils of bird bones and eggs, land and marine snails, and an extinct giant horned turtle. The isthmus is overlain by fertile alluvial soil which supports lush vegetation that has been partly cleared for farming, an airstrip and housing for the only settlement in the island group.
Along its eastern side the isthmus is a series of ragged points and rock platforms interspersed by sandy beaches – Neds, Middle and Blinky – while the western shore is an almost continuous perimeter of white sand along a semi-enclosed lagoon with a fringing reef.
Balls Pyramid
Dominating the skyline 23km southeast of Lord Howe, the most notable of all the group’s offshore islands is the majestic Balls Pyramid, named after Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball who first sighted it in 1788. Resembling a giant Gothic spire, this eroded volcanic remnant rises vertically from the ocean to a height of 551 metres. During spring and summer, the Pyramid is home to a great variety of nesting seabirds and is the only breeding location in Australia for the Kermadec petrel. It also contains the only wild population of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, formerly thought to be extinct. The surrounding waters teem with schools of deep-sea kingfish, making it a popular fishing spot.
The Admiralty Islands
Lying within two kilometres of the northern tip of Lord Howe, the Admiralty Islands comprise a cluster of eight small basalt outcrops - Soldiers Cap, Sugarloaf Island, Noddy Island, South Island, Roach Island, Tenth of June Island, North Rock and Flat Rock - characterised by steep-sided cliffs, rounded tops and volcanic dykes. The largest of the group is Roach Island, 700m long and 73m high, featuring an unusual wave-cut tunnel through its northern end which is accessible by small motor boats on calm days.
In spring and summer, the islands are occupied by thousands of breeding seabirds, including masked boobies, sooty terns, brown noddies, wedge-tailed shearwaters and white-bellied storm petrels. In exceptionally calm weather, tour boats cruise the islands and land visitors on some of them for an up-close experience of this avian spectacle. The deep water around North Rock and Flat Rock is popular with scuba divers for the many interesting underwater rock formations.
Oceanography
Located 600km off the mainland coast, at latitude 31°S, the Lord Howe group lies at the boundary between the tropical Coral Sea and temperate Tasman Sea, and is greatly affected by the Tasman Front, an offshoot of the East Australian Current (EAC).
The EAC is the largest ocean current close Australia’s east coast and the principal driver of ecological processes in the Temperate East Marine Region. Flowing strongly southward along the outer edge of the narrow continental shelf, the EAC carries warm tropical water from the Coral Sea in a swathe 500m deep and 100km wide. At about latitude 33°S, a large part of the EAC separates from its coastal trajectory and veers east to form the Tasman Front, following a path that meanders between 32°and 36°S.
Shifting to the north in winter and to the south in summer, the Front alternately cools and warms the ocean around Lord Howe Island. It also generates a series of large eddies that migrate eastwards, trapping nutrients and aggregations of plankton that enhance productivity and attract schools of pelagic fish and mobile species such as turtles, cetaceans, tuna and billfish. The Front and its eddies also transport and disperse tropical and temperate species around Lord Howe and out to the western Pacific.
Outstanding Biodiversity
The convergence of tropical and temperate ocean currents within the LHIG has created a unique combination of flora and fauna, including significant populations of globally threatened species, some of them found nowhere else.
The resulting biodiversity is rich and truly astounding for so small a group of oceanic islands. On Lord Howe, 241 species of native plants thrive in many different habitats from sea level to Mt Gower's summit. Nearly half of these are endemic to the island. More than 200 bird species have been recorded across the LHIG, including 32 land and seabirds that annually breed in their thousands. Among them, the endangered woodhen and the providence petrel are two of the world's rarest birds.
The region’s marine life includes more than 500 species of fish, sharks and rays, 110 kinds of echinoderm (starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and nudibranchs), 70 crustaceans, and more than 90 species of coral that populate the reefs. Green and hawksbill turtles are the most prevalent of the four species that live in the local waters. Of marine mammals, the bottlenose dolphin is common, while increasing numbers of humpback whales migrate through the islands each year.
Heritage and Conservation
In 1982, the LHIG was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its exceptional natural beauty and rich terrestrial and marine biodiversity. The entire World Heritage property covers 1,463 square kilometres. On the basis of its UNESCO listing, the LHIG was included in the Australian National Heritage List in 2007, and has been added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register because of its cultural and historical significance to that state.
The terrestrial heritage areas are protected under both Commonwealth and State conservation laws, and managed by the Lord Howe Island Board (LHIB) in association with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Board is also charged with the administration of island affairs, including the provision of community services and infrastructure, management of the kentia palm industry and regulation of tourism.
The offshore environment is protected by State and Commonwealth marine parks. Established in 1999, the NSW Lord Howe Island Marine Park covers 460 square kilometres from the mean high-water mark to the 3nm limit of state waters around Lord Howe Island, the Admiralty Islands, Balls Pyramid and South East Rock. The adjacent Commonwealth Lord Howe Marine Park also includes the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, and extends from 3 to 12nm out to cover an area of 110,126 square kilometres. Management of all protected marine areas is the responsibility of the New South Wales Marine Park Authority.
Maritime history
Before its discovery in 1788, the Lord Howe island group was uninhabited and apparently unknown to indigenous people of the South Pacific and South East Asia. Despite extensive archaeological investigation, no evidence of prehistoric human activity has ever been found here. The first reported sighting of Lord Howe Island occurred on 17 February 1788 when HMS Supply, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, was en route from Sydney Cove to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island.
During the return voyage to Sydney Cove, Supply anchored off the island's west coast on 13 March and a landing party went ashore to take possession in the name of the British Crown. Ball named the main island in honour of Richard Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, as well as Mount Lidgbird and Balls Pyramid after himself. Subsequently, government ships travelling between Sydney Cove and Norfolk Island, as well as whalers and trading vessels plying the South Pacific, visited the island to replenish their water and augment food supplies by capturing turtles and seabirds.
In the 1890s, erratic visits by small coastal traders gave way to a more regular steamship service operated by Burns Philp, reflecting the increased level of trade and tourism. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, most ships in the Burns Philp fleet were assigned to naval transport and support duties, and the frequency of the island's shipping service declined dramatically. Sailing schedules were unpredictable and were not advertised due to the ever-present danger of submarine attack. Post-war, a steady maritime link with the mainland resumed and continues with the fortnightly service by MV Island Trader from Port Macquarie.
Throughout this motley history, some 47 vessels have come to grief on the LHIG’s rocky islets and sea-washed reefs, at the cost of 56 lives. Many of these were small wooden boats, of which little trace exists, but remnants of the steel-hulled Annasona and Errol lie strewn across Middleton Reef. Since the freighter Runic struck the reef in 1961, 18 fishing trawlers and three small yachts have foundered on the atolls.
In 2002, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Nottingham struck Wolf Rock, sustaining a 50m gash along its side. She was towed (stern-first) to Newcastle (NSW) for makeshift repairs and later transferred to England for full reinstatement at a cost of 26 million pounds. At a subsequent court martial, the commanding officer (who was not on board at the time of the incident) was reprimanded, and two other senior officers (including the navigator) were dismissed from the ship.
Settlement and Development
No permanent occupation of Lord Howe Island occurred until June 1834, when three men were employed by a Sydney whaling firm to establish a supply station, which they did (with their families) at a site now known as Old Settlement on Hunter Bay below the northern foothills. The settlers made a living by fishing, raising pigs and goats and growing vegetables and fruit, which they bartered with passing ships for clothes, tools and commodities not available on the island.
Lord Howe’s fortunes as a provisioning port peaked in the 1850s, attracting as many as 60 whaling and small trading vessels a year. In 1855, the island was officially designated as part of New South Wales, which assumed control from the British Crown. When whaling declined dramatically in the 1870s, the islanders were reduced to subsistence farming until the export of kentia palm seed developed as a major enterprise in the latter part of the 19th century. The industry continues to the present day, earning annual revenue of more than $2 million.
Tourism
Tourism began as a major industry at the turn of the 20th century and grew significantly after World War II when tourists arrived in flying boats operating out of Rose Bay, Sydney, a flight of about three and a half hours. When the airstrip was completed in 1974, the seaplanes were replaced with twin-engine turboprop aircraft from Sydney or Brisbane.
Even though the number of tourists permitted on the island at any one time is limited to 400, tourism has gradually replaced agriculture as the island’s most lucrative industry, with up to 16,000 visitors annually.
The tourism industry is based primarily on the LHIG’s natural attractions and its image as an unspoiled holiday destination providing a variety of recreational and eco-oriented pastimes. Land-based activities include golf, cycling, bushwalking, photography and birdwatching. On the water, boat tours, fishing, surfing, kayaking, snorkelling and scuba diving are very popular with visitors. Tourist accommodation ranges from luxury lodges to apartments and villa units.
Boating
More than 100 cruising yachts and other small craft visit Lord Howe each year, most of them engaging in recreational or fishing activities. The use of personal motorised watercraft (jet skis) is prohibited within the NSW marine park.
Anchoring in the marine parks is restricted to protect coral communities from anchor and chain damage. Vessels greater than five metres long cannot anchor in the Lord Howe Island lagoon, except in North Bay, parts of Blackburn Island, North, South and Erscotts Passages, and within 50m of the boat ramp. Vessels over 25m cannot anchor in the marine park except at six designated roadstead anchorages. Anchoring in sanctuary zones is prohibited, except for vessels less than 10m long within specified areas in the Admiralty Islands, Neds Beach, East Coast and Shelf sanctuary zones, and within 100m of the eastern end of North Bay Beach.
Ten moorings are provided by the Marine Park Authority in the lagoon for the public and tour operators. The LHIB maintains another 18 public moorings for visiting yachts and these may be booked on application made before departing for the island. Moorings are assigned according to the vessel’s draft, length-over-all and tonnage. An Approval to Attach to a Mooring Apparatus is sent to the applicant by email or fax, and this must be presented to the Port Operations Manager on arrival.
Recreational Fishing
Lord Howe Island offers world class fishing, which occurs mostly within the coastal waters of the State marine park, where special management rules apply (as to size, bag limits and gear) and anglers require a saltwater recreational fishing licence. Check the zones and management rules in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park Zoning Map and User Guide.
With its large, sheltered lagoon and varied shoreline, it’s possible to find good fishing in almost any weather, either from trailer boats (anchored or drifting) or from shore on beaches, rock platforms or the lagoon jetty. Fishing close to the island may land trevally, silver drummer, kingfish, spangled emperor, bluefish and double header wrasse. (Bag limits apply to bluefish and double headers, and a catch-and-release policy is encouraged).
In offshore Commonwealth waters, notably in the drop-off 3-5nm off the northern and southern ends of the island, game fishing targets deep-water pelagics such as marlin (blue and striped), sharks (Galapagos, bronze whalers, tigers, whites and makos), sailfish, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, trevally, bonito, yellow-tail kingfish and spangled emperor.
Yellowfin tuna
Several charter boat operators offer half and full-day and private fishing trips within the lagoon, around the island and to Balls Pyramid. Some fishing boats are surveyed to operate beyond 3nm. Tackle suited to Lord Howe conditions is included in the price of most fishing trips.