Lord Howe Island

How lucky I am to have such an interesting life that I have not yet finished writing about the last adventures before the next one has started.

We have barely recovered from our backpacking tour of Europe, and the list of preparations for an ocean passage is long, especially after such an extended period of time in the harbour.  So story writing was relegated to the bottom of the list!  We were pleased that Rob's long time sailing buddy, Chris, decided to join us for the trip to Tonga.  Had he not arrived from Whangarei a few days early, we may still be in Pittwater finding things that needed to be done.

On the third day out of Sydney, after a blustery passage from Sydney with Blue Moon averaging 7.8 knots, we approached Lord Howe Island at dawn.  Coming up from the south, we saw Balls Pyramid, a sheer spire of 552 meters rising from 1800 odd meters of ocean depth and sailed past the majestic cliffs (864 meters) of Lord Howe Island.  The lagoon faces west, and looked to offer no protection from the winds that day, so we continued around the top of the island to the leeward side and anchored at Middle Beach.

After a welcome bath in the crystal clear blue water we made our way ashore.  The first thing we noticed was a wonderful perfume that wafted through the rain forest that surrounded the path to town.  The second outstanding thing we noticed about the island is its people.  Everyone waves and says hello, which generates a very welcoming feeling.  We stopped at Joy's shop for ice cream and post cards, then checked in with Campbell at the bike rental shop - very informal.  He provided us with information about the island, a map and a new bike tube for our fishing line.  On through the main town, there are quite a few shops, banks, cafes, a museum and even a movie theatre, all housed in tiny weatherboard buildings hidden among the foliage so you do not really get the impression of a 'town' at all.

We bought a loaf of 'fish feeding bread' and walked over to Ned's Beach, where one of the locals feeds fish at 4:00 pm every day.  Campbell had explained that we could do this any time so of course I went straight in with my bread and in no time had a frenzy of Mullet, a few brightly colored Parrot fish, a school of sizable Blue fish and one 3 foot long Kingfish around my legs.  They swim right into you, eat out of your hand, and one took a good nip out of my shin, perhaps in retaliation for the Blue fish and chips I had just eaten for lunch.

We spent an uncomfortable night rolling in the anchorage, and conditions had freshened by morning so that the lagoon was completely impassable.  When the surfers arrived in our bay Chris was wishing he had his brought his board along.  However we realized it would be best to spend the next night at sea.  So we did a few jobs on the boat and had a final look at the island.  I explored some more of the surrounding bush, with its lush valleys of Kentia Palms, Banyan, giant Figs (Ficus) and Pandanus.  I found my way to the top of Transit Hill, which offers a spectacular 360 degree view.  A plaque suggests the hill was named after the transit of planet Venus which was first observed at that spot in 1882.  Coincidentally, a transit of Venus had just occurred a few days earlier, a rare event apparently.  At the top I met Brian and his grandson Henry who were a wealth of knowledge, pointing out local land marks, (including the rock that the English frigate went up on a couple of years ago) and identifying the bird life.  We have seen Golden Whistlers, Rails, emerald Ground Pigeons (Emerald Dove), and a colony of Masked Boobies nesting on the outlying islands. So it was a short stay, but well worth stopping for.  I only wish we had the chance to snorkel as our bay looked nice, reportedly the southern most coral reef in the world.  But the swell was building and the winds were bending into the bay so we set to sea again late in the afternoon.

That night when we were all up for a sail change in the middle of a squall, I looked back to see a shaft of light on the horizon.  Eventually it became a complete arch and we realized it was a moonbow.  It became a solid arc of pure white light with some of the prism colors down near the horizon.  Inside the arc seemed to be more brightly lit than the surrounding sky.  It was very eerie.  It lasted quite a few minutes, with all of us watching mesmerized as it retracted back down as if being sucked into a hole in the ocean.

On our 4th day, since leaving Lord Howe, we approached the banks that extend north of Norfolk Island .  Light head winds have given us a comfortable passage, although slow and we have missed Norfolk by 50 miles.  If we hope to stop there, we have another day of beating ahead of us - so we will look forward to a new adventure tomorrow.

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