goodelf06: Lord Howe Island August 2012

And so the avalanche of food continued at Pinetrees. On the Wednesday, those with a head for heights climbed up to the Lower Roads and went into the valley between Mt Gower and Mt Lidgebird. Steve did this but the allsorans walked back to Pinetrees from Little Island turn around. Three of us did walk into Little Island and watched the bums ascend the rope climb to the Lower Roads and then waited to see them emerge the size of ants onto the Lower Roads. The walk back to Pinetrees into the gale force wind was challenging but very picturesque and I guess one gets used to anything. The photo theme for the day was Drama. I got back at about 3 pm and had a little lie down before afternoon tea at 4 pm. Meryl ate dinner with us as she was going back to the mainland on Thursday.

And Millie did get into the picture. Here she is falling off the cliff,

Then came Thursday with a boat ride to North Bay from where the triple peaks of North Head (ropes laid because of the slippery slopes), Mt Eliza, and Kim's Lookout were scaled by many. I went most of the way up Eliza until I had a fall on my camera (crunch and whirr but eventually it righted itself). The BBQ lunch with garlic prawns and Kingfish, Kebabs and lamb was superb. The photography challenge was to take a photo of a Lord Howe Island icon with the proviso that it must have a prominent line leading to the subject.

Dean Hisco demonstrating how they climb the Kentia Palms to collect the seeds.

My entry which could have done with gorgeous Elsie playing in the sand in the foreground.

Friday's challenge was "Blue and Green should never be seen unless there's comething in between". Steve and three others went up Mt Gower while the rest of us were left on our own to explore. I walked over to Middle Beach, the Clear Place and the Valley of the Shadows and then in the afternoon we went with Luke to Blinky Beach to try our camera skills.

One of the days we were on the island a Hercules landed causing quite a bit of excitement.

Steve got a certificate for climbing Mt Gower, a climb which must be done with a guide. Here are some of Steve's photos from the top.

After the photography week was over, the weather brightened up on the Saturday so Steve and I did a short walk to the end of the Lagoon and back, stopping to watch the supply ship unloading for a while. Apparently this was the first ship for 3 weeks as the population on the island was low due to off-season.

In the afternoon we walked up Intermediate Hill (250 m) which turned out to be quite unrewarding in terms of the view from the top. Both Steve and I had a dramatic slip on the way down.

I climbed Mt Gower!!!!!

Golden whistlers everywhere

Now there's some drama

Lord Howe Island restricts the number of people on the island at one time to 400. Add to this the cost of Qantas Link and it is not a place we could go to often. The airfares were $1465 for 2.

We flew out on Sunday at 1205. The computer at the airport was down so paperwork had to be done manually. Ashley was the Flight Steward again; she must opt to do this job. Lunch filled in time and suddenly we were told to prepare for landing. It is only 1-1/2 hours from go to wo. The colours were spectacular as we flew over Stradbroke Island and Moreton Bay - I don't think I've ever flown into Brisbane in daytime before. Also, perhaps it was so clear because we were in a DC8 and flying at a lower altitude???

As proof that I did go up some of these peaks, here's a photo taken by Steve.