Lord Howe Island - Castles in the mist

Out in the streams of the Pacific Ocean, the weather can change on the head of a pin, and a wily tour operator has plans, rather than schedules. No sooner had we tossed our bags through the guest-house door, than we were clambering onto a charter vessel taking a dozen of us the 6 kms down the lagoon, and then another 23 kms through open waters to Ball's Pyramid, the eroded remnant of a long-gone volcanic island which rises 551m above sea-level.


Both the light and the peace were magical. Shearwaters dipped and waved around and across our bow. Masked Boobys kept pace as we ploughed through the swell. Petrels soared magnificently overhead riding whe upper atmosphere. Eventually the sated camera finger was stilled. The camera of the mind's eye whirred on.


Follow my Lord Howe Island escape on Hither & thither as from today.

Lord Howe Island - a lagoon

LHI is a small crescent shaped extinct volcano crater, with the lagoon fringed on its east by pristine sands and on its west by a coral reef full of tropical fishes and a vast array of coral. This first image was upon our return from snorkeling from a glass-bottomed boat on the Sunday. In the background are (L) Mount Lidgbird (777m) and (R) Mount Gower (873m). They are both topped with rainforest.


On the Tuesday we boated across to North Bay for the day, walking the isthmus to Old Gulch, where the wind was way gusty to clamber around to New Gulch. After a BBQ lunch, we hiked 2/3 way up Mount Eliza which afforded thiswonderful views across the lagoon to the twin mountains at the southern end. The final image shows across the lagoon, with Blackburn Island dwarfed in the centre. All the while we were 'twitching' - hunting for the birds on our list. More of that detail from Monday on my travel blog, Hither & thither.

Lord Howe Island - an idyll

This morning I returned from five days on Lord Howe Island, which is part of the state of New South Wales but about 750km to the east of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. Spending the time with a bunch of bird fanatics, the days were jam-packed, the walking continuous, and the sights just wonderful.


These shots were all taken on my very first day on the island. They were taken from the 'boatshed' belonging to the guesthouse at which we stayed, 'Pinetrees'. The island out in the coral fringed lagoon is Blackburn Island. More on LHI over the weekend, followed by a more fulsome report on my travel blog, 'Hither & thither'.


A sometime member of the Skywatch community of blogs.
Just to emphasise - all three images are 'straight out of camera'.