Netra and I decided to go on a scouting trip to Lord Howe Island, which is located
approximately 600km east of Port Macquarie, off the mid-north coast of NSW, Australia. It’s
a small island, approximately 10km long, and somewhere between 300m and 2km in width
at its narrowest and widest points respectively.
There are around 450 permanent island residents and visitor numbers are limited, so there
are no more than 400 extra people on the island at any given time. Lord Howe Island is a
UNESCO world heritage site with spectacular rainforests, beautiful beaches and crystal clear
sub-tropical oceans lapping its shoreline. There are many things to do, but for nature lovers
there is hiking, kayaking, fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving and nature photography all
amazing things to participate in while on the island itself.
We booked in January, so it was impossible to get accommodation at short notice for the
optimal times, but we scored seven nights in mid-May, which is the start of the winter
season, cooler weather, cooler water, but that was not enough to put us off. Sure, the
summer migrant seabirds would have long departed, but there were Providence Petrels
starting their courtship and breeding, there were plenty of other beautiful birds and other
things to see and experience, so we went anyway.
The important thing to be aware of is that Lord Howe Island has a runway of only 886
meters, and only certain aircraft can use this. Only a Dash 8-200 aircraft can safely take-off
and land at Lord Howe Island, so that really limits flights, passenger numbers per flight, and
most importantly, weight of your luggage. When we travelled, our cabin luggage (carry-on)
was limited to 7kg, which is standard. However, we were advised to break our checked
luggage into two suitcases or duffel bags. One at 14kg, and the other at 9kg. The 14kg bag
was guaranteed to travel with us, but the 9kg was not, and it was dependent on the weight of
the aircraft. In any case, we packed most important things into the 14kg bag, and mostly
packaged food into the 9kg bag. Why food? Well, it’s freaking expensive to buy groceries on
the island. How expensive? At that time, if you went to a mainland supermarket and
purchased a 1.25L soft drink, it would cost between $2.00 (on sale) or about $3.50 (normal
price). If you were to buy lactose free milk (long-life carton), you could get that for about the
same price. When I bought those two items in one of the only two little grocery stores, they
set me back just over $14.00. I nearly died, well, not really, but you get the picture.
Everything is marked up, and not because people are greedy, but because there is ONE
supply ship operating between the island and the mainland, and that ship comes once a
fortnight. A pallet space can cost upwards of $700.00 and that’s not an easy cost to recover
for a business. It must be recovered and that’s why things tend to be so expensive.
However, the folks running the stores were lovely, welcoming and were very helpful with
questions that we had.
We apparently arrived during the wettest week they had on Lord Howe for years and I swear,
we spent more time wet than dry. The plan was to check out the different locations on the
island to bring guests for a photography tour in the future. One of our main things is that we
always go to a location first ourselves to experience it, rather than just rely on local knowledge and arrive with our guests and little idea where to go, how the walks are going to be and so on. It’s our ethos and we stand by that. When is our first 2Mad Lord Howe adventure scheduled for? Read on to find out what we agreed upon with Netra.
I was so excited when our bus drove past the open fields alongside the runways. One of the
first birds I spotted was the native Lord Howe Island Woodhen, which came back form the
brink of extinction. There are just over 1,500 woodhens on the island now, and they are
relatively approachable. They had under 10 pairs alive in the 1970s, and with hard
conservation work, eradicating rodents from the island, they sure bounced back. The cool
thing is that since there are no land predators here, most birds are more approachable than
on the mainland. We would have seen maybe 30 species all up during our weeklong stay,
but it’s the quality, not the quantity that matters really.
Once we checked into our accommodation, we went for a quick walk in drizzling rain, to suss
out the lay of the main road connecting the lagoon and Ned’s Beach. We quickly spotted
Common Blackbirds, Buff-banded Rail and Woodhen, head the Lord Howe Island race of the
Golden Whistler and saw a pine tree full of noddies. Likely Black Noddies, but some could
have been Brown Noddies. They were finishing up their breeding in the tree in the center of
town, creating an area full of smelly bird poo and noise that was deafening. It certainly made
for some good photo ops over the coming days.
Once we walked to the lagoon, I checked into Lord Howe Island Divers and had a quick chat
to the team there, and I was able to organise a weight belt for me for snorkelling. Since I am
a bit on the chubby side, I am far more buoyant than during my younger years and need 18lb
of lead to ensure I can dive underwater and do some breath holding.
You can watch a snorkelling video here: NED’S BEACH SNORKELLING
We finished our late afternoon in the drizzly conditions, photographing a couple of Sacred
Kingfishers. While they were not super accommodating, and still a bit flighty, we could
certainly get closer than we could anywhere else without the use of a photography hide.
During our weeklong stay, we saw the sun on the second last day only. That’s really true! For
an island that seems to be always in the sun, with perfect weather and crystal-clear waters,
we experienced the exact opposite. Heavy downpours, muggy conditions, even in mid-May,
and more rain. It was quite unpleasant. What made it even worse was that our
accommodation was not prepared for such event. We could wash our clothes, which was
fantastic. However, they had lines only to dry clothes on, and even after a few days, our stuff
was damp due to the high humidity. We would have gladly paid for a dryer to have dry
clothing to wear.
What do you do in such inclement weather? Besides getting out for a quick walk between
shows and sampling the bird life offering to the cameras, you go snorkelling at Ned’s Beach,
or the lagoon. Both are excellent places to get in and see what stunning marine fishes live
under the surface of the sea at Lord Howe Island.
Since Netra was feeling under the weather for the first few days on the island, and the fact
she didn’t want to get even worse, I headed out alone. I remember sticking my head under the surface at Ned’s Beach to see the amazing fish variety all waiting in the shallows for the
free food they are given by those visitors who buy the small cups of food from the cupboard
on the shoreline. For a few dollars you get some dry kibble like stuff and you can throw it into
the water. The fish here are ginormous! Really huge! Silver drummer, various wrasses,
yellowtail kingfish, bluefish, mullet and many other species all rush you to get a free morsel.
It’s like a giant aquarium. And with Lord Howe Island boasting the southern most coral reefs
in the world, swimming around the reef was just an incredible experience. Seeing the local
clownfish (Amphiprion macchullochii) and the moray eels, the reef fish, it was just mind-
blowing. I have not really done much snorkelling outside of Sydney, so this was another
world entirely.
There were hawksbill and green turtles, and the most impressive creatures, the Galapagos
sharks, which came about arm’s length from me. Mostly out of curiosity rather than genuine
interest in making a meal out of me. Put it this way. They were big enough to cause serious
damage, but have no interest in attacking people. They are such magnificent, sleek fish, as
they cruise through checking out the area for an easy meal. I saw four sharks on one of my
snorkels, and honestly, the experience was even better than when I went out with the dive
shop into the open ocean. They do organised shark snorkels for a couple of hundred dollars,
which is a great experience in itself. They go out, beyond the barrier reefs of the lagoon, and
set up a drift in the oceanic currents. The sharks are naturally curious, and they know that
boats mean something, so they come around to investigate. The snorkelers hang onto a line
at the back of the boat while the sharks just cruise on by. While it is an awesome experience,
I honestly had better encounters off Ned’s Beach. Not to say you should ignore the dive boat
option, absolutely not. I was at the back end of the shark season, so I would expect that
during summer you’d get a heap more sharks per dive! A truly remarkable experience,
especially as you drift in a current in stunning blue water where you can’t even see the
bottom at times!
Once I was able to get Netra in the water, she was literally in heaven. She said it was the
best snorkelling she’s ever done, and she was so excited to be feeding the fishes in the
shallows at Ned’s Beach.
On one of the sunny days, the only really sunny day, all day, we decided to make the trek up
to the cliffs at Malabar Hill lookout, which is on the north side of the island. It’s quite a steep
climb up, and with the heavy rains, the trail was really dangerous and uneven, as well as
slippery. It consisted of two main stages. One was the walk up the steep hill in the paddock
to a gate that lead to stage two. The bit through a narrow trail through the bush with lots of
small rocks, roots and vines across the trail itself, all wet and muddy, making for a rather
precarious journey. Netra decided to turn at the gate and make her way back down to sea
level. Considering she has had a knee injury many years ago, it was the smart thing to do. I
reluctantly pushed on, walking at about half the pace I normally would to maintain a level of
safety I wanted to achieve. Even at a slower pace, I had a couple of close calls when my foot
managed to lose its grip, risking me to fall. While it’s not as dramatic a fall as falling off a cliff,
getting injured here would mean a medical evacuation to a hospital by plane or helicopter, so
it’s a rather expensive and inconvenient exercise in itself. The path gave me plenty of views of the surrounding coastline, which was just spectacular. The views of the lagoon and Ned’s Beach were phenomenal, and once I was on top, I could even take photos of a Dash 8 aircraft arriving at the airport in the distance. Lucky for the long
lens, of course.
The plan was to make it to the top, enjoy the fantastic views and hopefully catch a Red-tailed
Tropicbird flying around. This is the best place on the island to witness the birds during
breeding season, which by May is long finished. When I arrived, I could see about 8
tropicbirds swirling around the cliff edges to my west, at about half the height. That was
approximately 100 meters above sea level, and I stood on top at 208 meters. It doesn’t seem
that high really, but I was not about to test it by jumping into the ocean.
During the 45 minutes I spent up there, I had one tropicbird come close enough for good
enough quality images, so I took that opportunity. I could only imagine how good it would be
when there are hundreds present, all coming and going from their nests on the cliff faces all
around this lookout. A female Golden Whistler (Lord Howe Island race) was singing nearby
in a bush, with a number of Welcome Swallows hunting insects in the sky around me. A
lone, male Nankeen Kestrel was using the SE wind to hold its position above the cliffs as it
was hunting insects or lizards on the ground below. Once I decided to turn back, I made my way down the same path I came up on and safely arrived at the bottom perhaps an hour after my departure. I was followed by a beautiful, young, Pied Currawong for part of the way. The bird was of the Lord Howe Island race as well, and it was rather tame, coming very close at times to check whether I would flick something to it, or flush an insect for it to pounce on.
One thing we were really delighted to be aware of was the Providence Petrels returning to
breed at this time of year. We hired a car, which was an interesting experience in itself,
though very positive overall, and drove to the end of the road, past the airport, where they
meet the day hikers to Mount Gower, an 8- or 9-hour long hike. From this point, we walked a
few hundred meters along the shoreline towards the south and a place called Little Island, as
that’s the general area where the petrels come in late afternoon to their night roost. Having
bumped into local legend, and naturalist, Ian Hutton, he suggested there were some 80,000
petrels returning this year. The sheer cacophony of petrel noise was deafening at times, and
once you made a few loud noises, the petrels just came dropping out of the sky, right at our
feet. Naturally, we stopped at two petrels. Didn’t realise it was so quick to get them down.
They are so clumsy on the ground, one of them tried to climb up my leg to get a high
vantage point.
I reached down, grabbed it gently and tossed it into the air, which was more than enough lift
to get it onto the strong onshore winds and flying again. What incredible birds they are
indeed. The fact they came close anyway, gave us so many incredible flight shot
opportunities, that at times we didn’t know which way to turn! With perfect light over two late
afternoons, the conditions made up for the rain all week. Although, the first late afternoon we
got absolutely drenched by a sudden downpour. Never mind, the OM System gear is very
well made, it can easily withstand such storms without any water leaks so there were never
any issues. Perhaps my commentary in the car is best left for the video Netra took, as she
heartily laughed at my swearing and complaining about how shit the weather was the entire
time, and how we got so unlucky to be soaked to our bones!
We did come back with many great photos of the birdlife, of course. That’s not the issue. For
us, what we found was that without a bike or a car, many places that you could photograph
at, are just a bit far to walk, especially for less mobile people. We will go back again during
the warmer months, when we will have thousands of White and Sooty Terns nesting around
the beaches, when the Red-tailed Tropicbirds return to breed as well, and see how that
would improve the opportunities for more photography, especially for potential guests. At this
point, we are not sure this is a 2Mad Photographers adventure destination, but who knows?
Another visit may change that view.
Stay safe, and happy shooting!
