At last! The weather is in my favour today for a nice walk. I awoke a bit earlier than yesterday and I opted for a really nice walk, going up to Malabar Hill and Kim’s Lookout. Lord Howe Island is like that gorgeous blonde lady whom there’s no such thing as a bad photo of and, unlike a place like Bora Bora or St. Barthelemy, she wears no makeup and has no plastic surgery. Yesterday I made the mistake of not packing a bottle of water and something to eat before setting off, but I’d learn from that today as I packed two sandwiches, a thermal of coffee, and a bottle of water. My advice to visitors to Lord Howe: bring twice the food and half the clothes. A bag of coffee grounds and a jar of peanut butter or Nutella will go a long way here! Furthermore, if you're accustomed to having a few glasses of wine each evening this is a great place to be a teetotaler for a few days because wine is about $30 a bottle here. Into the forest of the northern third of the island I went, and up a steep set of stairs for some stupendous views! My my, I think I’ve died and went to heaven. Heavenly paradise this is! First I went to Kim’s Lookout, named after a young bloke who died young; I’m not sure how but there’s a spectacular view of the island. Turquoise, navy blue, and green fit in well with a baby blue sky. The Island Trader is in today dropping supplies. It’s a three-day journey from the mainland and, unlike Norfolk, cars can be offloaded directly onto the jetty. I’m guilty of comparing Lord Howe to Norfolk, so later in the week I shall write about the comparisons between the two islands. Darc told me today the only similarities are they’re both small remote outposts of Australia. After Malabar Hill and Kim’s Lookout I strolled through shin-deep water to North Beach, and then I had all the info for a geocache. Lord Howe sure has some tough geocaches. There are four multis, two puzzles, three traditionals, and two Earthcaches (including one at Ball’s Pyramid). If the track was open I could have continued my walk to Mt. Eliza but it’s closed half the year due to being a nesting ground for sooty terns. Immediately I could tell when I descended upon their territory as they swarmed around. I pulled a stick off a fallen branch to act as my “tern stick.” After some scoping around I had the cache in hand. Whilst I planned on dipping my feet in the water at North Beach there were loads of terns about with eggs on the track so I wasn’t going to risk getting pecked in the head. Lord Howe sure has a fair few tracks for such a tiny island and some of them are pretty tough. I always tell myself as I'm going up that eventually I'll run out of room to go up, so I shall embrace it and enjoy the views like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Today I discovered I seem to be continuously snapping the same photo but Lord Howe has perhaps the most beautiful setting of any place in the world.
Darc came home at 3 PM after picking up her parents “Willow” and “Nobbs” from the airport. They were in the Gold Coast for two weeks and are happy to be home. Willow went for a dip at Ned’s Beach as many people were out swimming and sunbaking, typical “Lord Howe on Saturday” activities. We drove south of the airport to the waterfall, which is powerful after a torrential rain. Darc’ friend Lani and her husband would join us on our waterfall excursion. A powerful hydraulic massage I’d receive after a good, solid walk today.
Today is nothing in comparison to Mt. Gower, as I’ll need all the will I have to make it to the summit. As a preparation I shall walk to the Goat House Cave on Monday. No guide is needed for Goat House but it's about five hours return. As the sun started to dip toward the horizon it was time for more spectacular photo ops.
Last night I made my sweet potato casserole, and tonight I made my vegetable tomato soup. Darc and Willow both enjoy my cooking so far. Lani brought over some garlic bread and Darc made some rice rolls filled with celery, capsicum, egg, avocado, and vegetarian “chicken.” As we ate I thanked Darc and told her what a wonderful time it’s been so far. She’s treated me very well and I’m very happy I’m staying with her. Lord Howe only allows 400 tourists at any given time but Darc said I don’t count against that number because I’m staying in private accommodation. To that, I said “good I’m glad, because I’m not a tourist!” Darc and Lani practiced making floral headbands, and they did well.
Darc made some delicious chai and then I called it an early night. All this walking today has made me tired, but tomorrow I’ll be ready for more.
