Lord Howe delights

A walk to the top of Transit Hill shows just why Lord Howe is so popular with those searching for a relaxing escape.

>> Destination Lord Howe Island, Weekends For Two

While the climb is fairly steep, once you’ve made it to the top the natural beauty of the island hits you.

Dominating much of the landscape are mountain ranges covered by forests. Adding to the picturesque scene is the shallow reef fringed lagoon which stretches along one side of the island and lots of small white beaches.

Lord Howe’s natural beauty, its diversity of landscapes, its reef, 100 plants unique to the island, one of the world’s rarest bird and its many species of seabirds, all contributed to its gaining World Heritage Listing in 1982.

From the top of the mountain you also realise how small the crescent shaped island is.

Another walking track, Clear Place, highlights some of the island’s other attributes.

The walking track traverses magnificent forests full of tall palm trees and huge banyan trees.

As the name suggests Clear Place is one of the places on the island where the land has been cleared. Situated on the edge of cliffs it is easy to spend a couple of hours there watching the sooty terns, red tailed tropic birds, masked boobies and other bird species glide on the winds and feed in the waters below.

Lord Howe is home to over 130 permanent and migratory bird species. Between September and March mutton birds breed and a visit to Ned’s Beach at dusk, to watch these birds come in from the sea and head to their burrows, is an enjoyable experience.

Ned’s is also famous for its fish feeding. You’ll find hundreds of reef fish just waiting for a feed.

It’s these natural experiences which make Lord Howe such a great place to visit.