Terrific conservation news from Lord Howe: A young Loggerhead Turtle released by Taronga Zoo staff off Lord Howe Island in January will assist researchers understand the mysterious migration habits of this endangered species.

Loggerhead turtles leave their nesting grounds in Queensland as tiny hatchlings and don’t return until they are breeding adults at over 30 years old.

No-one knows where they go in between! The 12.5Kg turtle has been fitted with a satellite tracker that will log its journey.

What better place to swim free than Lord Howe Island?!

For more, see the Taronga Zoo news release at http://taronga.org.au/news/2012-01-20/endangered-loggerhead-set-unlock-turtles-lost-years

Some summertime rain on Lord Howe has offered up some incredible images. The first three were taken this morning after an incredible 180mm of rain over the last 24 hours. The southern end of the island was flooded with all roads blocked. The up side was both Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird were covered with waterfalls. Many of our guest are hiking up to the lower falls as I write this. The other photos show how quickly things change here- only the waterfalls remain

There are also two photos which show the coral spawn which fills the shallows
around the island today. The yearly mass spawning happened last night so there
is a decidedly fishy smell in the air today! The pink line you see in the
shallows along the shore is the coral spawn- billions of tiny pink eggs!

The local area school turns into a bustling market with many varied stalls. Many of the locals get together to sell produce, secondhand clothing, art works and just to catch up on the local gossip! The kids line up for face painting with Charlotte, the local nursery sells fruit and vegetable seedlings and even the Board Administrator mans the coffee machine! Glenys’s cup cakes sell out 10 minutes after the market opens.

We have some talented artists and photographers on the Island. Our own spa therapist Sarah sells her beautiful hand drawn cards inspired by local vistas and wildlife along with Isak who specializes in surf photography.

It’s great to see that now this space is also being used to educate the community and visitors alike. The Island Board have a display on protecting the environment and Ian Hutton, the Museum Curator and island naturalist, has a display of the effects of plastic bags on the island’s seabirds. Ian and the Board are encouraging all operators to use bio-degradable plastic bags and take away containers. They are even supplying these free to operators for 3 months. Many Lodges are now encouraging re-usable water bottles for all their guests.

Of course, here at Capella, we initiated the use of re-usable bottles many months ago as it is important to us to have as minimal impact as possible on the environment of Lord Howe.

Lord Howe Island is a preferred destination for divers with its highly diverse marine environments. Lord Howe Island was first sighted in 1788 and is more a series of closely clustered small islands including the Admiralty Islands and Ball Pyramid. The main island is only 11 km long and 2 kmwide rising out in the Tasman Sea 600 kilometres east of the Australian mainland off Port Macquarie.

Life below the surface life is highly diverse with the northern and southern currents converging, so divers witness the profusion of both temperate and tropical marine life.  There has been over 500 species of fish identified locally with several species endemic to the region including the double header wrasse, Lord Howe Island coral fish, McCullochs anemone fish and the rarely sighted Ballina angelfish.

The Lord Howe Island Group was World Heritage listed in 1982 in recognition of its outstanding natural beauty
and its exceptional biodiversity. Two thirds of the island is a Permanent Park Preserve and the surrounding waters were declared a Marine Park in 1998. The coral barrier reef, at 31° S, is the most southerly in the world.

We took a day’s diving in April 2011; on our second dive of the day, we were at a site much frequented by divers – Landslide just off Malabar. Here a vertical cliff face rises 200 meters out of the surrounding reef on the southern end of the main island. Landslide is a great dive consisting of three coral finger reefs running parallel to the coast at about 12 to 18 meters with abundant marine life, caverns and swim-throughs.

We had just finished a sweep through the swim-throughs, taken a look at a beautiful Queen Angel and marvelled at the abundance and variety of morays when a family of brightly coloured nudibranchs clustered together on the edge of the second
finger reef grabbed our attention.

The pure white sand that reached out to the third finger reef helped magnify the great visibility and looking up we noticed what seemed to be a blanket drifting just below the surface 16 meters above our heads. After our initial surprise the clear water quickly revealed that this blanket indeed had eyes, a body and was gracefully swimming down to greet us.

As it approached, appearing not at all to be shy, we were in awe of its size -approximating 3 meters (an accurate estimate as it was much longer than the out-stretched divers now at its side). We all stared giving each other signals which generally translated underwater to: “what the hell is this”? Certainly in my 45 plus years of diving and many hours underwater on
Lord Howe I had not seen anything like it before, ever !

Very close examination, and I must admit a gentle touch of the blanket, revealed that it was a cephalopod of some type – maybe a squid, but no, more likely an octopus with a 2 1/2 meter blanket billowing from its head.

We swam with this rare giant for about 10 to 15 minutes and during that entire time we felt that it was observing and enjoying our company us as much as we were enjoying it. Even when we got down to 50 bar of air and finally had to return to the boat, it turned with us as if to say; “farewell”. A truly magic moment !

On reaching the surface we were all smiles, extremely exuberant and immediately continued our: “what the hell
was that” conversation even before climbing into the boat. We were greeted and helped on board by trainee Divemaster Chris Tafili-Reid who very excitedly related that “the thing” had circled the dive boat on the surface for at least 10 minutes whilst we were on other parts of our exciting dive.

Returning to shore our dive team concluded that what we had seen was indeed a Tremoctopus – a genus of pelagic cephalopods containing four species that occupy surface to mid-waters in subtropical and tropical oceans. Of course Lord Howe has exactly
these conditions.

Descriptively they are commonly known as; “Blanket Octopus”, in reference to the long transparent webs that connect the dorsal and dorsolateral arms of the adult females. We now know that full extension of the blanket only takes place when the octopus wants to look bigger and ward off predators.

The Blanket Octopus is rarely seen and only then by a handful of divers across the world. It is listed on “Its Nature” as one of the 10 most bizarre animals in the world. To date our sighting was the first recorded on Lord Howe Island according to the local Marine Park staff.

Unfortunately, as often happens with rare sightings, we were unable to photograph our encounter with this magnificent giant of the ocean.

From Lodge Manager, Libby Grant

This week is the Lord Howe Island  International Golf Open. 75 golfers have come from as far as Canada and Germany to play this five day tournament.  

The competition is played under the same rules and format as the Australian Masters which is currently playing in Melbourne with two exceptions; the prizes on offer and no, Tiger Woods isn’t playing!

The current leader is 83 years young and he also won the competition two years ago. Many islanders have joined in  and they all look forward to the friendly rivalry and especially to the bar being open in the afternoon!

The local policeman (yes we only have one) is playing, so luckily crime is not prevalent on LHI. It took the supply ship from the mainland  a few days to unload its cargo as there was no one to unload it!

That’s Lord Howe Island and yes, it is paradise.

A green with a view

It was a beautiful day to be on Lord Howe Island today. We were recorded as the hottest place in New South Wales, reaching a very balmy 19.8 degrees Celsius.  Being July, you would expect to be bundled up in your winter woolies, snuggling up by the open fire! Our average low is approximately14 degrees over winter, so we won’t be looking out for a snow-capped Mount Gower any time soon.

Lord Howe is fortunate to have its very own Bureau of Meteorology, which has been around for over 100 years. The Met (as it is known to islanders) not only provides much needed climatological data for aircraft using the island’s airstrip, and for sea-faring islanders, it also provides data that can be used all over the globe.

Our meteorologist collects data daily from weather balloons outfitted with a thermometer, hygrometer, and barometer. A radar can track the balloon for two hours, and the Met can then collect all the information relevant to the daily forecast. 

 Tourists and islanders alike enjoy watching the balloon being released, and the local meteorologist is always happy to have a chat about the process. Bus tours that operate around the island will stop in at the Met, and you can learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the weather!

Originally developed from a market garden in 1979, the Lord Howe Island golf course has been developed and expanded into one of the most picturesque courses in Australia.

It’s a short walk ‘along the way’ for our guests at Capella.

From beneath the shadows of Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird, the course meanders through the lushly vegetated kentia palm forest out onto gently undulating fairways along the ocean foreshore, and provides golfers with many a challenge. The 8^th hole is particularly challenging with a big water trap (the ocean) situated on the western side. Another danger to golfers is the little cocker spaniel  who lives next to the 9^th tee – he steals golf balls and the greens keepers’ tools!

An average of 3 hours (18 holes) allows ample time to complete the course. All Island guests are welcome to play golf at any time.

 A good old fashioned honesty system, rarely seen elsewhere today is used to pay for green fees and club hire. Balls are available from the  lolly-pop machine for $1.00 per ball. Both left and right handed clubs are available for hire. There is no booking or waiting for a tee off time here.

Club day for members is every Sunday played over 18 holes with Island guests most welcome to participate. The Chicken Run is held on Friday afternoon, it is played over 9 or 12 holes for stable-ford points with the outright winner taking home a ‘chook.’ Several of our staff members are club members and enjoy the occasional ‘bash.’

7 April 2010
The Mount Gower Trek justly deserves its ranking as one of Australia’s top day walks. Taking approximately 5 hours to reach the summit at 875metres and another 4 hours to return, this trek should not be taken lightly.
Marvel at the breathtaking views of Ball’s Pyramid, Mt Lidgbird, the lagoon and the northern settlement. Explore the cloud forest on the summit where lichens, ferns, orchids and mosses flourish.
This climb isn’t for everyone, it is extremely challenging. Licensed guides Jack Shick and Dean Hiscox conduct this Class 5 climb three days a week (weather depending).
So, if you are planning on visiting Lord Howe and Capella Lodge remember to start training! Not only are the views from the summit spectacular, you will also get up close and personal with the island wood hens who will be trying to pinch your lunch.
From March to September you will probably also find yourself being dive-bombed by the Providence Petrels which soar around the summit. As soon as they hear any loud noise they come crashing through the dense canopy.
A sojourn in the cedar hot tub is a must after this strenuous day – of course, only if you’re staying at Capella!

On the eastern side of Blackburn Island you can see the remains of an old concrete shark ‘processing tank’ from the 1930s. A very short lived industry.

Whilst on the way back from dropping guests to the jetty I passed a group of school children (all barefoot, as is the tradition at the Island school) with their teacher, heading off to guess what?! A kayak out to Blackburn Island for Friday afternoon sport. What a life!