Luxury Lodges of Australia eNewsletter

Luxury Lodges of Australia eNewsletter

Whilst most air transfers to and from Lord Howe Island are via the 32 Qantas Bombardier, private jets and helicopters are another transport option allowing flexibility and a little more luxury! Last week Mark, Manager at Capella planned a quick trip to Brisbane to undertake some repairs on his mainland house. He was scheduled to fly on a Qantaslink flight, but to his surprise he was lucky enough to fly with one of Capella’s regular guests Bob Hill on his private jet, a Citation CJ 2. Some people have all the luck! Mark sat in the co-pilots seat and chatted with the pilot the entire flight about everything relating to planes and flying. They climbed to 42,000 feet, and the trip took 90 minutes rather than the usual 40 due to strong head winds. What a buzz, great views of the island from a great looking jet! As I waited in the LHI Airport Terminal with departing guests we were all very jealous!

From Libby Grant, Capella Lodge Manager

Visiting the LHI Tip or ‘Recycle Centre’ is a favorite outing for Mark, General Manager at Capella. Not only is it the tip designed to minimize waste being sent off the island, it is also a favorite hangout for any ‘collectors’, Mark being one (you could call him a hoarder!). One person’s junk is definitely the next person’s treasure. Mark’s favourite comment is ‘you never know when you may need it”, ‘it’ being the latest piece of junk that he has collected from the ‘Revolve’ section of the tip.
His favourites are a 40mm shell case from New Guinea that happened to be owned by our neighbour’s father who served in New Guinea during the WW2, and dozens of old reel-to-reel movies depicting fashion parades on the island in the 30’s. Yes, on LHI you can even find out who originally owned the junk!
Mark’s latest find has been a good one. A few weeks ago he found some old slides which Daniel (one of our illustrious staff at Capella) had made in to digital prints. We have given a copy of the disk to local Jack Shick who has in turn shown some of the senior residents who are now excitedly working out who’s who.
Some of the photos date back to the 1930s and others are from the 1960s. In the attached photos you will see photos of the Catalina Flying Boats (one actually beached), photos of the many fancy dress parties the islanders held and of course some obligatory photos of old swim suits.
I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did.

Ps We will probably donate the photos to the Lord Howe Island Museum for their displays.

Winter is a great time on Lord Howe. Not only do we huddle around the open fires at Capella every night enjoying good food and wine and of course great company, nature also throws spectacular weather into the mix. Over the last week we have had lovely sunny days when a BBQ at Ned’s Beach is a must, nights when the kentia palms rattled around like mad things during 50 knot winds and we have also woken up to the incredible sight of waterfalls cascading off both Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird.

The mountains seem to create their own weather on Lord Howe. Sometimes they seem to attract cloud and rainfall,but mostly we sit in the lounge and watch the clouds moving over their peaks and then rushing away.

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!

Lord Howe's gentle season

The Gods have been kind to all this winter on Lord Howe. For the last few weeks we have had no wind, mild days and nights just cool enough to enjoy sitting around the fire with a glass of red wine! There’s plenty to do by day: Capella guests, Denis and Kate from Ireland went for a SCUBA dive in the lagoon yesterday with the local Pro Dive proprietor, Taz. With water temperatures at 20 degrees centigrade they didn’t even find the water cold… maybe it’s because they’re from Ireland?! Today they are climbing Mt Gower with local Jack Shick. It’ll be straight into the plunge pool with an ale followed by the hot tub when they get back later this afternoon.
Mark and I have been taking our guests to see the Providence Petrels land around the base of Mt Lidgbird. They are a spectacular sight as they come in from fishing in the open ocean in their thousands to nest on and around the island’s twin mountain peaks. So , it’s all happening at Capella Lodge and Lord Howe Island. We also welcomed the crew from Harpers Bazaar this month for a shoot. Look out in the October edition for a Lord Howe Island exposé…!

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.’

Lord Howe does have three churches to service the community the largest being the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Local islanders Ken (who just celebrated his 86th Birthday with us) and Dorothy Ryan are the lay priests for the Catholic Church. They can be found at Capella every second morning and greet all guests as they supply us with the most beautiful hibiscus flowers from their garden for the Lodge.
I am even lucky enough to have one named after me, ‘The Liberty’.

Mount Gower's blessing

The Lord Howe survey stated that 94% of visitors were satisfied with their visit, with 82% ‘very satisfied’. Some of the criteria where visitors’ expectations were exceeded included ‘nature-based experiences’; ‘something the kids would enjoy’; a place to spend quality time with partner/family/friends’; ‘an adventure’; and ‘the opportunity to discover or learn something new’.

“The tourism industry on Lord Howe is mostly made up of family-run businesses, so as a community, we’re extremely proud to be recognised as number one in the country – and proud that we’ve been able to deliver wonderful holiday experiences for so many visitors, many of whom return year after year,” said Pixie Rourke, Chair of the Lord Howe Island Tourism Association.

See the Minister’s release at:

 http://minister.ret.gov.au/TheHonMartinFergusonMP/Pages/THUMBSUPFORLORDHOWEISLAND.aspx.html

and view Visitor Profile and Satisfaction (VPS) Reports at  http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/tra/regional/destinations/Pages/default.aspx