My Australian Wish List: Lord Howe Island

Here is a place in Australia that I absolutely want to go to one day:

Once upon a time, travelling responsibly meant taking only photographs and leaving only footprints. Now it’s about the size of those footprints, and one of the best places in Australia to keep them small without even trying is Lord Howe Island, 600 km northeast of Sydney. Unless you have access to a boat, the only way to get to Lord Howe is to fly. But arriving by air makes sure you’re properly acquainted with what is widely regarded as the most beautiful island in the entire Pacific, before you even step off the plane.

After gazing out at the featureless blue from my windowseat for two hours, Lord Howe suddenly appeared, like an aquatic oasis. The first things you notice are the twin peaks of Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower, real mountains that dominate the island’s southern end. Then the 6 km-long blue lagoon encircled by the most southerly coral reef in the world. There, below you, are isolated beaches accessible only by sea kayak or on foot, and populated by hundreds of thousands of seabirds. And finally, like an afterthought amidst all this natural beauty, a settlement of 350 locals and just 400 visitors. Even David Attenborough once wrote that Lord Howe is “so extraordinary it is almost unbelievable…Few islands, surely, can be so accessible, so remarkable, yet so unspoilt.” But Lord Howe is not just a pretty face. Because of its isolation, the island is an important site for “in situ” conservation of many rare and endemic species – almost half its 241 native plant species are found nowhere else in the world; the same goes for both the island’s reptiles, a skink and a gecko, and almost a thousand insect species. According to Ian Hutton, Lord Howe’s resident naturalist and author of 10 books on the island, including A Guide to World Heritage Lord Howe Island. “People talk about the Galapagos Islands because of Darwin’s connection, but there’s more diversity on Lord Howe Island and it’s so intact – the island is very much as it was when it was first discovered.”  [Australian Geographic]

Make sure to click the link to read the rest because this island just looks to be an incredible place to visit.