First day
Trip Start
Jul 03, 2007
1
2
8
Trip End
Jul 10, 2007
Lord Howe Island,
Australia
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
G:
Spent a couple of hours between 2am and 4am awake. There is no door to the living room so I couldn't even read - just sat up in bed trying not to cough.
When we both woke at 7am, Mandi had a very sore throat and has decided to stay quiet for the day.
M:
Woke up this morning feeling shocking - I had been so sure I was only going to get the outskirts of Gray's cold but maybe not. Or maybe it was Young Wilson on yesterday's plane. Anyway I decided I'd take an Istanbul day if I could persuade Gray to go out and do something and not hang around me. So he first went down to Ned's Beach hoping to feed fish but couldn't find the feeding place and also said the beach was full of SES volunteers picking up jetsam after the storm that he felt bad about chucking more stuff into the sea
01 Ned's beach
! Then he went to chat to Julie about dinner and has booked tonight at the very nearby Chinese (little walking for me) and tomorrow, our anniversary, at somewhere recommended - I've forgotten the name. And then he set off to book some tours etc at the Visitors' Centre and for a walk.Meanwhile I have sat here very peacefully and drank tea and watched little skoffelling quaily birds and had a visit from someone called Joy offering glass-bottomed boat rides.
G:
I put on my new slops and took the windy path from the bottom of Ebb Tide down to Ned's beach. From the path there were glimpses of a jagged headland with those terrible rocks. The path comes out onto the manicured lawn above a pristine and apparently deserted beach of white sand. I then noticed a truck and some people. Kicked off my shoes and walked the other way down the beach, looking at the little lumps of coral that dot the tide line.
When I came back, I found the SES picking up rubbish that had been deposited after the storm. I also found that the honesty system allows you to hire wet suits and snorkel gear. Walked home through the woods again, stopping to take a photo of a pretty red breasted bird that isn't in the book and then of a Rail with two black ball-of-fluff babies.
02 Driftwood
Got instructions from Mandi, then went to the office to get Emma to book us places to eat, then I got my rucksack together and went out for a walk. Went down to the visitors centre, and at the bottom of the steep bit got chatting to an old Danish lady who has been on the island for 18 months and is going tomorrow. She was going to have her hair cut.I tried to book things at the visitors centre, but didn't know our cottage number at Ebb Tide so the lady wasn't very forth coming. I then walked down lagoon road toward the airstrip stopping to browse through a small cemetery. They didn't die young here 100 years ago - obviously the climate was as good then as it is now.
Stopped to watch a light plane take off which was fun as there were guys across from each other about half way down the runway, monitoring the takeoff, I wonder why?
Tried to take photos of kingfisher type birds on the fence, but they were just too shy.
I then took the path up to Blinky beach, then up the stiff 121m climb to the top of Transit Hill. It was a stiff 500m and took 10 minutes.
Joined a New Zealand couple on the lookout, and what a spectacular lookout it was, with panoramic views all around the island. After 20 minutes enjoying the view I carried on in the same direction for another 700m back down to Lagoon road
03 Blinky beach
. This section appeared to be both steeper and longer than the approach, so I don't know. I stopped to chat briefly to some people on their way up. They were a gregarious Irishman from Seattle and his partner as well as a couple of Sydneysiders.Went the long way home via the post office, and got in at midday. I think I overdid it as I coughed a lot all afternoon.
Mandi says that she is feeling better with a quiet morning. Though, during the afternoon she started to get feverish and complained of being cold.
Sometime during the afternoon we had a visit from Emma to say that she couldn't get some of our dinner bookings, so we made alternative arrangements. Dozed and read the afternoon away as the wind picked up and the cloud came down. During the early evening I went over to the Top Shop where I bought some steak and veggies for our supper.
M, Later:
and that's pretty much all that happened. Gray came back from his walk and we had lunch then spent the afternoon reading or sleeping - it got a bit cold and windy and I started running a fever which made me feel even colder. We had booked the nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner solely because it was nearby but Emma came by (very noisily, waking us both up) saying actually it was closed on Wednesdays
04 View from Malabar
. So first Gray said he'd fetch takeaways but then we thought it would be easier to go to Top Shop in the light and buy something to make dinner at home. He got very good steak and a Diane sauce to which he added mushrooms - it was excellent.G:
Had to get Mandi some extra blankets and turn the heater on as she is still cold - poor thing.
Made dinner, boiled potatoes, broccoli and excellent scotch fillet with a Dianne and mushroom sauce. It was pretty good. Had one incident where the smoke from the cooking meat triggered the smoke alarm, so I had to climb up on a chair and beat the thing until it stopped making a racket.
After dinner I went next door and phoned Jennie who has made sure that Sarah is looking after the house. She and Ben have probably got a place on President - which is good. Was reluctant to go to bed because I knew that I would start to cough, but I did and took my trusty pack of XXX mints along.
Mandi had warmed up by now, so we could keep the room a little cooler.
