Christmas Day 2012

Merry Christmas everybody - we hope your day was as much fun as ours!

The day began with a ward round at Monash Children's Hospital for Cathy. After seeing her patients and entertaining the local football heroes, she ran into Santa delivering presents and sprayed her bubbles from the Jingle Bells Bubble Gun for him to walk through. Her hand made it onto channel 7. It was then time to visit the family in Box Hill North for Christmas lunch.

Little Joel loved his new scooter and Brianna her new shoes and camera.

David and Meryl joined us for lunch too.

The day wouldn't have been complete without trying to get the perfect family photos! We set up the time delay and got a few snapshots.

At least the sisters were able to make it home for Christmas. Our brothers all joined us by Skype or telephone at some stage through the day. Another wonderful Christmas day.

7th December 2012

A quiet day after our big day yesterday. With the wind from the South, it was the perfect time to head to Ned's Beach for some snorkeling. With the sun shining brightly, Cathy lazed in the sun whilst David hid under the palm trees. The rest of day was spent quietly around Capella.

We enjoyed a delightful and fun evening with Tim and Jackie. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary yesterday (they came to Lord Howe Island on their honeymoon). We didn't want to go home.

6th December 2012 - Mt Gower

Breakfast in our room before heading off early for the Mt Gower Climb. Jack (our guide), ourselves and 6 others left the carpark just after 7am.

It's a difficult climb, with the gradient gradually increasing as we climbed higher. Mt Gower displays numerous examples of endemic plant life. There are 4 different examples of palm tree - one surviving only at the very top. The summit of Mt Gower supports a rare "Cloud Mist" forest. It is a picture book scene with incredible mosses and lichen growing under the tree canopy.

After almost 4 hours of climbing (much of the last hour dragging ourselves up using ropes) we had a clear view of the island. The trip down was hard on knees and ankles. The higher steeper slopes taking just as long to descend. On return to Capella, we both enjoyed a plunge in the pool followed by a soak in the hot tub. Dinner tasted even better!!

5th December 2012 - Change

We booked ourselves onto the LHI Enviromental Tours - Specialty Snorkel Tour. This involved visits to four different snorkel sites within the lagoon. Each site was very different, some highlighting the various species of coral (there are 100 variations on LHI) and others the fish population. We saw an amazing colorful assortment of reef fish, a huge stumpy manta ray (over 2m across) and swam with the sharks!!

Later in the day a storm swept across the island. Fortunately, we were safely inside considering dinner.

4th December 2012 - The Feeding of the Fishes

Porridge and waffles for breakfast - we needed all our energy for the big day ahead. With a strong north wind we headed off on our bikes to Ned's Beach. No swimming yet - we had walking to do!! Across town to Old Settlement Rd, then up the hill to Kim's Lookout.

From Kim's lookout it was a series of dips and peaks along the northern coast to Malabar Lookout. David was captivated by the young birds trying to land on the exposed peak. Another 1.2km of downhill took us back to Ned's beach. We decided against snorkelling and Cathy fed the fish instead.

The fish are obviously very well fed and quite large. We both enjoyed a coffee and cake at Anchorage Restaurant before cycling back with a strong tail wind (which doesn't help much when going uphill!!)

3rd December 2012 - Walk to Goat House Cave

After another fantastic breakfast (waffles or pancakes or eggs and bacon or....) we collected our packed lunch and headed for the walking tracks. It wasn't long before the track got very steep. So much so, that several sections have ropes to assist you up (and down!!).

Only the very fittest can climb the last section!!

The very clever and capable people at Capella Lodge managed to photoshop Cathy into the photo ;) On the way down, we took a wrong turn and ended up also doing the Rocky Run. It was actually a great place to finish our lunch and start the long trek home.

David had an afternoon sleep, whilst Cathy pulled on the running shoes again for a 10km run....

2nd December 2012 - Exploring LHI

Mt Lidgbird (777M) and Mt Gower (875M) covered by cloud.

Bikes are complimentary - but we have to use our own legs!! Lord Howe Island has one main road that runs North and South - today we went North. We visited Old Settlement Road (with turtles), Ned's Beach (too windy), The Museum and the shops (David forgot his bathers!!). Later in the afternoon, David donned his new "Funky Trunks" and we snorkelled on Lover's Beach. This was followed by sunset drinks and another tasty meal.

1st December 2012 - Lounging Around

The limo turned up on time (Thanks Mary!!) to take us to Tullamarine. After a 2nd breakfast in Qantas Club - Melbourne, we had our 1st lunch in Qantas Club - Sydney, followed by afternoon drinks on Lord Howe Island. Cathy started to relax when all we could see was sea!!

The Alpine Delight

David attempted the incredible Alpine Delight - a bike ride from Bright to Omeo (via Mt Hotham) and return. He managed 210 of the 220km under his own steam, requiring a lift (and oxygen) to get from Dinner Plain to Mt Hotham on the return trip.