While we are waiting for our caravan, we have decided to go to Lord howe island.
We will leave Benalla and travel to sydney on the train . The flight leaves via Sydney so we decided that it would be easier to travel on the train then to drive two hours to Melbourne to catch a flight to Sydney. Plus we would have to put the car in a car parking places , too expensive.
So we taxi into town, get on a bus because they are still fixing the train track between here and Albury . We change from the bus to the Train at Albury and travel overnight to Sydney. Arriving with plenty of time to get to the airport for the flight.
Lord Howe island has a World Heritage listing and is only 2 hour flight from Sydney & Brisbane. It has reefs full of rainbow coloured fish, unspoilt beaches, flora found nowhere else in the world and soaring mountains where sea birds nest.
Some quick facts:-
 Lord Howe Island discovered by LT. Ball in 1788. The island was used as a provision stop between Port Jackson and the penal colony at Norfolk island.
The airport built by the army in 1974. Flying boats operated from 1974 until 1974.
 It is 700km north east of Sydney and parallel with Port Macquarie .
11 km long and 2.8 km wide at broadest part 370 residents and only 400 visitors at one time.
Apart from a few cars most visitors walk or cycle, all accommodation will drop you at restaurants- who will take you back after meal. 
Lord Howe is out of mobile phone reach, but there are phones on the island.
 There are EFTPOS facilities at some businesses but no automatic tellers., most prefer cash.
 Day 1 .Sunday
After a short flight on a 36 seat plane we arrive at a tiny airport where we are picked up by the Hideaway's car, it is raining. It was raining in Sydney when we left which delayed the flight for half an hour as you could not see the other side of the runway.
We take a short tour of the island then on to our apartment. If you want peace and your own cooking facilities then the Hideaway is great. The only trouble is, it is at the top of a steep hill.
We are told the best shop for all sorts of food is the one at the bottom of the hill , oh joy we have to go shopping and walk back up this hill. We have had very little sleep in over 24 hours and find the little shop to be very expensive [ which we were expecting as every thing has to be flown in or come by boat .] Carrying our bags we face the hill for the first time and huffing and puffing make our way to the top. Early dinner, shower and sleep.
Day 2. Monday
No planes today as it is too windy.
We get a lift into the main settlement by the Hideaway's daughter Bromwyne , we are trying to arrange scuba dive days and snorkelling days, so we can plan which days we will walk the island and climb to lookouts.The two dive sheds were closed, only the shed for Environmental marine tours was open but nobody there.So we went across the road to the bike hire place to arrange bikes for later in the week and he tells us the dive boats are out of the water for winter, but the snorkelling should be there, we decide to come back later.
We are due to go on a walk with 'Ron's Ramble ' at 2 o'clock that afternoon.so we went on a walk along the beach to the jetty and back to the Hideaway. We found some birds to take photos of and some plants. The first bird we saw was a Buff banded Rail, very pretty ground bird and fun to watch.
We headed for the meeting point for Ron's ramble down our hill, there are 16 people on the walk, and Ron is an older person who has been on the island for 30 years . We learn some of the trees and plants as we walk, some history of the island and how it became world heritage listed.
We walk up hill along a dirt track along to a place called the Clear Place, walk through palm forests, and giant banyans and mutton bird rookeries- we are too late to see mutton birds they have all left the island until next summer. We then walk along to Middle beach and the valley of shadows.Get back to the top of the hill where the Hideaway is about 5 pm and very hungry by now. We stay in and prepare our own dinner tonight.                                                  Tuesday 
 We go for a walk to Kim's lookout today. We first have to walk to the start of the track which is at Old settlement beach. The track is called Max Nichols Memorial track. It starts out only a gentle slope, as i look up I see where we are going and I have my doubts on whether I will make it but will try.This hill climbs to 208 km quite steeply but some steps have been made and wood edged, you never get to see out of the forest until the top With my rheumatic joints i huff and puff my way up , making short stops to talk to the birds and sit on any available rocks .Larry stops too waiting for me taking photos. The view from the top across the Lagoon to the south tip of the island is well worth it. 2 hours latter we are back down and walking into what the locals call the CDB . and lunch.
That afternoon we go on a tour to see the Providence Petrels.We are taken by mini bus as far as the bitumen road goes south then we, you guessed it, we walk along the base of Mt Lidgbird along the beach at little island. These birds were taken nearly to extinction on a few occasions. In 1790 a supply boat to penal colony at Norfolk island did not make it ,so the islands petrels were used as food so people did not starve thats how the name Providence Petrel came about.
Since then, settlers have eaten them, introduced food pigs and goats have destroyed ground nests and rats have eaten the eggs. Now there are no pigs or goats and a eradication program exists for the rats.
These beautiful calm birds come to see you when you stand there and shout to them. You have to be there when they return from fishing out at sea in late afternoon and they drop down to their nests . What a close to the day.
Wednesday
After breakfast we walked down to middle beach then down to shops pick up sourdough bread and get our bicycles. Well we came the long way round to the Hideaway as it is not as steep as the direct route, well i still had to get off in one place and walk my bike, if you lived here for a month you would be fit or asking for a car.
After lunch we packed our snorkel gear and of we went on our bikes to Ned's beach for some fish and coral sighting action. The tide was out and water looked cold but to start we walked in with some fish food you buy out of a machine, pellets. Fish come from all over and you are surrounded within minutes so we decide no matter how cold we are getting in. Even with our 3/4 wetsuits the cold takes your breathe away but ,mask on , snorkel in mouth and away into deeper water. we are joined by heaps of colourful fish and beautiful coral. along with Mullet, wrasse, garfish, silver drummer, spangled emperor, and metre long kingfish along with lots smaller fish hiding in the coral .This is a sanctuary zone with all colours and types of coral. The water is so clear and we get carried away watching fish and coral until the cold water gets the better of us.
Dry ourselves pack and have to bike back up the hill from the beach to the road and then up another hill to accomadation.
 The power goes out in the evening but we had torches and found candles.
Thursday
We are told last nights loss of power is the first since they put in the new generator, they used to get lots of power outs with the old one.
We rode our bikes out to the airport ,as near the dam on side of the airport are a few scared kingfishers that sit on the fence. We have to be back for lunch as we are to go out on the glass bottom boat to 4 different sites to snorkel. We decided to hire their full length wet suits as we would be out in the water for a couple of hours. The sun is out but water is still a bit cold. The first stop is called Comets hole with plenty of coral and cleaner wrasse going about their work. As usual I get to busy watching and following fish i get dragged into the current, manage to get out and attract Larry's attention to come and take photos [as he has camera] and yes we both end up in current and get carried away and have to be picked up by the boat, good job there is only 3 of us and the other lady was in the boat, so the boatman saw us .
Next is the Horseshoe very calm water over spectacular part of reef.
Then on to Escots reef then Escots hole. where a deep hole is surrounded by coral so you snorkel round with the coral always on one side the deep hole on the other. Here we see Galapagos sharks , sting rays, butterfly fish and murray ell. stonefish, and lots sea cucumbers along with all the usual coral fish.
By the time we haul back on board the boat we are shaking with the cold but what fun. 
Friday
 We leave about 7.30am to ride to the start of the hardest walk we will do . We have to go the hard way to see the Masked Boobies nesting at Mutton bird point and across at Mutton bird Island. We can not go to Mutton bird island.The coastal walk to the point was washed away and not passable so the long way.We have to go up and over Smoking tree ridge which is nestled between MT. Lidgbird 777m and Intermediate hill 250m., and along to Muttonbird point. On this walking track you see orchids, staghorns, heeps of palms and birds, but our quest was to get to Muttonbird point and see the Masked boobies nesting . They nest on the point and on Muttonbird island. We could not get right out to the point and the lookout was overgrown, since the normal walking track was washed away not many walkers came this way, they mostly came over the ridge and went to Rocky Run and Boat harbour and back. We did get close enough to see some Masked Boobies on the ground. 
By the time we got back into the shop area it had been 5 hours, we dropped off our bikes and headed up the hill to Hideaway.
We had our first meal out at the Anchorage, Larry had ginger chicken veg soup , confit duck and sticky date pudding, They made me a salad with beetroot and celeriac, baby turnips and chips with sourdough bread and olive oil first, i got talked into sticky date too. For a place that gets most of its supplies by plane the restaurants are good. We meet a couple that work for the Board of Lord Howe island looking after the flora and fauna, so we had quite a conversation as this is our passion.                                                                  Saturday
 Well we slept well, but were still awake by 7am . We only went for a little walk in the morning through bushland between the houses. We had a longer walk to Transit Hill in the afternoon so we could take some last island photos and photos of the plane arriving. It is only 121m high but has 360 deg views. As it was a little easier going up to lookout we took the other side down to Blinky beach, this was steep and a little slippery, but we got down in time to see the plane take off after watching it land from lookout.
Transit hill takes 1.2 km to go up 121 m on one side and only 0.5 km on the other, i am so glad we did not try to go up the opposite way.
We went out for dinner again , we were nearly out of food and it a bit pointless to buy more for just one day. We had dinner a short walk from the Hideaway at Pandanas.
Larry had salt pepper squid and grilled fish caught locally that morning.
I had sweet potato soup and sir fry veg it was nice not over spiced just right.
Sunday
 Time to go back to the mainland, we packed and went for a walk around the botanical gardens set up at the small hospital . Plants all named One last climb of that hill up to the Hideaway and then to airport.