Lord Howe Island

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Lord Howe Island Group (1982). A Crescent Shaped Volcanic Remnant With The World'S Southernmost Coral Reef, Capped Visitor Numbers, And Mount Gower Rising Sheer Over A Lagoon Shared By Turtles And Providence Petrels · Lord Howe Island, New South Wales

Lord Howe Island is a crescent of volcanic rock about six hundred kilometres off the New South Wales coast, roughly two hours by plane from Sydney, Brisbane or Port Macquarie, and nowhere near big enough for mass tourism to spoil it: the Lord Howe Island Board caps the number of visitors on the island at any one time at around four hundred. UNESCO listed the whole group in 1982 for reasons that still hold - the world's southernmost coral reef sits inside a turquoise lagoon on the sheltered west coast, two basalt peaks called Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird rise almost straight out of the sea at the southern end, and the surviving Kentia palm forest supplies a houseplant export trade that has funded part of the island's upkeep since the 1880s. There are no traffic lights, no chain stores and only a handful of cars; bicycles are how most visitors cover the eleven-kilometre ring road between white beaches, a permanent population of about three hundred and fifty, and a lagoon warm enough to snorkel with green turtles most of the year. It rewards a slow week far more than a quick stop.

A volcanic island about 600 km off the New South Wales coast, reached only by a short flight from Sydney, Brisbane or Port Macquarie, Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia

There is no single opening time for the island because almost nothing on it works to a gate or a ticket window. Lodges, the general store and the handful of restaurants keep daytime and evening hours that shrink outside the September to May season, and several close altogether for a winter break around July into August - confirm this before booking a winter trip. The Mount Gower trek departs early, around seven in the morning, and only runs in suitable weather with its licensed guide. Ned's Beach fish-feeding is best in the late afternoon. Flights land at a small airstrip with no fixed schedule beyond the day's bookings, and the whole island effectively closes down after dark outside the restaurants.

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