Louise Southerden.
They’re both small Australian islands in the South Pacific. Both have subtropical climates and natural beauty.
And they’re both portals back to quieter, less-troubled times, places where locals rarely lock their doors, you probably won’t be given a room key and there are ‘‘honesty boxes’’ for everything from roadside produce to snorkelling gear.
It’s easy to confuse Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Luke Hanson, director of Pinetrees Lodge on Lord Howe, agrees. ‘‘I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if we ever solved the murder,’’ he says, referring to the tragic death of 29-year-old Janelle Patton in 2002 – on Norfolk Island.
But for all they have in common, these two little islands are very different. In fact their differences can help you decide which one to visit.
Overview
You can’t judge an island from the air, but that first glimpse does give you a preview of what it’s like on the ground. From above, Norfolk Island looks like a chunk of New Zealand’s bucolic North Island that has broken off and drifted north. It’s roughly circular, about 8 kilometres across and ringed by rugged sea cliffs.
Lord Howe, on the other hand, is a supermodel to Norfolk’s girlnext-door: long and slender (about 10km end-to-end and 300 metres wide at its narrowest point) with two volcanic peaks rising dramatically out of a 6km-long turquoise lagoon.
Location, location
Norfolk Island is more remote and slightly further north than Lord Howe: it’s 1400km east of Byron Bay whereas Lord Howe is 600km due east of Port Macquarie. (The flight times are the same because Air New Zealand flies larger aircraft to Norfolk than QantasLink uses on its Lord Howe flights.)
Despite the difference in latitude, Lord Howe is bathed by warm ocean currents and its summertime sea temperatures, combined with a bevy of pristine beaches and snorkelling spots, make it heaven for water-lovers. There’s surf on both islands, but it tends to be fickle and is arguably more challenging on Norfolk Island because of its deep-water coastline.
Four wheels or two?
Although they’re roughly the same size, Norfolk feels bigger, partly because only 15 per cent of the island is national park (about 75 per cent of Lord Howe lies within its national park-like Permanent Park Preserve). It’s also surprisingly hilly, so the best way to get around is by car; rentals cost about A$30 (NZ$33) a day or A$50 for a Moke and some holiday deals include car rental. Just remember that the island’s cows have right of way. On Lord Howe, riding a rental bike – A$55 a week from Wilson’s Hire – is THE way to get around on the island’s roads.
Crowd control
Norfolk Island also has more people – about 1600 – and it has about 1500 visitor beds, whereas Lord Howe has a permanent population of about 350 and can accommodate up to 400 visitors at a time. So it’s easier to get a sense of splendid isolation on Lord Howe, but Norfolk has more tourist infrastructure (more tours and activities and a dedicated Visitor Information Centre).
The islands feel different, too. Lord Howe is part of New South Wales while Norfolk has a unique culture with its own language, Norf’k, spoken nowhere else in the world; a fiercely independent populace (they were self-governing until July last year and still call themselves Norfolk Islanders rather than Australians); and celebrate Thanksgiving and Bounty Day (when the island’s first modern-day settlers arrived from Pitcairn Island in 1856).
Food, glorious local food
Because of strict biosecurity regulations, Norfolk imports almost no fresh produce so most of what you eat was grown or made there, including coffee, goat’s cheese and wine. There are more restaurants and cafes than you’d find in a regional Australian town of only 1600 people, as well as roadside stalls, a farmers’ market on Saturday mornings, and foraging and foodie tours.
Lord Howe grows some of its produce and gets the rest from mainland Australia (a cargo ship arrives from Port Macquarie every fortnight) so all-inclusive lodges such as Pinetrees, Arajilla or Capella tend to be more popular than self-catering holiday houses and apartments. Both islands have an abundance of fresh, sustainably caught seafood, but no commercial fishing; charter boats supply hotels and restaurants with their catches of the day.
Natural wonders
While both islands are clean and green, and neither has any nasties found on mainland Australia such as poisonous snakes or spiders, Lord Howe Island wins on the nature stakes. The entire island was World Heritage-listed in 1982, is a model of sustainability and is surrounded by a marine park. It is also remarkably unspoilt because there’s no record of any preEuropean settlement (Norfolk Island was inhabited by Polynesians before the first Europeans arrived). Lord Howe also has the world’s most southerly coral reef, a multitude of dive sites, and is a birdwatchers’ paradise.
History time
Norfolk is an island built on stories. It can take time to get your head around its convoluted history, but in a nutshell: Polynesians first settled the island in 1200AD (and remained until about 1600AD), Captain James Cook first set eyes on Norfolk Island in 1774, then came two convict settlements (1788-1814 and 1825-1855) and finally the Pitcairn Islanders (descended from Bounty mutineers who outgrew their original island home and arrived on Norfolk on June 8, 1856). As a result, there are multiple ways to step back in time, including four museums at Kingston, the island’s World Heritage-listed convict site, ghostly dinner tours and historic plays.
Digital detox – or not
Staying on Lord Howe, you could quite easily start believing that the rest of the world has ceased to exist. Your smartphone won’t work and if your accommodation doesn’t offer wi-fi (many don’t) you’ll have to ride your bike to the museum or Anchorage cafe to check your emails.
On Norfolk Island it’s easier to stay in touch. A basic mobile phone is often provided by accommodation hosts, so you can book tours and make dinner reservations. You can buy a Norfolk Telecom SIM card or a ‘‘hotspot’’ card for mobile wi-fi. Your hotel room will probably even have a television with regional Australian channels, and Radio Norfolk broadcasts ABC News twice a day.
The verdict
Having visited both islands more than once, I’d return to either one in a heartbeat, for different reasons. Norfolk Island feels like a big, friendly country town surrounded by sea. It’s wild and green, dominated by farmland and forests of its eponymous pine trees, has a fascinating history and unique island culture and is ideal for history buffs, foodies, families or groups (there’s plenty of selfcontained accommodation) and music-lovers (for the annual jazz, country and ukulele festivals).
Lord Howe Island, on the other hand, is one of the most naturally beautiful islands in the world with its long Fiji-blue lagoon protected by the world’s most southerly coral reef and two mountains that wouldn’t look out of place in Tahiti. It’s a barefoot kind of place, a place to get back to simple pleasures, and perfect for adventure travellers, naturelovers, couples and young families. – Traveller
Louise Southerden travelled as a guest of Norfolk Island Tourism and Pinetrees Lodge on Lord Howe Island.