Tackling seven peaks on Lord Howe Island, Australia’s answer to the Galapagos

Iconic views, glass-clear snorkelling, indigenous species and sweat-drenched yet rewarding climbs: bucket-list travel doesn’t get more sensational than this, finds Cameron Wilson

LHI’s peaks provide a challenge in paradise (Cameron Wilson)

Our troop of 11 starts out at Old Settlement Beach on Lord Howe Island (LHI), taking the track first through a thicket of palm trees, then clambering up a steep ridge to Kim’s Lookout. The cliffs are under assault from thousands of red-tailed tropic birds, one of 14 seabird species that nest and breed here. There’s no time to linger: although we have five days to do the Seven Peaks Walk, we will bag three of those peaks today. I barely have time to catch my breath before we’re back down the ridge and across to North Beach for another sweaty jungle climb to Mount Eliza (147m) and North Head.

And here it is, on Day One, the money shot: south across the lagoon to Mt Gower, an oceanic mist cloud settled like a quilt on its flat volcanic top. It’s one of the most iconic island views on the planet.

LHI could fairly be described as Australia’s Galapagos. When Ian Hutton wrote his much-lauded book in 1998, he had another noted naturalist provide the foreword: “Lord Howe Island is so extraordinary it is almost unbelievable … Few islands surely can be so accessible, so remarkable, yet so unspoilt.”

A stroll through LHI’s gin-clear surf (Cameron Wilson)

I’m in agreement with Sir David Attenborough, as we zoom by glass-bottom boat from North Beach across the lagoon, with its beds of bright blue staghorn coral and myriad tropical fish. So many plant, marine and bird species are indigenous to this island, 600km northeast of Sydney and just 11km long, that the theory of natural selection could easily have arisen here.

Day Two for our group (mostly Australians, with a few exotics: Nick from London is a sprightly 71 years, Paul and Amy are 60ish, from Idaho in the US) starts at 6am with an amble up Transit Hill (121m). We pop back to Pinetrees Lodge for breakfast before our Seven Peaks guide Jess leads us through a forest of endemic pandanus trees, with their teepee-shaped scaffolds of aerial roots, to a platform overlooking Mutton Bird Point. It’s a breeding site for masked boobies, sooty terns and wedge-tailed shearwaters.

Peak number five is Intermediate Hill (250m), while looming above is Mt Lidgbird, our first major climb, its steepest sections lined with ropes. By the time we descend from the highest accessible point, Goat House Cave (455m), we’ve hiked 15km to gain 1,500 vertical feet. All in 90 per cent humidity, I might add; I feel no shame in collapsing for a 4pm nap.

We zoom by glass-bottom boat from North Beach across the lagoon, with its beds of bright blue staghorn coral and myriad tropical fish

Surrounding us daily are stands of the endemic kentia, rock star of palm trees. Besides adorning movie sets and grand hotels across the globe, the kentia bears the curious trait of growing to a height of three or four metres, then all but stopping for 10 years, before shooting up again. Plunk a couple in your Victorian-era drawingroom and it’ll be a decade before they outgrow the house. Before tourism, export of palm seed was the only industry on LHI, and seedlings are still cultivated for distribution worldwide.

Today, I’m thankful for a lazy schedule – just a 10km off-track hike west to east then back. Lodge staff have dropped a BBQ pack to a spot where we can lunch, followed by snorkelling in the lagoon. Meals, either at Pinetrees or a catered BBQ, are a seafood extravaganza: wahoo sashimi, tuna ceviche, grilled kingfish, and always accompanied by decadent desserts. The five days are a steep demand on your fitness, but you’re not likely to lose much weight.

Day Four sees us revisit the island’s north end, starting at Ned’s Beach, then up to Malabar Hill (209m). The cliff-top torrent of seabirds is as per Day One, but now we notice dead shearwaters and tropic birds. “Most likely the victims of owls”, Jess explains. “Owls were introduced to control rats… so, of course, now they’ve become the problem.” Work is ongoing to restore this World Heritage-listed island to its primal state, and with feral cats, goats and rats recently eradicated, owls and non-native plant species are next.

Clambering down the ridge from Kim’s Lookout (Cameron Wilson)

An afternoon boat trip to the outer lagoon is included in the Seven Peaks package, and we stop at Lord Howe Environmental Tours for our picnic lunch. Besides gearing up to snorkel, we’re eyeing up Friday’s optional eighth peak, Mt Gower (875m). It’s a requirement that hikers watch a video here before they commit, which seems designed less to showcase the trek, more to dissuade people from doing it. After viewing, two of our party drop out. The rest of us sign liability waivers, while the presenter ominously intones “hiking fit won’t be enough, are you climbing fit?”

The snorkel boat putters into the lagoon and anchors in the shallows. Paul from Idaho cries out, “time to jump in the lake!”, and plops over the side. Besides bathtub-warm and impossibly clear water, the marine world features unique variations on familiar species – anemone fish, coral fish, butterfly fish, a double-headed wrasse. We also spy turtles, giant rays and a pair of shy Galapagos reef sharks.

At 62, Paul has seen a few things and been to a few places.

Now and then I notice indigenous birds – tiny green-brown silvereyes, currawongs, a stunning golden whistler

“Where does this rank on your all-time list?” I ask, as we stop to paddle in the ocean on the way back to Pinetrees. “I think I need to amend my top three and make room for Lord Howe,” he replies, as we stand hip-deep in the lagoon, contemplating the twin peaks of Lidgbird and Gower.

A sensible person would have cut a switchback trail into Mt Gower. But this track, much of it lined with climbing ropes, evolved along a path created by mountain goats, and they go straight up. Our trek guide Kayla keeps a solid pace during the punishing 3.5 hours up and 2.5 hours down.

Now and then I notice indigenous birds – tiny green-brown silvereyes, currawongs, a stunning golden whistler. At our cliff stop for lunch, Amy captures photos of providence petrels careening through the skies. Then as if by magic, two LHI woodhens, the flagship species rescued from near extinction in the 1980s, appear in the underbrush.

The Little Mountain Palm is endemic to Mt Gower (Cameron Wilson)

Atop Mt Gower, I’m in a puddle of sweat after the final rope climb (Kayla isn’t even puffing). The scramble-abseil down is as precarious as the climb, but when we drop below the mist cloud the view north is jaw-dropping. We’ve bagged our eighth peak, one of the most challenging day hikes in Australia, and each been presented with a certificate to prove it.

You can visit LHI independently, and even hike some of these trails yourself. But the Seven Peaks Walk is both a five-day physical challenge and an opportunity to marvel, from mountain tops to ocean depths, at the trees, birds and marine life of Australia’s miraculous Galapagos.

Travel essentials

Seven Peaks Walks run March to May then Sept to Dec. From A$3,994pp (£2,280pp), including six nights’ accommodation, guide, all meals and transfers. Guided Mt Gower hike A$110 extra. Book through pinetrees.com.au.

Walks are often booked up a year in advance (max 12 people per trip).