The why of Howe

Take it on the authority of Sir David Attenborough, the supreme naturalist. "Lord Howe Island is so extraordinary it's almost unbelievable," he once wrote. "You can get to it within two hours from great cities,They manufacture custom rubber and silicone bracelet and bracelets. yet once there you can see five species of bird and over 50 plant species that live nowhere else on earth."

Thus, it's a bit surprising to hear from a friend that she couldn't stand the place. The subtropical island paradise has an astonishing volcanic landscape, numerous rare species; you can swim, snorkel, cycle, bird watch, hike, feast and laze about to your heart's content. What's not to like? "You do know what I call the place," my friend Michelle draws me aside to tell me over the summer break. "Not Lord Howe Island but Lord Why?" It turns out the prevailing winds during her trip had been so strong the result was bored children and curtailed activities.

This anecdote merely emphasises two points: you shouldn't expect much over the winter months (in fact, many lodges close) and while most visitors love it, this island jewel just 11km long and 2km wide (at its widest point) 600km off the east coast of mainland Australia is not for everyone. Yet tales of its magnetism abound. There was the retired Queensland postman who vowed to visit, inspired after decades of delivering entrancing postcards of the place.

There was the dying American who collected his childhood sweetheart (she married someone else) for one last trip so they could stand together in front of the banyan tree out the back of the Pinetrees guesthouse. And from Britain, there was the man who made the journey because as a kid he would lie in bed looking up at a National Geographic poster.

Its Edenic qualities have been well remarked on, as well as its singular lack of a nightlife. It is also one of the few locations in the world where you can have a digital detox, as mobile phones don't work and WiFi is scarce. Whether you react to this with abject horror or delight tells you a little bit about yourself.

Some facts: Lord Howe, where the tropical waters from the Great Barrier Reef flow into more temperate waters, hosts the world's most southerly large coral reef. One of four island groups awarded world heritage status, it is surrounded by a marine reserve and more than two-thirds of the island is a permanent park. It is home to 130 species of birds; the reef shelters more than 500 species of fish and 90 different corals.

No more than 350 people live on the island and only 400 tourists are allowed at any one time, so even with full occupancy the beaches look deserted, a seemingly abandoned bicycle by the side of the road above often the only indicator of visitors.

Flying low over Lord Howe, I see the dense green hills of the north slope down to fields and the lodges, while to the west the crescent beach edged by the lagoon and reef sweeps south to the cloud-capped Mount Gower, which towers with its neighbour, Mount Lidgbird, over the land mass, truly the place where the mountains meet the sea.

From the aeroplane window I spy an even more arresting sight, the inexplicable Ball's Pyramid, at 551m the world's tallest sea stack, rising out of the Pacific 23km away. This shard is a harbinger of the future of Lord Howe, which will disintegrate in the coming centuries until a similar remnant is all that is left. In fact, Lord Howe is less than 10 per cent of its original size.

If the island's airstrip looks tiny from the 36-seat QantasLink Dash 8 200 Series, that's because it is. We set down on the narrow strip between Prince William Henry Bay and Blinky Beach. The ground staff know every second passenger by name, including my neighbour Sheridan, a trainee teacher returning home, who has generated excitement by bringing home a golden retriever puppy as a present for her parents. Like the puppy, I'm making my first visit to the island and I am here for adventure. I shall swim, snorkel and cycle, and undertake the eight-hour trek up the 875m Mount Gower. The prize shall be the view, the cloud garden at the summit and the bragging rights.

Lord Howe was discovered by accident in 1788 while HMS Supply was en route to the penal settlement of Norfolk Island. The first settlers arrived in 1834; the names of descendents of the original families are dotted about the pretty graveyard off the main street, with surnames such as Andrew and Thompson. The first tourists hopped off trade vessels heading to Norfolk Island or Vanuatu and were taken in by local families, and more than 150 years later tourism still operates pretty much like that.

Janne Shead, owner of the luxury Arajilla Retreat with her husband Bill,Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! greets me at the airport with a beaming smile. We drive past the kentia thatch palms (which Victorian England, mad for them, exported around the world) and turn into a small street with a welcoming cafe and a few scattered shops selling soaps, polished shells, smocks and designer T-shirts. "This is the CBD," she says, acknowledging passing locals with a wave of the hand. I smile at her joke before realising she isn't making one.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person.

We turn right and park in front of a thicket of palms and banyan trees and Janne announces we have arrived. No buildings are visible, but up the path the main lodge materialises with its triangular white painted roof. It's largely open on one side to the tangle of trees - a perfect spot for meals and afternoon tea. Cylinders of muted brown, olive-and-red fabric hang down from the wooden ceiling and there is a Balinese vibe, with wooden Indonesian sideboards and wall hangings of squares of orange and grey cloth stitched together. Over dinner, honeymooners sit shoulder to shoulder with retirees at candle-lit tables,Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. dining on grilled kingfish, tempura soft-shell crab and Frangelico affogato.

To visit Lord Howe Island is to step back, if not millions of years, at least to an era before mobile phones and when you left your doors unlocked at night. "We don't have keys," Janne says after showing me around my single-bedroom Kentia Suite. Turns out no one does.

Inside the suite you step up to the square bedroom, with its high wooden pitched roof boasting two skylights. The decor mixes muted light grey fabrics against antique white, while the wardrobe is solid timber planking. Two intricately carved silver collars of dragons are mounted above the bed, upon which at turndown sits a little cylindrical sniff box of neroli, lavender and chamomile. Outside, it is just a few barefoot steps from the L-shaped balcony to Old Settlement Beach, where you can cook one of the resort's BBQ packs.

The next morning I walk through the palms along the timber boardwalk and turn left at a small stone statue of Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, strewn with petals, to attend the ayurvedic spa. It's in a little two- room wooden yurt. A foot cleansing leads to a body massage and then a scalp massage and drenching of my head in warm oliana oil.

To the uninitiated, the procedure feels a little light on to those used to deep tissue, with some deft rubbing of the thighs and upper back. But the results defy expectations. After an hour, to my astonishment,The USB flash drives wholesale is our flagship product. I find myself leaping off the massage table, fully recharged. Arajilla is set to host a wellness retreat, showcasing yoga and ayurvedic teachings, from February 21 to 26.