Balls Pyramid

We were all up early today getting out in the slightly cooler part of the day for our morning exercise. Heading in different directions, we reconvened at our accomodation, showered, had a bite for breakfast before heading to coffee.

The morning post coffee activity was snorkelling at Ned's Beach. The water was not particularly flat and calm due to the onshore breeze. Ned's beach is renown for fish feeding so as soon as you submerge a big school of whitish fish (? silver drummers) check you out hoping you have brought some fish food. No luck here guys. A short time later, we spot a turtle! They are such cool creatures.  With an afternoon trip planned, we didn't spend too long in the water.

Post lunch activity was a boat trip and snorkel out to Balls Pyramid. Located 20+kms southeast of Lord Howe, Balls Pyramid is basically a massive rock in the middle of nowhere! Standing at 572m high, it is the tallest volcanic stack in the world. Andy was super excited to be visiting this special place!

Balls Pyramid is home to the Lord House Island stick insect thought to be extinct until 200 when an expedition team discovered a small population of 24 stick insects living under a single melaleuca bush.

Our boat trip was brought forward a couple of days due to impending inclement weather. Heading south, we skirted the base of Mt Gower before negotiating the open ocean. It took over an hour and was pretty bumpy as the boat ploughed through the oncoming swell. 

We were kept entertained by the random flying fish leaping out of the water. Eventually through the haze, the unique triangular shape of Balls Pyramid emerged. 

Seabirds flocked the pyramid and surrounding rocky outcrops. Our skipper gave us a great lecture about the pyramid and its history. 

Carefully positioning the boat in the lee of the pyramid most of the guests on the boat donned wetsuits and snorkels and plunged into the water. We joined in. The water was chilly but so beautifully blue and clear! The swell pushed us around a little so we were careful not to get too close the base of the pyramid. Katy and I saw a few baby Galapagos sharks, a species known to inhabit this area. They were very small and swimming amongst the reef floor.

Once back on board, we circumnavigated the pyramid taking lots of photos of its various faces. The trip back to Lord Howe was much quicker and less bumpy. 

 

As we reached Lord Howe, we were taken around the northern section to view the Old Gulch, Malabar Hill and the rocky outcrop of the Admiralty Islands. A great trip although Ella described it as another trip to see a pointless rock!!