I’m writing this blog on Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean about 600 kilometres off the east coast of Australia. Reputedly, it is the last Island in the world to be discovered, having been done so in 1788 by the British. Prior to that, even the Polynesians didn’t know about it.
Arguably, it takes first prize in any natural beauty stakes. Coral reefs, mountains, sandy white beaches, and gorgeous plant life are its assets in this department. The two mountains (Gower and Lidgbird) rise abruptly from the sea to a height of near 1000 metres. Coming in by air, you see them rise out of the empty ocean like aquatic King Kongs.
Flora and fauna here are unique. Don’t expect eucalypts. Biologically speaking, this is not Australia. Elegant Kentia Palms are endemic here, as are massive Norfolk Pines and Banyan Trees. A sweet flightless bird, the woodhen, startles round every corner. Shearwater come back here after their massive migration. Don’t expect kangaroo or emu. Or marsupials of any kind.
The geologic history of the Island surprises me. Lord Howe Island is volcanic in origin, dating back 7 million years. Then, the Australian tectonic plate, in its northward drift, hovered above a hot spot in the earth’s mantle, which punctured a hole in the plate and spewed magma into the ocean. The subsequent build up of magma marked the birth of the Island.
As the plate moved further north over the hot spot, more holes were punctured, and more islands were formed, a chain of them in point of fact. Today, only two remnants protrude above sea level: Lord Howe Island itself, and Ball’s Pyramid, a near-vertical rock rising 500 metres or so from the ocean. The rest have been eroded away.
What a pretty little daisy chain of islands it must have been back those millions of years ago!
The Hawaiian Island chain was formed in a similar way, but much more recently, so most, if not all, of the islands still poke their heads above sea level. Magma is still spewing out from the largest island (Hawaii). So, the island is still in the process of being built. More are probably on the drawing board. The largest mountain on earth, as measured from the sea bed to peak, is Mauna Kea on Hawaii, and I believe it’s still counted as active volcanically. Nearby Mauna Loa and Kilauea are certainly active, as recent events attest.
Limited by our puny biological time span, we humans don’t get to see any of these geologic processes as they happen. We can’t experience directly the formation of island chains. We can’t live through them from woe to go. We can only infer such events.
This fascinates me. It’s as if, on this earth, there are two (perhaps more) parallel universes in play, only one of which we can know. We are denied access to any others.
Meanwhile, all I can do is sit back with my long macchiato in the Anchorage Restaurant, in what they like to call the CBD on Lord Howe Island. And enjoy.
Simple pleasure it is, but not broad brush.