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SLIDINGDOWN A RAIN-DRENCHED hill on
one’sbottomisnotsomething that most people would be
happyabout.It’snot something that they would write about
inanationalmagazine either, for fear of embarrassment
overcomingthem.But I’m thrilled. Just as I was when I fell fl at
onmyfaceearlierin the day.
Thereasonformy uncontained joy at each fumble, stumble
andfallisthatallcome in the service of making Lord Howe
Islandevenmoreperfect and pristine than it already is. Even
intheshortspaceof time since I arrived on the island, I have
decideditistheleast I can do for a place that has fi lled me
withsuchastrongsense of calm and contentment.
Iamtakingpart,ever so briefl y, in an ambitious
weed-eradicationprogram designed to rid the island of
introducedpests,no small task given the lush thickness of
thevegetationthatblankets it and the teeny tiny size of the
weedsinquestion.Around my waist I am equipped with all
theparaphernalianeeded to strike a blow to the pernicious
encroachmentofsuch things as cherry guava (it sounds nicer
thanitis,Iassureyou) and ochna, including knives for
strippingbackroots, little bottles of poison, and a GPS tracker
thatallowseachweed found to be documented and added to
anelectronicmapfor reference.^1WEEKENDS |Lord Howe Island
After a few hours of crawling through the dense island
scrub, weaving my way between seemingly infi nite kentia
palm, and following a meticulously strung thread boundary
demarcating the territory to be covered on this day by the
happy band of volunteers (many work in the hospitality
industry on the island) I’m working with, I feel like I have
played a part in the destruction of a handful of weeds,
although I didn’t manage to fi nd any myself. I emerge from
the trees covered in mud and with a sense of satisfaction that
only comes from helping.
I am told that the program will continue until all weeds have
been banished from the UNESCO World Heritage-listed
island, which sits kilometres o the New South Wales
coast in the Tasman Sea. Eventually the eradication of such
pests will result in the island being named as a biosecurity zone.
But fi rst they need to get rid of the rats that have been
residents of the island since the steamship SS Makambo ran
aground at Ned’s Beach back in . Since then they have
been credited with playing a part in the extinction of birds,
invertebrates and plants. Rats were also thought to have
helped wipe out the Lord Howe Island phasmid, a giant
stick insect native to the island, but they were happily
rediscovered in .
Equally ambitious as the weed eradication, yet much
more controversial, is the program of baiting that took
place during the winter months, which will hopefully result
in , rats being removed from the island in one fell
swoop, never to return.
Given my hatred of rats I am happy not to be taking
PHOTOGRAPHY: LEIGH-ANN POW (KENTIA PALMS, BALL’S PYRAMID, LANDING) DESTINATION NSW (ISLANDS)part in that particular project, but during my time on the
FROM RIGHT:
Arriving into Lord
Howe Island is
spectacular; Ball’s
Pyramid juts metres
out of the dense blue
waters of the Tasman
Sea. OPPOSITE: Lord
Howe Island is a pristine
island paradise located
some kilometres
o the NSW coast.