Lord Howe is a 14.55-square-kilometre crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea.
When I visited Lord Howe Island in October,the shearwaters were nesting behind Ned's Beach and the red-tailed tropic birds were doing the same on Malabar Hill. A new moon drew tides out so far even residents were surprised at what was exposed. During my weeklong stay at Pinetrees Lodge,I spend time with Dani Rourke and discover that owning and managing one of Australia's oldest family businesses was something this former lawyer and sixth generation Lord Howe Islander could not have foreseen.
Lord Howe is a 14.55-square-kilometre crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea. It lies approximately 600 kilometres east of the NSW mainland coastline and has a population of about 350 people. In 1982 the Lord Howe Island Group was declared a World Heritage site for its spectacular topography and plethora of endemic species. The island-wide cap of 400 tourists at any one time,implemented to help preserve the natural beauty,still exists.
Pinetrees is just over a kilometre north of what Lord Howe residents tongue-in-cheekily call the CBD. It employs about 30 staff and accommodates up to 75 guests. Although Pinetrees is one of the cushiest places to stay on Lord Howe,with exquisite meals and top-notch service,it's an understated and unplugged experience.
Pixie,Luke,Elsie and Dani on Blinky Beach.Credit:Nikki To
Rooms and cottages,with comfortable lounges and louvred windows,are connected by boardwalks. There's a small onsite day spa,a tennis court and lawns. Gardens are packed with Kentia palms while overhead is a banyan tree canopy and towering Norfolk pines. Meals are served on the verandah or inside where there's a dining room,bar,lounge and library. Their beachside boatshed is a real suncatcher.
The Pinetrees story begins with Margaret Curry,an Irish-born housemaid,and Thomas Andrews,a fetching seaman she met on her passage to Australia in 1832 and married when they got to Sydney. As Australia sank into economic depression in the early 1840s the couple headed to Lord Howe for a 12-month stint,working as general servants for a Captain Poole,that became a lifelong sea change. Back then,the island was freshly settled and a resupply station for whaling ships.
In 1848,the Andrews paid two tonnes of potatoes for a large piece of land that included what is now Pinetrees Lodge. Their daughter,Mary Nichols,was not only integral in the development of the island's Kentia palm seed export industry – necessary after whaling waned – but began operating the family homestead as a guesthouse. The Pines,as it was called,officially hosted guests from the mid-1890s.
Pintrees Lodge.
Despite disease,divorce,departure and death – one relative even went down with the Titanic in 1912 – Pinetrees stayed in the family and has operated continuously. During the 1930s,the rowdiest Christmas time guests (lawyers apparently) were relegated to tents because they kept breaking the fibro walls. In the 1950s,Pinetrees offered the island's first ensuite rooms.