Ron from the ramble turned up at our cabin at 8:30 to tell us he was running another of his cruises around the island at 10:30. It was another perfect day on Lord Howe Island.

The cruise was great, the cliffs of Mt Gower were awesome as bounced underneath them. I had some sobering moments looking at these huge volcanic cliffs and thinking tomorrow I will be climbing that monster. It made all the other climbs we had done on the island look pretty small. We went out to the Admiralty Islands and then around to the north of Lord Howe and back around into the lagoon. On the way we backed into a cave to watch the blowhole.

This was not one of Al’s favourite parts of our holiday; she is never a great sailor especially on small boats. Ron’s boat is around 30 foot and the sea was fairly lumpy with the wind blowing and the diesel smelling, she was having a very hard time of it. Even the comical picture of Ron standing near the transom of the boat waving his arms like flapping wings and calling to the birds did not help her enjoyment of the day.

Ron’s description of the wild life, the island and its history and his antics with the bird life around him made you feel that he was really at one with his surroundings and the birds and animals that lived there.