In the footsteps of giants Let me lead you on an uphill journey through pandanus and palm forest to the island’s centre and an astronomical revelation, where a 1982 time capsule buried on Transit Hill bears witness to our explorations of heaven and earth. In 1882 Henry Chamberlain Russell, then director of the Sydney Observatory, arranged regional observations of the transit of Venus, including one on Lord Howe Island. On 24 November 1882, local teacher Thomas B. Wilson recorded in his diary that after the government party’s arrival by steamer, “Thompson, self and bullocks dragged 2 loads to the top of Mt Lookout.” The spot was later renamed Transit Hill to honour the event on December 8. Alas, Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating: “Transit of Venus party only successful in getting 2 observations – too cloudy,” wrote Wilson. Fast-forward 130 years and it was a case of déjà vu: our 2012 transit of Venus observation was in doubt. The crew of the Australian-built replica of HMB Endeavour had sailed to the island in a joint tribute to transit observations by Captain Cook (Tahiti, 1769) and Sydney Observatory (Lord Howe Island, 1882). Two days before the transit, in June this year, gale force winds kept the Sydney Observatory’s historian and astronomer aboard Endeavour, and the ANMM’s land crew in Sydney, until June 5. Early transit morning — June 6 — telescopes and satellite equipment for live-streaming the event to Sydney were transported to the old meteorological station, a more accessible site than Transit Hill. However, we were unable to see Venus kiss the sun at 8:45am as clouds obscured our view and wind gusts of up to 115km/hr from the east ripped our marquee. High seas prevented the Endeavour voyage crew from joining us ashore. (“The wind gusts took us by surprise”, island weatherman Les Duttage says later, adding that swells were still up to five metres the following day.) Excited islanders and tourists joined astronomer Carlos Bacigalupo when the clouds parted to show the silhouette of Venus on the sun. Transit observations are significant because they reveal Venus’ atmosphere and assist the search for planets outside our solar system, says Carlos. Historian Dr Alex Cook explained 1769 transit observations were used to refine navigation
Right The Pinetrees Lodge family graveyard. The Lodge is one of the oldest family-run businesses in Australia. Opposite HMB Endeavour departs Lord Howe Island after recording the transit of Venus in June 2012.
techniques, specifically the calculation of longitude, and to calculate the sun’s distance from Earth. Cook’s assignment to Tahiti to observe the transit included a hidden agenda — literally — that played a huge part in the story of Australia. Before setting sail from England, he received sealed orders from the Royal Navy — to be opened only after the transit had been observed. Cook was commanded to find the Great South Land, a “Land of great extent” that was thought to exist in southern latitudes. The rest is, ahem, history! As South Pacific exploration continued, says Alex, “the Pacific became a living laboratory in European imagination”. Joseph Banks’ specimens from the Endeavour voyage formed the basis of London’s Kew Gardens, one of the best botanical collections in the world. From Darwin’s voyage in the 1830s, we learned: “Islands have contained ecologies that tell us an awful lot about interactions between animals and the environment.” Ian Hutton, Lord Howe Island Museum curator and ecologist, agrees. Ian has researched and written books on the island’s unique ecology since his arrival in 1980. Up to 86 per cent of plant species in Mt Gower’s cloud-forest are found nowhere else, along with four land birds, at least 120 vascular plants, more than half of the 1,600 known invertebrates, and several fish. About 40 per cent of the fish species unique to the Tasman Sea live in the island’s waters.
“The island’s growing popularity as a food source earned it the nickname ‘whalers’ kitchen.”