Fewer than 500 people live on Lord Howe Island, a crescent of volcanic rock in the Tasman Sea, and most of them share the low northern end. If you are curious about living on Lord Howe Island, the setting shapes almost everything else.
This page covers the island's geography, history, population, climate, administration and services, plus how far it sits from bigger centres. For the wider picture, see our Lord Howe Island destination guide.
Where the island sits
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant between Australia and New Zealand, and it is part of New South Wales. It lies 600 km directly east of Port Macquarie, 780 km northeast of Sydney and about 900 km southwest of Norfolk Island.
The island is about 10 km long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km wide, with a total area of 14.55 square kilometres. Only 3.98 square kilometres of that is the low-lying developed part. Along the west coast there is a sandy, semi-enclosed coral reef lagoon.
Most residents live in the north. The south is dominated by forested hills that rise to Mount Gower, the island's highest point at 875 m. The wider Lord Howe Island Group has 28 islands, islets and rocks. The best known of the others is Ball's Pyramid, volcanic and uninhabited, about 23 km to the southeast. North of the main island is the Admiralty Group, a cluster of seven uninhabited islets.
A short history of settlement
Nobody appears to have lived here before Europeans arrived. An extensive archaeological investigation in 1996 found no sign of earlier human activity, and the island seems to have been unknown to Polynesian peoples of the South Pacific.
Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commanding HMS Supply, first reported the island on 17 February 1788, while heading from Botany Bay to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return trip he sent a party ashore to claim it for Britain. They brought turtles and tame birds back to Sydney. Ball named Mount Lidgbird and Ball's Pyramid after himself, and the island after Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, then First Lord of the Admiralty.
From whalers to a permanent community
The island became a provisioning port for whaling ships, and some left goats and pigs behind as food for later visitors. Permanent settlement began in June 1834, when the whaling barque Caroline, under Captain John Blinkenthorpe, landed at what is now Blinky Beach. Three men stayed behind to run a supply station: George Ashdown, James Bishop and Chapman. Huts went up at Old Settlement, where fresh water was available.
When whaling declined, the 1880s brought the start of worldwide exports of the island's endemic kentia palms, which remain a key part of the economy. Tourism, the other continuing industry, began after World War II ended in 1945.
Who runs the island and how it is protected
The Lord Howe Island Group is legally an unincorporated area, administered by the Lord Howe Island Board, which reports to the New South Wales Minister for Environment and Heritage. The currency is the Australian dollar. The standard time zone is UTC+10:30, or UTC+11 when daylight saving applies.
Protection is strong. UNESCO records the group as a World Heritage Site, and most of the island is virtually untouched forest with plants and animals found nowhere else. The Lord Howe Island Act 1981 created a Permanent Park Preserve covering about 70% of the island. The surrounding waters form the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. The island was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 and the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007.
Our destination note puts the visitor cap at just 400 people at a time, which is part of why the place feels so uncrowded.
Climate through the year
The climate is mild and maritime. Averages for the area, based on 1991 to 2020 normals, show daytime highs from about 17 to 23 degrees Celsius and overnight lows that rarely drop below 15.6. February is the warmest month, and August the coolest.
| Month | Max (C) | Min (C) | Rain (mm) | Rain days | Sunny days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22.7 | 21.5 | 73.4 | 8.4 | 28.9 |
| February | 23.1 | 21.9 | 83.7 | 8.1 | 25.9 |
| March | 22.4 | 21.2 | 103.2 | 9.4 | 28.6 |
| April | 21.2 | 19.8 | 86.4 | 9.6 | 28.1 |
| May | 19.8 | 18.2 | 100.6 | 10.9 | 27.9 |
| June | 18.4 | 16.8 | 108.7 | 12.7 | 25.7 |
| July | 17.5 | 15.9 | 95.8 | 12.9 | 27.5 |
| August | 17.3 | 15.6 | 82.5 | 11.4 | 29.1 |
| September | 17.9 | 16.3 | 82.0 | 9.1 | 28.2 |
| October | 18.6 | 17.1 | 76.6 | 9.1 | 28.7 |
| November | 19.9 | 18.4 | 86.3 | 8.9 | 27.9 |
| December | 21.4 | 20.1 | 87.8 | 8.3 | 28.9 |
Rain is spread fairly evenly. June is the wettest month at 108.7 mm over 12.7 days, and January is the driest at 73.4 mm. Every month records at least 25 sunny days, so even the wetter winter months are not gloomy. We reckon the cooler months suit anyone who prefers walking weather to beach weather; see our Lord Howe Island activities page for ideas.
Getting to and from the mainland
Commuter airlines fly to Sydney, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Port Macquarie. There is no road link, of course, so the road figures below are only a guide to how far the mainland centres are from the island area, as measured by road from the Lord Howe Island area.
| Route | Distance | Approx. time |
|---|---|---|
| Lord Howe Island to Port Macquarie | 83 km | 69 minutes |
| Coffs Harbour to Lord Howe Island | 105 km | 83 minutes |
| Lord Howe Island to Newcastle | 316 km | 237 minutes |
| Lord Howe Island to Port Stephens | 317 km | 239 minutes |
| Byron Bay to Lord Howe Island | 336 km | 247 minutes |
| Hunter Valley to Lord Howe Island | 349 km | 261 minutes |
| Central Coast to Lord Howe Island | 385 km | 285 minutes |
| Lord Howe Island to Sydney | 456 km | 339 minutes |
These figures sit oddly against the straight-line distances of 600 km to Port Macquarie and 780 km to Sydney, so treat the table as rough. The straight-line distances are the ones that describe the actual sea gap.
Island life and visiting
With so few residents and so much protected land, daily life revolves around the lagoon, the forest and the seasons. Visitors fit into that rhythm. If you plan a stay, start with Lord Howe Island accommodation, then look at Lord Howe Island attractions and tours and rentals. For wider state information, Visit NSW is the official tourism site at Visit NSW, and a longer background entry is on Wikipedia.
Frequently asked questions
How many people live on Lord Howe Island?
Fewer than 500 people, most of them in the north of the island.
How far is Lord Howe Island from Sydney?
It lies 780 km northeast of Sydney and 600 km east of Port Macquarie. Commuter airlines fly to Sydney, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Port Macquarie.
Who administers the island?
The Lord Howe Island Board, which reports to the New South Wales Minister for Environment and Heritage, administers the island as an unincorporated area.
