10 Days in Norfolk Island
Day 1: Friday: Melbourne to Norfolk Island
The alarm went at 0400, but we were both rather expecting it,
so it was the work of a moment to leap up and be dressed,
complete the last few items of packing, and be waiting at the
driveway for David and Sue at 0430.
A clear run to Tullamarine (who else but international
travellors would be up at this hour?) saw us finding a park in
the long-term car park, and boarding a bus to the terminal. A
interesting incident along the way - a bloke boarded the bus,
plonked a couple of large bags by the door, then stood up next
to the door, obviously expecting to be first off. But the
driver anounced over the tannoy that all bags need to be in the
luggage rack, and for people to take a seat. The bloke appeared
to take no notice, so the driver repeated the instruction.
"The man in the white shirt, he's talking to you!" I exclaimed,
whereupon Mr White Shirt turned around to glower at me. But at
that point, the driver came back, picked up the miscreant bags,
placed them in the luggage rack, and again exhorted White Shirt
to sit down. By now there were no seats, save for the very back
of the bus, so that's where WS had to go. Of course, when the
bus stopped, everyone in front of him leapt up to grab their
bags, so Mr White Shirt had to wait, and was in fact the last
person to get off the bus! Very poetic justice!
However, we were not in too much of a position to gloat, since
when we arrived at the check in counter, we saw that our plane
had been cancelled. There was one 15 minutes later, but we had
to wait in the queue for half an hour while the various
predicaments in front of us were sorted out. Then, when we did
get to the front of the queue, the "service" woman effectively
suggested that it was all our fault, as we, quote, "did not know
when our plane was due to leave"! It took a lot of calming
words from Barb not to make me lose my cool!
But we got our boarding passes, bought some breakfast/lunch
wraps, and boarded our flight almost on time, for a pleasant
(and food free) Air New Zealand 2 hour flight to Norfolk
Island. Our luggage must have been last on, first off, because
it arrived on the carousel quickly, and we were through customs
and out on the forecourt before we knew it. Friendly staff from
the Resort met us there, and stow our bags onto a trailer behind
a bus. But we had to wait a bit, because the Robinson's luggage
took much longer, and most of the passengers were through before
they appeared.
Once all assembled, it was a short but bumpy bus ride to the
Paradise Resort, where were again welcomed, this time with an
island juice cocktail, and some explanation about the week's
activity. The hire car which Jim had organized was also
arranged, and each couple had a nominated driver (Barb in our
case). Once ensconced in our cabins/rooms, and settled in,
we all piled into the car for a short run into Burnt Pine,
the main shopping strip on the island, and what would pass for a
"high street" in most country towns. The population of NI is
only 1700, spread across an island that is 8km by 5km (at its
widest points), so it is a small place. But for a "town" this
size, it does have a lot of jewellery/shoe/fashion shops, and
the prices are usually less than the equivalent items in
Australia, so it is rather a shopping paradise.
We checked out the market area (Saturday and Sunday mornings),
the post office (a separate organization fro Australia Post,
with its own stamps), and the one bottle shop in the island.
For reasons that are not clear to me in retrospect, I did not
buy any beer, a fact which I came to regret, since the bttle
shop closed early on Saturdays, and was shut on Sundays, right
when you need it! Although it was late (1500) by now, we did
find a cafe that still had some lunch items, so Barb had a ham
and cheese muffin, and John had a steak and cheese pie, together
with appropriate coffees. The pie was very yummy! This was at
the only supermarket mall on the island, and we followed that by
a browse in the included newsagent's, where we saw lots of
"Grumpy Old Man" T-shirts and caps. But we eschewed these for
the nonce, and John bought a beer T-shirt instead.
We walked back to the resort from the shopping strip, a trip of
perhaps 1000m, and Barb went for a swim in the pool. However,
her expression(s) on entering the water somewhat discouraged the
rest of us from following! Her comment was "bracing"! We
elected to eat dinner in the "La Perouse" restaurant at 1800.
John had fish and chips, with the local "trumpeter" fish, and
Barb had a salad nicoise. John had a beer, the NZ brand
Speights, an English style ale. They don't seem to have much in
the way of pale ales, prefering the Australian lager styles
(which was also true of the local bottle shop, and I suspect the
two are related).
Given the earlyness of our arising, an early night was
warranted, and Barb and I were asleep by 2130.
Day 2: Saturday
John started the day with a splash
Breakfast at Olive's
Wandered the market
Discovery Tour at noon
Dinner BBQ wth Trumpeter fillets from market
Day 3: Sunday
Breakfast at Golden Orb
Wandered the market
Dinner BBQ with ham steaks
Day 4: Monday
A slightly later
start to the day saw us taking breakfast in the Paradise Resort at
0830, as Donna's choice. Because the Island observes a time zone
that is 1 hour ahead of Australian Eastern Standard Time, it is
currently on the same time as Victoria and NSW, even though its
solar time is more like an hour ahead. It is daylight at 0400,
and by 0830 the sun is well and truly up.
The breakfast was good value at $11, which included the usual
continental stuff. Barb and I had muesli with various stewed
fruits and yoghurt, together with toast and coffee. Then we
headed off to the township, Morgans and Hursts walking,
Robinsons driving, to assemble at the Rawson Hall for a cooking
demonstration.
There were two demos. The first was by Byron and Heidi, from
the Bedrock Cafe, who cooked the local Trumpeter fish in a
lemon-based vegatable mix. The locals are very proud of the
fact that there vegetables are all locally grown, and that the
only veggies that they import are onions, garlic and ginger.
Well, almost. We discovered as the week wore on that several
other eating stuffs are also imported, things that you might
have thought could be grown locally, like coconuts, potatoes,
and surprisingly (given the number of cows on the island!), milk.
This was followed by a much more polished delivery from a bloke
who had just started up a charcuterie on the island, using local
beef and pork. He had been a teacher, and it was clear from his
background that he knew how to keep an audience listening. He
explained how he made Haggis, Proscuitto, and Salami from these
local ingredients, adapted for the local climate and culture.
He had a copy of Robert Burns' "Ode to a Haggis", of which he
read the first two lines, and then offered it to someone who
could better do the accent. John accepted the challenge, and
rattled off the first verse in a passable Scottish lilt,
although to quote Ron Morrison, he may have been "muddderring
the lungwage"!
Dinner at Paradise Hotel with the "Wild Wetls"
Day 5: Tuesday
Walked to breakfast at Olive with David and Sue, Donna and Jim
not coming because they were still full from last night.
Walked across to Cooking Demo in Rawson Hall at 1000. Two
demos of three local staples: Binki showed us how to make green
banana fritters (easy - if you can get green banabas!), followed
by 4 school kids, who cooked firstly Tahititian Fish, which we
knew from Tahiti as "poisson cru", and secondly, coconut
bread.
After the demo, we went shopping in our various ways. Barb and
I looked at milk jugs, and bought a blue spode mug.
Lunch ws skipped because of the giant dinner last night, plus
we sampled the various offerings at the demo. We spent
Dinner was the Food Festival sampling at Kingston
Day 6: Wednesday
Drove to Breakfast at Cafe Tempo with Donna and Jim. David and
Sue did not come, again claiming that the previous night's
dinner was sufficient. The service was slow, because although
we were the first into the cafe, we sat down and chatted, while
another group of four walked in up to the counter and ordered.
So their orders got processed before ours. But we were in no
hurry, since David and Sue decided to walk to Cascade Bay, and
we were to pick them up there after breakfast.
Barb and shared a French Toast, which was very nice, while Jim
and Donna shared some corn fritters, which they were less than
enthusiastic about. After breakky, we drove out to Cascade Bay
to pick up David and Sue, and inspect the rather short pier (the
one people go for ong walks on!)
This pier is a rather contentious issue, as it is scheduled for
extension by the Australian Government, and has been oft-quoted
as one of the reasons why the Norfolk Island community needs to
make itself more self suffient, or be taken over as an
Australian Territory. The island desperately needs better port
facilities. As I write this, the radio is announcing that there
is no work unloading the ship today, because the conditions are
not calm enough for the lighters to ferry goods to and from the
ship, which has to anchor out in open waters. But without
Australian money (from Australian taxpayers, NOT Norfolk
Islanders who pay no Australian tax), there is no way that
Norfolk Island can pay for such infrastructure.
We drove around on the way back from Cascade Bay, visiting the
Cockpit Waterfall (not much water falling, though, because of
the drought), and eventually returned to Paradise Resort. Barb
and I felt the need for coffee, so we walked back the short
distance to Hilli's. The others all argued that it was shut,
but I had seen the umbrellas out and up, so I knew. When we did
not return withing 10 minutes, the others did follow, so all six
of us had coffee, before returning to Paradise, to wait for the
bus to take us only slightly further around the corner of Queen
Elizabeth Avenue to Mariah's Restaurant.
Mariah's was the next Food Festival event, which was a
Thanksgiving Day Lunch. This was in the form of a very
sumptuous buffet, with four kinds of baked fish - trumpeter,
trevally, amberjack and king fish - with all kinds of local
specialties of greeb banana fritters, coconut bread, pippies,
poisson cru, kumera (local sweet potato), and so on.
Swim at Emily Bay
Time for a beer
Chocolat at the Ferny Park Theatre
Day 7: Thursday
Day 8: Friday
A bit of a chance to sleep in this morning, since the bus was
not due until 0845. But the radio announced that the ship was
to be unloaded today, so David and Sue decided to walk out to
Kingston to see the operation. Getting back was a problem,
since the bus constrained how much time there was, so we
arranged to drive out along the Kingston Rd to meet them coming
back somewhere between 0815 and 0830. But this plan rather fell
in a heap, since at about 0800 a message from the front desk
came that said "The Morgans are staying at Kingston". I
presumed that that meant they did not want to be picked up, but
Barb thought it meant that we were to pick them up from
Kingston. As it turned out, it was neither, but it was only on
driving down there as a safety precaution in case our
interpretation was wrong that we discovered the real reason -
that the breakfast was at Emily Bay, only a short walk across
from Kingston!
But then Jim had to drive the car back to get Donna, and, as
luck would have it, for the first tie all week, the bus not only
came on time, but it came early, and Donna had already caught
it. Consequently there were some ruffled feathers all round
about the ad-hoc planning that eventually got us all to the
breakfast on time, but more by good luck than good management.
The Baunti Breakfast was good, with scrambled eggs, bubble and
squeak, sausages, bacon, french toast, muesli and yoghurt,
tomato juice, and the good local coffee to follow.
Entertainment from the same singer as last night, some
dancing from the Tahitian Dancers, and delightful views across
both Emily Bay and Sydney Bay made for a very pleasant start to
the day. Back to Paradise for a little R&R until the next tour.
Which was that in the afternoon we were picked up in a minibus
by Eddie, who took us on a Farm and Industry Tour. First stop
was the Kentia Palm Nursery, now actually exporting Norfolk
Island Pine seedlings since the market for Kenta Palms fell from
$1000/bushel to $20/bushell, and it became uneconomic.
Next stop was Farmer Lou's, where we met Lou, who explained all
the crops he was growing (corn, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes,
bananas, mangoes, asparagus, leeks, etc., etc.), and then showed
us over his piggery (pong!) where there were quite a few piglets
(4 sows each with about 8 piglets, and quite a few weaned ones
as well).
A welcome trip out to Bedrock for afternoon tea (the excellent
local coffee again), and a chance to admire the view from the
northernmost part of the island.
Then to Farmer Pat's place, who walked us around her farm,
including some hydroponic lettuces that her son had started growing.
The final stop was the soft drink and liquer factory, where we
had another opportunity to taste all the liquers that we didn't
taste yesterday! Again, we bought two bottles, this time
Macadamia and Sambucca, along with a stopper to go with them.
evening; progressive dinner and convict history
Day 9: Saturday
Up bright and early to drive down to Kingston to see the
Southern Tiara ship
being unloaded by lighters.
Then back to Paradise to drop off the car, and then walk to The
Golden Orb, wher mushrooms were on the menu again!
To the market to buy some wetls for tomorrow night.
Back to Paradise in the car, and collected various belongings
for a drive out to Ball Bay to inspect the oil unloading
terminal, then further round the coast to Two Chimneys, where we
looked at the view, then to The Two Chimneys Winery for
tastings, and some small purchases (sparkling chamoscin and
verdelho).
Checked out the SubLime Cafe for coffee, but it was shut, so
back into town for coffee at Joel's Cafe (and the Robinsons had
lunch, since they missed breakfast). Then back to Paradise to
tog up for the glass bottom boat this afternoon.
We headed down to Emily Bat in the car (the bus being
cancelled) just before 1400, to catch up with John Christian,
the boat owner and driver, who was readying the boat on its
trailer ready for launching. We watched him launch the boat in
such a way that we were able to walk onto the boat trailer and
then the boat, all without getting our feet wet or requiring a jetty.
The boat trip itself was very enjoyable, not so much from the
things that we saw, although some of the fish were quite
spectacular, but more from what we heard: John's easy patter
about what we were seeing, and the reasons and stories behind it
all. He explained for example, that one of the brightly
coloured blue fish we saw was "George", whom he had observed
himself for 14 years, and was reputed to be around 30 years of
age.
We saw many fish, several sting rays, a banded eel, and, thanks
to a group of small boys who had accompanied us, a sea urchin
that they had found on the reef. One of them, Keanu, was John's
son, and he and three mates (all about 12) sat on the fron deck
spotting fish and rays, and guiding us through the shallow
waters, until John dropped them on the reef where they went
looking for urchins while we explored the coral formations.
We spent a pleasant hour stooging around Emily and Slaughter
Bays, and then headed back to the Emily Bay beach, where
alighted, and then went for a swim. All of us entered the
water, even Jim and David, and we floated about enjoying the 23
degree waters (which is not really that warm!)
Then packing up, we returned to the car. I got stung on the
left foot by a bee,
at least I think that is what it was, as I walked across the
grass. It was painful for 10 minutes, but gradually dissipated,
and I was able to walk on it once we had returned to the
Paradise Hotel, where we had time for a beer, and then got ready
for dinner.
Dinner was at Dino's, out on the Bumbora Point road, and as we
were early, we had time to visit the point and enjoy the view
(and another sunset). The dinner itself was very nice: Barb had
crab linguini, grilled local tuna, and licquorice ice cream for
dessert, while John had gorgonzola souffle, grilled lamb, and
chocolate baci cake for dessert. We shared the entree course by
swapping plates half way through.
Then back to the hotel and bed.
Day 10: Sunday
The Morgans and the Hursts were off early to visit Anson Bay,
which involved walking down a long winding track which was
constructed in the early 1980s to install the ANZCAN cable from
both Australia and New Zealand to Fiji and Hawaii, and then on
to Canada, landing in Vancouver. It was completed in 1984, and
decomissioned in 2002 - however the access track reamins, and is
in good condition for walking. 100 metres from cliff top to sea
level, but going down was easy. On the beach we watched the
waves for a while, took some photos, and generally admired the
ambience.
Returning to the top, we drove back to Paradise, picked up
Donna and Jim, and set off for Norfolk Blue for breakfast. We
went via the Moreton Bay fig avenue, and admired the huge trees,
but that was where our joy ended, as the Norflok Blue was shut,
with no hint of breakfast being offered on any day of the week,
let alone today. So plan B, return to Burnt Pine and choose a
restaurant there - Golden Orb as it happened, but they had by
this stage (it was now 1000!) run out of mushrooms. So Barb had
a quiche, and John had Eggs Benedict - not quite what we both
had had in mind, but it served, and duly was served.
Then over the road, some to have a quick look at the market,
some straight into the Bounty Toy Shop for a brwose, and poke
around. The shop was somewhat more extensive than its street
frontage would have implied, so it was nearly 1200 before the
last of us left. Donna bought a few gifty things, but the rest
of us managed to escape bag-free. We then made our separate
ways back to Paradise, David walking, Barb and Sue shopping, and
Donna and Jim driving. I walked back too, but via different
shops, and was the fourth to return. Barb and Sue came back
last, by which stage I was in the pool. Barb bought a new
watch, a rather nice largish one with roman numerals as she
likes.
Some swimming by various members ensued, then book reading, tea
and beer drinking, blog writing, until ...
Day 11: Monday
