After months of lockdowns and travel bans we took advantage of a lull and decided to use a credit that we had with Scenic Tours and take a trip with them to Norfolk Island. Our travel agent could not have been happier and willing to assist someone who was booking, not cancelling, and paying, not asking for a refund.
We flew to Sydney the evening before our departure due to timing issues and stayed overnight. Our first Uber ride to the airport. We had to catch the train to Rydges when we arrived at the domestic terminal and there were hardly any people around. We checked in and went down for dinner. It was like being in a ghost town. None of the usual hustle and bustle of people arriving and departing.
Complete with masks we went to the airport the following morning and after going up in the lift we finally saw a human being. We checked in and had to show our passes for NI. After a quick breakfast at one of the few venues open we went through immigration and customs.Very few people in the airport. All shops were closed except for duty free. We flew
Very muggy in NI. It was a small terminal and we had to fill in an Australian immigration card as if we were tourists in our own country. Not really fit for purpose. We were picked up and taken to our The South Pacific Resort in Burnt Pine. Very roomy with a balcony/verandah. We unpacked and went for a walk in to town. Lots of shops but most close by 3. NI is duty free. Food is expensive because of transport costs. Most form either Australia by air of on a barge from NZ. We were to learn later that the barge is at the whim of its owners and they had not had a boat for some time.
Our hotel has a happy hour each night where we met a member of our tour group and another couple from Sydney who were staying elsewhere but had popped in for the Happy Hour. We had dinner in the hotel. A nice fish meal (Trumpeter) and a creme caramel for dessert.
into town.Unfortunately the the next day the weather was windy and squally. After breakfast we walked into town looking at the shops. We caught up with some of our fellow travellers for a cappuccino at a local cafe. By the time we returned and had lunch, the rest of our group had arrived on the flight from Brisbane. We met our tour leader, Lillian, and then met for drinks and then dinner.
Norfolk Island measures only 35 sq km and is over 1400 km from mainland Australia. Archaeological remains tell us it was first populated by Polynesians around 400AD . They later disappeared for unknown reasons. Norfolk Island came to the attention of the first fleet because of the empires need for a reliable source of flax to make sails. With forced labour at their disposal, the first settlers arrived in 1788: 15 convicts and seven free men. A second wave arrived in 1824. During this regime, conditions at Norfolk Island penal colony were so extreme that it earned the nickname :Hell in the Pacific. The last wave of settlers arrived in 1863. They consisted of 200 men and women of Eurpaen and Tahitian origin
from Pitcairn Island, and were descendants of the crew of the HMS Bounty. Their population had grown too large for Pitcairn and they bought whaling and farming skills to Norfolk and today the islands continuation is credited to their ingenuity.
The rain started as we were collected. We were driven to Bar Harbour and looked at the different varieties of pines and history of the area including the wreck of the Sirius. In 1790 the second fleet boat Lady Julia landed here. We toured the jail where John told us about the including Alexander McConancie ( who is the namesake for the jail in Canberra because of his interest in human rights for prisoners). There are many horrific stories of the treatment of the prisoners here who were supposed to be the worst of the worst. Mostly it was because they had been convicted twice and not of particularly heinous crimes. They were also kept in leg irons and chained together but there was nowhere to escape to from the island.
