DAY 3 - NORFOLK ISLAND

Day 3 – Monday 6^th JANUARY 2020.

We all seemed to manage a bit of a sleep in this morning not getting up until 7.30pm.  Before having breakfast we went for a wander around the property and checked out the other units.  

We were keen to see if there were any changes to the unit we stayed in last time… It has definitely been renovated since we were last here with the second bedroom now with a double and a single bed in.  They have also built a one bedroom unit directly behind the unit we stayed in last time also.  

Bird life around our house on Norfolk Island

Steve and Ian continued with their walk down the road and around the corner to the home that had a fresh produce box outside their gate to see if he could get some fresh eggs.  They were out of luck today.  Meanwhile I went back to our house to grab my camera as there were so many lovely flowering hibiscus around the gardens that I really wanted to photograph them.

By the time the boys came back, we organised our breakfast and all enjoyed having it on our back patio.  We also looked at the tourist brochures trying to decide just what we wanted to see and do this week….

Once we had cleaned up and got ready we headed straight into town to Brunti Tours to book a couple of tours we wanted to do, the first being “The Commandants Dinner” which was normally held on a Wednesday night but this week had been brought forward to the Monday night because one of the Cruise Ships was docking on Thursday and all their tourist resources were being focused on providing transport and tours for the cruise ship passengers.  It is a really big thing to have a cruise ship docking off shore for the Norfolk Folk as this really does add a huge boost to their economy.  They are hoping for fine weather, so that passengers can come ashore.

We also booked to do a three hour 4x4WD tour of the Island on Friday morning.  This takes us down into valleys, and over ranges that are inaccessible by car and also onto private properties, so we thought it would be a good tour to do as it will take us to places we are unable to access.

Steve inquired about a fishing charter trip and was given the names of two of the charter boats, and was told to ring them direct.  We were also interested in doing the cruise around al three islands, and for that we also had to contact the Boat Charters directly.  This is something we will need to do when we get home this afternoon.

Once we had made our bookings we had a walk down the main street in Burnt Pine until we found a little shop that sold some home grown fresh fruit and vegetables.  The folks from Mackay in Qld that we met up on Mt Pitt had told us to go here to get tomatoes, they were by far the sweetest on the island.  After buying some tomatoes we decided to head back to the car to go explore the beaches.  We did get distracted and ended up spending a bit of time checking out a shoe shop that was situated right next to the Commonwealth Bank.   

Found these beauties in the carpark at Hilli's restaurant..

Stunning

 Before having our lunch we decided to check out the "Gallery Guava" which has some beautiful hand crafted items in there.  I was very tempted to buy a necklace that was hand crafted and coloured glass but in the end I restrained myself....

I was tempted to buy the yellow necklace in this picture

 By now it was after 11.30am, and we planned to visit a few different beaches, we decided that we probably should have lunch first.  We had been told that Hillies which is situated where the Cycloramia and Art Gallery are was worth a visit and their meals were delicious

Our meal - delicious

Steve would like to make some of these napkin rings... measuring for size.

I had noticed their menu the previous day when we had visited the Information Centre, and noticed that they had a seafood crepe on their menu, and it sounded amazing and was very reasonably priced.

As we were booked to go to The Commandants Dinner” this evening, we didn’t want a big meal, so decided to just order two meals and share them.  A very wise move on our part and they meal was huge, and we were quite full even sharing them.  We have decided that this is one café worth going back to… 

 After our lunch we went for a wander around their gardens.  Lots of beautifully flowering hibiscus trees, beautiful flowering poinciana trees.  These were very low trees though.  Back home they grow a lot taller.  

Nepean Island

Phillip & Nepean Island - Norfolk Island...

After we enjoyed a walk around the gardens it was time to head off again and head to the beaches.  We drove along Queen Elizabeth Drive until we got to Driver Christian’s Road, which would take us down over the Bloody Bridge to Cemetery Bay.  The views over the ocean coming down this road were absolutely breathtaking, and Steve found a spot for us to stop so that we could take the views in (and photograph them of course).  They weren’t quite as clear as they could have been because we still have quite a bit of smoke from the Australian Bushfires hanging around the island, but they were still stunning. After taking our photos, and sitting and admiring the views for some time, it was time to move on and head further down to the Bloody Bridge.

The Bloody Bridge

Kathy and I sitting on the side of The Bloody Bridge

Views from the Bloody Bridge

Amazing clear water....

There is a real tale to this bridge.  Myth would have it that the bridge was named Bloody Bridge because back in the penal settlement time, a cruel officer was murdered here by some of the convicts and to hide his body, they hid it in the bridge they were constructing.  They were found out a little time latter when his blood was found leaking out of the bridge.

Again the views were stunning from this part of the island.  From here we drove along past the cemetery and photographed the leaning trees and then continued along Quality Row where all the Officers Homes were located during the Penal Settlement times, heading down to Emily Bay to have a look at the Salt House and Lime Kiln.  Both built during the Penal Settlement by the convicts.  We wandered down onto the beach to also check out the beach caves and limestone rocks.  

 The Salthouse is located overlooking beautiful Emily Bay at the Kingston Historic Area. It was built in 1846 and was extremely important to the survival of the penal settlement. There were no refrigerators so the salt was essential for preserving the meat products. It was an important structure evaporating the water off from sea water to produce the much needed commodity.  It was part of the industrial side of the penal colony which also included the Mill House, Lime Kiln, Windmill and Crank House.  These structures helped to make the colony self sufficient in the production of food.

 From checking out the Salt House, we then wander over to check out the Lime Kiln. The Calcarenite at Emily Bay was recognized as limestone in 1791.  In the early penal settlement lime was needed for mortar and plaster so Lt. Governor Phillip King set men to work producing lime.  In 1792, a large kiln was constructed to burn the lime stone.  The smoking lime kiln probably led to the locality being named Chimney Hill.  Limestone was quarried here until the mid 1940's..  The calcaneitis known as rubble calcarite or coral rock was used for footing walls, and making lime.  Finer quality stone, known as massive Calcarenitine was used for carved work such as sills, heads and archways.  All very interesting...

Posing in front o the Lime Kiln...

Looking back towards the convict ruins and Kingston..

 We also met a local at Emily Bay and chatted to him for some time.  He was down there giving his grandchildren a swim.  This is the most popular swimming beach on the idea and is listed in the top 10 beaches in the Southern Hemisphere.  It is a beautiful safe beach, where the water is a beautiful emerald green shade and the water is so clear.  We must have a swim in it before we head home. 

Chimney Hill near Emily Bay - Norfolk Island

 From Chimney Hill we also had a great view of the Government House and the majestic tree which grows in front of it.  We want to explore this area more also, but perhaps not today...

Wonderful Majestic Tree with Government House in the background...

We decided to give Kingston beach and convict area a miss this afternoon and come back and explore it another day and devote our time to it after Ian and Kathy had read up about the Convict Settlement a little more first.  This makes it all come alive. 

Bumbora Reserve

Views of Bumbora Beach

Wild flowers along the way

Plenty of Bee activity

Down on the beach at Bumbora Reserve

Instead, we decide to head out to Bumbora Road to check out the beach at the Bumbora Reserve.  The road seemed familiar to me, and then I realized that this is the way to Dino’s Restaurant, which was the beautiful restaurant we went to for our 25^th wedding Anniversary 15 years ago.

The road into the Bumbora Reserve was a very steep decline and dirt,  fine powdery dirt and would be inaccessible in wet weather.  Today the weather was beautiful so we drove in and then did the 500m walk on a boardwalk down onto the beach.  There were quite a few young people down there.  Not the best swimming beach as it was quite rocky.  In fact it reminded me a little of Bargara back in Qld with all it black rounded smooth rocks.  

Beautiful drive into Point Ross Reserve

Stunning views of the ocean

Crystal Pool

Lots of folk swimming down in Crystal Pool

From here we decided to check out one more attraction in the area and headed to  which was down  the road on Rocky Point Road.  Again, another beautiful area on Norfolk Island.  It is not recommended that you swim here as it can be quite treacherous with the incoming tide.  It is quite a steep hike down the cliff to the Pool and that was a deterrent for me, although there were quite a lot of young people down there swimming in Crystal Pool.

Stunning Headlands around Point Ross Reserve

Lots of Mutton Bird Nests on these headlands...

We walked up the hill a little where we got some birds eye views of the stunning coast line on this part of the Island.  The water is pristine… You can see right to the floor of the ocean.

By now it was close to 4pm and as we were going to “The Commandant’s Dinner” tonight thought it was time to head home for a quick cuppa and to put our feet up for half an hour or so….

We took the coast road home and passed by palm plantations and were curious as to why these trees all had tin plates around their trunks.  We later found out it was to stop the rats climbing up and eating all the seeds..

We also saw the "Wisdom Line" anchored off the coast and were to find out more about this ship during our stay.

We were also able to show Ian and Kathy the beautiful fig trees on our way home, but it will be another day before we can hope out and explore them....

We arrived home a little after 4pm, all of us hanging out for a cuppa. Ian was too tired to enjoy his cuppa first up and he just hit the sack for a half hour nap.

Whist we enjoyed a cuppa, Steve rang the Charter Fishing company to see if he could book in a fishing trip during the week.  In the end he arranged to go out tomorrow and then tentatively booked the rest of us in for a tour circumnavigating all three islands from the sea on Friday afternoon.  We are all looking forward to this….

By now we have very little time to have a quick shower and get ready to drive back into town to go to “The Commandant’s Dinner” which was being held at the Bounty Bistro Bar and Grill in town.   

Actor representing Commandant James Thomas Morisset - 2nd Penal Settlement

Actor representing Commandant - Phillip Gidley King - 1st Penal Settlement

A night out at the Commandant's Dinner

Enjoying dinner with the Commandants..

There were about 20 of us attending and we were sitted at a table with some lovely folk and just chatting to them was pleasant enough.  We sat opposite a New Zealand couple who were also on the island celebrating their 40^th Wedding Anniversary.  The most bizarre thing was they were also married on and her name was Lucy.  They also had three children, but all boys though. We had a lovely evening chatting to them.  The couple seated across from Ian and Kathy were from Geelong and were also there celebrating their 20^th Wedding Anniversary.  Their names were Fiona and Matthew, she was a school teacher and he was an electrical engineer.  They were also very interesting to talk too.

During the dinner, the Commandants and the Narrator alternated sitting down at the tables with us to eat our meals.  They were very friendly and very interesting to talk to as they were able to fill you, not only a  little more about the Penal Settlement but also about life on Norfolk Island today.  The two commandants that they represented was Commandant Phillip King who was the first Commandant to serve on Norfolk Island and Commandant James Thomas Morisset one of the last to serve during the second Penal Settlement era.  He left the island due to ill health, and the deputy commandant who replaced him was one of the most brutal commandants the island had seen.  

We enjoyed a three course meal, consisting of soup, quite tasty, none of us sure what it was,  I think it was a vegetable and chicken soup, the main course was corn beef and white sauce served on a bed of roasted potatoes along with a garden salad, and desert was a chocolate mudcake with a rich chocolate sauce poured over it along with some raspberry ice cream.  All very nice, and in between each course the commandants related the stories of their lives and the life and conditions of the convicts here on Norfolk Island during their reign as Commandant.  

Dining with the Commandants

The dinner itself finished around 9pm, but we were then able to have photos taken with them before they changed out of their costumes.  No one seemed in a hurry to leave after dinner, with most people still hanging around to keep chatting to each other.  The actors even came out and joined in with everyone.  All in all it was a very pleasant evening.  The cost was  $90 for this show which was slightly on the expensive side, but we did enjoy ourselves and this is what holidays are bout.  It was well after 9.30pm by the time we arrived home, where we all enjoyed a cuppa together before retiring for the night.