DAY 7 - NORFOLK ISLAND

Day 7 – Friday 10^th JANUARY 2020.

We had an early start this morning as we had to be in town by 8.45am to be ready to go on our 4x4WD tour of the island. 

We were the second to arrive and whilst we waited chatted with some folk tat were due to fly out this afternoon.  They shared with us some of the tours they had been on…

Our mode of transport today, was a rather large, high off the ground 4X4WD bus.  We were visiting 5 properties today to get amazing views over Norfolk Island.  Four of the properties we were visiting we people’s private properties. 

The tour was for a duration of 3 hours and included morning tea.  It wasn’t badly priced at $70 per person. 

We covered all areas of the island.  Our first stop was at Anson Bay, this was the only place we visited that wasn’t on private property.  By the time we got there the sun was out a little and we got the most amazing view of the water and cliff top.  The bus pulled up on the other side to where we have our wine and cheese of an afternoon.  We decided to have our photos taken here with the bus we were on.

From Anson Bay we headed south down to the South West of the island to a property called “Ponderosa” which was situated on Mt George, the third mountain on the island.  Cookie our bus driver pointed out some of the landmarks on the island, including one of the early Pitcairn Island settlers home belonging to the Nobbs Family.  It was a massive wooden structure, with most of it till being the original home with the exception of the roof (it has been replaced) and an extension that houses the inground pool)   

Nobbs Residence - one of the oldest on the island.

We also passed by one of the old buildings from the Convict area called “The Arches”.  The next property was situated on Mt George and from here we had amazing views over Kingston and the south of the island.  We also had some pretty spectacular views of the valley.  There were quite a few sheep grazing in the paddock next to us.  They even had the white sheep with the back hooves and back faces.  So incredibly cute but we were close enough to get decent photos of them….

From here we headed back back towards Kingston along Country Road, and then turned off just below the dam and old wind mill and climbed up to a property situated on Flagstaff Hill.  The drive way in was a good kilometre and it had a concrete track all the way up and around the hill.  Cookie told us that it was the most expensive driveway on the whole island.    

The views from up here were absolutely spectacular with views looking right up over Slaughter Bay and into Emily Bay.  We also had a bird’s eye view of Kingston Pier and Kingston.  The views looking the other way down towards the Bumbora Reserve and coastline were also amazing…  Imagine living up here and enjoying these views daily.  I am sure the owners do too, as they have a balcony out the front of their home with would overlook these views, and there was also a picnic table down on the level that we were enjoying the views from…

Our next destination was a drive through Kingston and around the Convict Ruins to stop at Slaughter Bay for a toilet break for those that needed to go.  

We then headed out along Stockyard Road to visit a Private Property called “Simon’s Water’  which belonged to one of the original Pitcairn Family the Young Family.  This property is the only remaining 50 acre lot given to the original Pitcairn Family.  All the others on the island have been subdivided and sold off.    Here we had great views of Cascade Bay and Policeman Cap Rock.

View over Cascade Bay

Norfolk Island banners hanging off all the trees...

Policeman's Cap Rock

Cookie also showed us a special park bench that was set up here for people to come, sit, rest, reflect and admire the view.  

Our fifth and final property to view with a view was along Ellendale Road, where we saw the oldest wooden building still standing on the island… Cookie told us it was a renovator’s delight.  He did stop for us to take some photos…

Oldest wooden structure on the island - a renovator's delight

Our last property belonged to a builder on the island, and he had built a special landing for us to stand out on and enjoy the views looking towards the Cemetery and also the Golf Course.  We also got to view a hollowed out Norfolk Pine.  It was interesting to see with the branches all coming in to the centre of the log. 

Hollowed out Norfolk Island Pine Tree

Views from the lookout

On our drive back out, Cookie showed us where to look for the White Tern’s and their babies in the Norfolk Pines.  The white terns, mate for life and they don’t build nests.  The lay their egg on the branch of a tree and then sit on it until it hatches.  Once it hatches the baby bird remains on that branch until after it can fly and fend for itself….  The White Tern also returns to the same branch of the same tree each year to breed each year.  This was all very interesting and even more so to locate the baby birds in the tree.  They remain here until April and then head north into the Northern Hemisphere. 

Baby tern

From here we had one last stop before returning to town.  Our final stop was at a private home in Cats Lane where we met Greg one of the weavers still left on the island.  He gave us a demonstration on how they use the palm leaves to weave hats, placemats, bookmarks, and also told us a little about life on Pitcairn Island.  We also enjoyed a lovely morning tea here…. Homemade coconut loaf and Banana Bread, along with a cup of tea or coffee and fresh fruit juice.  

Morning tea....

Greg gave a display on how they weave and plait the flax plant to make hats and mats

This hat was in great shape but was 26 years old.. All hand done on Pitcairn Island.

plaited flowers they use to decorate their hats...

We left here around noon to head back into Burnt Pine where our tour ended…

 Castaways do a great Pizza Night on Wednesday and Friday nights, so before we do anything else we thought we would drop by there to book in for tonight.  We had been told you needed to book.  Well we should of done it the previous day as it was all booked out by lunch time… so we were going to miss out this time round while we were on Norfolk.

Our lunch

My share of lunch

We were quite hungry by now so decided to head back to Hillie’s for lunch.  We particularly enjoyed our lunch here earlier in the week so were happy to go back and enjoy another seafood crepe for lunch.  Ian and Kathy were keen to go check out the Cyclorama 360-degree display that tells the story of the Mutiny of the Bounty, and the arrivals of the Pitcairn Islanders onto Norfolk Island.  Steve and I didn’t do it this time as we had seen it when we were here previously.   I would definitely recommend it though to anyone who was visiting Norfolk Island for the first time.  

Whilst Ian and Kathy were checking out the cyclorama, Steve and I just sat and chatted in the gardens at Hillie’s.  It was such a pleasant environment and we were feeling quite chilled.  We had all the time in the world. That’s what Norfolk does to you…  

Once Ian and Kathy had finished here, we thought we should head back down to Kingston to use our Museum passes as so far we had only checked out one out  of the four museum.  This afternoon we decided to visit the museum In the Commissiarit’s Store.  This museum  contained a lot of the history on the early Pitcairn settlers and Bounty Mutiny. 

The way they joined timber beams in the convict days...

Cross section of a Norfolk Island Pine tree

The way they joined timber beams in the convict days...

There was a room that contained a lot of the china which has been dug up from the foreshore at Kingston and painstakingly glued together to give us some idea of the sort of dinner service that was used by the early settlers…

There was a small section on some of the commandants and live in the Penal Settlement, plus some of the machinery used.  One of the fascinating things for me was the main ceiling beam.  It is the original beam from when the building was built in the first penal settlement, and the way they joined the timber back then was very interesting….

We were at the museum until closing time at 3pm.  Once the museum closed we wandered upstairs to see the All Saints church which is situated on the top floor.  This is quite a pretty church and a lot larger than St Barnabas but no where near as intricate, especially with all the timber features.  They do however have some lovely stained glass windows at the front of the church.

We visited this church last time we were at Norfolk for the Hymn singing they have after their evening service on a Sunday evening...  We may even go again this time too.

It was after 4pm by the time we left the church. 

We had packed the picnic hamper this morning before we left and had boiled water in the flash for a cup of tea.  We stopped in at the supermarket on our way home and picked up some more cheese and crackers and a lovely bun.  From here we headed out to Puppy’s Point to enjoy our afternoon tea…  By now the sun was out and the water was a beautiful brilliant blue.   

We enjoyed our cuppa with the ocean as our backdrop. 

After our bus tour this morning and finding out about the nesting seasons of the white tern birds, we were all keen to check the trees to see if we could find any babies…  It didn’t take us long to find them.   

There were a couple of babies in the trees right next to where we had parked our car and we spent some considerable time watching them and photographing them.   We managed to get a few good shots too as one of the young birds wandered back and forward along the branch.

 

It was after 6pm by the time we got home.  We had another fish meal for dinner tonight.  Our fourth so far… Tonight we enjoyed a feed of trumpeter and coral trout.  So sweet and almost melted in your mouth.  We had roasted potatoes and a lovely freah organic salad.  We enjoyed our dinner out the back on our enclosed patio and spent a hour or more just chatting and enjoying each other’s company.  It was after 9pm before we finally made our way inside…