Tag: Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island, Part II…..

On By oceangirl63In Uncategorized6 Comments

Eat, Drink, Love Norfolk…..❤

Norfolk island is impossibly green, vast and positively beautiful.  The absence of many duties and taxes normally paid on goods on the Australian mainland means almost everything is cheaper on Norfolk and currency is the Australian dollar.

The days of June were sunny and warm, an almost perfect time to visit.  It is the season of custard apples as big as a wrestler’s fist, badass show-winning brownies and the quintessential paddock to plate experience.

I always love to eat the local food especially when travelling.  It is ethical, super fresh, so good for the planet and even better for the community.  It really is all the small things which add up to make a big difference.   

Norfolk has an abundance of fresh colourful produce grown with love.  Seeing the fruit and veg on offer really does make you appreciate the remoteness of the island, the dirt, the rain, the sunshine…….along with the ample quantities of fresh fertiliser.

I drove around the island with my phone on mute.  Fell asleep on the deck staring up at the star filled night.  Spent time every day at the ocean.  Woke to thunderstorms rolling over the island and felt a remote solitude and an almost secret time warp that made me not want to leave.

The Olive:  A fab place to connect with community.  Saturday and Sunday mornings it is the hangout for the early risers, the late-night revellers and the hungover locals.   

I picked up some phrases when living in America and are so eccentrically wonderful, I love them to this day.  ‘Bless your heart’, ‘Slicker than cat shit on a linoleum floor’ (when said in a slow southern Georgian drawl) and one that I think of when I have a great dish, ‘tastes so good, it makes you wanna slap yo momma’.

That great momma slappin’ dish was a bowl of homemade dahl at The Olive. It really was a huge warm hug in a bowl.

Prinke:  I love this wonderful little space which is all about community, sustainability, the environment and kindness.  It absolutely hums with good vibes, is a great place to hang out with like-minded locals and after a rigorous daily testing of their coffee and vegan treats, I very highly recommend you go there. 

Rabbits Bikes:  Best cold brew coffee and huge brownie points for their award winning ‘badass brownies’ 😊

Other notables:  The Bowlo Bistro for great food, service and atmosphere.  Café Tempo for a great sandwich.  Salty Beer Garden is the perfect spot for live local music, great food, cold beers and catching up with the fab locals. SBG is a definite 10/10 experience.

Norfolk Island Brewing:  Sadly, this was an entirely forgettable experience!

Do:  The tag-along-tours, birdwatch, walk among the ruins and graveyards, seek out rainbows, talk to the locals, visit the Botanical Gardens, have a badass brownie, explore the island and the Burnt Pine township, make friends with a beautiful cow, turn off your phone, watch the sun rise and set and swim Emily Bay.

This was a little odd. I took the photo of the sign post then hopped back in the car. Only later, when looking back through the photos did I see the one on the right……spooky 👻

I always photograph cats when I am away on a trip and this was the only cat I saw during my entire time on Norfolk Island 😺. Lots of lovely friendly dogs, but no cats……

Finally, back home in South Australia after short delays and a long flight, I had a lovely sleep in my own bed with the cats then woke up to the sound of glorious rain on the roof.  Managed to squeeze in a little renovating while preparing for the latest trip which is a quick Queensland jaunt before heading to Samoa. 

The wonder of life isn’t in the achievements and big life events.  It is in those who have a seat at your table, the cat snuggles, a soul warming dahl, an impressive wave, a dear old friend you would never expect to run into just hours after landing back in SA, early mornings and to treat yourself well while not harming others. They are the moments.  They are the moments you long for.

So, it is with gratitude and an acute awareness of my privilege that I spent time on this impossibly beautiful island whose dark history, stunning beauty and irresistible pull has proffered much love and respect.  Go to Norfolk.  I promise, you won’t want to leave……x

Norfolk Island, Part I…..

On By oceangirl63In Uncategorized2 Comments

I am so fearfully grateful to be able to travel.  I feel privileged for this good fortune, especially in a world which is hurting so badly.  I know there are many things in this world I cannot change, but at least what I can do, is to not take anything for granted.    

I think it makes you a better and happier person when you are appreciative of what it is you have. At times I feel, in healthy amounts, guilty and undeserving of my own happiness, but perhaps that is because I am still just a work in progress…..

____________

Norfolk Island is a stunningly beautiful external Australian territory set in the bluest of pristine ocean waters and is protected by its own rock wall fortress.  The island is a haven for migrating birds and a resting place for long buried bones and secrets.  With it’s near perfect climate, rich and dark-brooding history, hiking trails, glorious beaches, serene slow pace and friendly locals, Norfolk is a salve to the soul.

Norfolk is also this Gidget’s dream.  Set against the backdrop of the island’s immense beauty, it is one of the most remote and unspoiled surfing destinations of the world.  A challenging break has been created by the impressive offshore reef where joy, beautiful barrels and imposing raw waves are continually served up.  And intriguingly, this amazing surf island is also home to one of the largest populations of tiger sharks in the world!

Our stay for the eight-day adventure was an Airbnb at the very point of Anson Bay.  The location was faultless with its quiet seclusion, short 10-minute drive to the centre of the Norfolk township and its unspoilt beauty.  Every afternoon we caught the sunset over the immense Pacific Ocean, watching the shapeshifting beauty of the clouds saturated in various hues of pink.  The sunsets gave way to the clearest of night skies, the islands remoteness unaffected by the modern worlds’ light pollution.  Later each night, the massive thunderstorms rolled in bringing hammering rains upon the tin roof.

Our lovely Airbnb, King Tide House……

Every morning, I woke early to the sounds of the ocean and to the calls of the resident family of Masked Boobys, their simple nest, a dimple on the flat grass of the headland.  Norfolk is a paradise for bird watchers as its isolation means many birds are not found anywhere else.  The terrain and the forests of the island are ideal for seabirds and forest dwellers which include the graceful terns, shearwaters, kingfishers, parrots, whistlers and robins.

No traffic lights, two roundabouts and speed limits of 40 and 50k makes for enjoyable driving.  The only thing to worry about is the feral poultry population, which far outnumber the human populace and multiplying since the first settlement, and your requirement that you must give way to the free roaming, sweet-faced gentle cow herds.   

Burnt Pine, designated by cattle grids is the islands hamlet which you pass through to get from one side of the island to the other.  The township has everything you need, and a blog post highlighting Burnt Pine will follow.  The small airport is also located close to town and Qantas has six return flights per week with three departing Sydney and three from Brisbane.

Norfolk has a fascinating, deeply complex and multi-layered history from the World Heritage listed convict sites to the 14th century Polynesian seafarers, mutineers, penal settlements, James Cook and the Pitcairn’s.  Long hidden buttons, wells, broken ceramic pieces, bones, glass and other artifacts are still being uncovered today from their catacombs of sand and rubble.  The cemetery and Murderers Mound, an unconsecrated mass grave, are some of the oldest burial grounds in Australia and the cemetery is still in use today where the bodies of descendants of the Bounty mutineers, executed convicts, penal colony members and whalers have been laid to rest.  

Of course, as with any trip, I took far too many photos.  I would drive 100 metres and stop, drive another 100 metres and stop again.  It was difficult not to take a photo with everything so damn stunning from a simple door to a decaying longboat to a cow and her calf to the ocean.

Part two following soon…..x

Footnote: Gidget – ‘girl midget’ or small female board rider.

Time to spill the tea…..

On By oceangirl63In Uncategorized6 Comments

Tis certainly ‘baby, its cold outside’ weather in South Australia at present.  It is the weather of comfort, and the need for comfort is to hunker down in the front room with a warm fire in the company of the dear cats.  The house is almost silent save the purist stance to the jazz, blues and soul channel softly playing in the background, the tapping of laptop keys and the gentle snoring of old TomTom who is curled up beside me.   It is a brief and enjoyable lull in what has again been, a very full week. 

The past summer was an over exposed heatwave which lasted until May.  There was no rain for a good 5 months then a luscious series of downpours hit just as we were about to board a flight to Norfolk Island…….which is a perfect segue for this post.

I am seriously going to catch my blog up!  Somehow, I’ve convinced myself I am not behind, but who am I kidding, of course I am.  Sometimes I tend to just fall off the edge of the world.  I miss writing my blog and I love the routine of it because believe it or not, I find a very odd amount of freedom and joy in routine. 

And how quickly life moves along.  Already half of this year has passed.  There is so very much to catch up on including a great deal of travel, renovations, lists, festivals, worries that keep me awake at all hours, life ruining gin 😊, clearing out years of accumulated items which have amassed like nesting spiders, transforming the yard and turning 60 last year (although I feel far too youthful and immortal to concern myself with ageism). 

I’ll restart the blog with our most recent trip which was to the windswept, astoundingly beautiful and impossibly green Norfolk Island then work my way to back.  Of course, I take too many photos when travelling with my usual, ‘one hundred thousand photos of absolutely everything’ but one has to start somewhere.

We have now had the shortest day of the year.  Soon the light will slowly begin to creep back in so summer lovers do not fear.  That ballsy season of heat, longer days and flies will soon come around again to bear its apocalyptic teeth but for now, there is just simple splendor in the cold and wet of a South Australian winter.  

So, pull up a chair while I spill the tea.  All are welcome at my table……x