Events of Thursday 13th February 2020
During Wednesday evening and the whole of Thursday, ‘Caledonian Sky’ headed across the Tasman Sea (described as a ‘marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean’. Sea conditions had certainly produced more ship movement overnight but I slept OK and had my usual breakfast in the dining room. Some other guests complained that they’d had difficulty sleeping. I returned to my cabin and suddenly felt very queasy with the result that I spent most of the day relaxing in my cabin. I have no idea whether it was motion sickness, exhaustion from previous travel or food-related but I decided to skip lunch. During the day I’d missed a lecture given by Sam Riley on New Zealand birds, the Snorkel/Swim briefing (as I intended to do neither) and a ‘Solo Travellers Mingle’ informal pre-lunch drink. I was sorry to miss Roy Clare’s lecture at 3 p.m. but was able to follow it on the television in my cabin.
A slide from Roy Clare's lecture on James Cook's voyages.
By evening I felt much better so I went to dinner as normal. Because our heading was west of north, overnight we would recover one of the hours lost in travelling east to New Zealand. The ship recommended adjusting clocks back one hour before retiring although the ships clocks would change at 2 a.m. on Friday.
Events of Friday 14th February 2020
Around 6 a.m. the ship anchored in Sydney Bay, on the south side of the island. The morning was dull and overcast but quite warm. A small collection of buildings and a jetty were visible. Whilst we were having breakfast, a party of Australian immigration officers came out from the island on one of the ship’s Zodiacs and, before starting work, the immigration people were offered breakfast in the restaurant.
An announcement over the ship’s public address summoned the guests to the lounge on deck 3 and we queued up to receive our passports back. Then one of the group of immigration officers politely asked if we were carrying any food or other biosecurity hazard and the senior officer held up each passport in turn and carefully compared the photograph with the person standing in front of him. Before I could check whether my passport had been stamped, one of the ship staff collected it again for safe keeping.
A little later, disembarkation commenced. The public address summoned passengers from port side cabins (with odd numbers) back to the lounge with lifejackets and everything needed for the day ashore. Rain looked imminent so I included a lightweight rain coat. I joined the queue which periodically shuffled forward through the exit each time a Zodiac, usually with 10 passengers, left the ship. From the open deck, stairs led down to the Marina Deck, a small area at the stern close to sea level. Each Zodiac drove straight towards the Marina Deck so that the Zodiac’s bow actually mounted the marina deck and the Zodiac driver then kept the Zodiac in that position by continuing to apply power throughout the boarding. With the pitching of the ship, every few seconds the marina deck flooded to a depth of a couple of inches and then drained. Waiting on the stairs watching the loading was a bit daunting but, when it actually came to doing it, there was plenty of help from the crew and it seemed easier, always using the ‘Sailor’s Grip’ (each hand clasping the other person’s forearm for security).
The Zodiac bounced through the choppy water towards the jetty and I could see steps in the wall of the jetty leading up from the water. Here, too, the Zodiacs drove towards the steps, holding the craft in position with power while willing hands helped us to scramble ashore. We had landed on Norfolk Island!
Zodiac 6 lands passengers on the jetty, Norfolk Island.
A number of small coaches were waiting and we were divided amongst the vehicles for an island tour. I was on the coach driven by a very knowledgeable driver called Larry who gave a detailed commentary over the public address as he drove.
The more modern history of Norfolk Island starts with its use by the British in the 19th century as a penal colony. A small town and prison were established at Kingston, near the jetty we’d arrived at. After only a few years, it was abandoned and the buildings demolished to deny their use to, particularly, the French who were also active in the area. A further change of policy a little later saw the prison re-established and new buildings constructed using convict labour. The prison which was known for its particularly brutal regime is now long gone but the rather elegant buildings from the period either remaining in a ruined state or re-purposed – the Commisariat Store is now All Saints Church, the Barracks appears to be the island’s administrative offices. The one-time Governor’s House is now used by the golf club. A row of handsome single-storey villas with verandas is called ‘Quality Street’.
For convenience, the British placed day-to-day matters in the hands of Australia. Economically, sustaining a population of 1,700 on a remote island isn’t an attractive proposition and around five years ago, Australia changed its relationship with Norfolk Island. This still-disputed change was regarded as annexation by some islanders and we saw evidence of a vigorous independence movement.
Norfolk Island has an independence movement.
The island graveyard is next to the sea and the memorials bore witness to the rather closed community. Two recurring family names are Christian and Quinlan – descendents of the principals in the mutiny on the ‘Bounty’ who were relocated to Norfolk Island from Pitcairn Island.
Throughout the island we found the indigenous Norfolk Island Pine. I’ve commented before that the extreme symmetry of this tree suggests that it is artificial, not a living tree. We were told that seeds from the island have been distributed throughout the world.
The Cemetery, Kingston, Norfolk Island, with Norfolk Island Pines in the background.
Our coach followed the undulating, narrow road across the island to a second pier on the north coast at Cascade. In addition to a hand-operated derrick crane, similar to that at Kingston pier, there was a more modern, power-operated unloading crane.
Cascade Pier, Norfolk Island
Our driver explained that a freight ship arrives each month bringing supplies to the island. There are also occasional visits from Cruise Ships which anchor in Cascade Bay, from where ship tenders based on the island bring the passengers ashore for a visit. On a concrete apron adjacent to the water, we saw three modern, catamaran ship tenders stored awaiting the next cruise ship.
Natural water supplies on the island are limited so most dwellings collect and store rainwater. 2019 proved to be the driest year for over 120 years so the Australian army engineers had set up a transportable desalinisation plant adjacent to Cascade pier which was intended to operate for a period of just six weeks.
Temporary Desalinisation Plant, Norfolk Island
We carried on past the modern school which deals with education up to secondary level and passed through the main township of Burnt Pine. The islanders seem to be well-provided for in the range of shops available but I found it modern and nondescript.
Shops, Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island
Norfolk Mall, Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island
We pulled into a large café clearly designed to cope with a large influx of passengers from Cruise Ships, set in the pleasant grassland around the house built by Fletcher Quintal where we had refreshments.
The garden had good sea views and our coach driver explained the anchored vessels we could see – an ocean-going ‘bulker’, a large barge and a tug. Apparently, the Australian Government is modernizing the island airport and the ‘bulkers’ contain the aggregate needed for the project. The plan was for the tug and barge to make multiple trips from ship to shore unloading the stone, for which two weeks had been allowed. Because of the problems encountered, the process had, by then, lasted three months!
Barge, Bulk Carrier and Tug viewed from clifftop by our café, Norfolk Island.
Our next stop was at the attractive stone-built church of Saint Barnabas built by the Melanesian Mission and featuring stained glass by Burn-Jones.
Church of Saint Barnabas built by the Melanesian Mission on Norfolk Island.
We then drove to Anson Bay on the north-west coast of Norfolk Island (about 1,400 km east of Brisbane, Australia) and stopped at another sea view near a satellite ground station, a long-wave radio transmitting station and the island’s shooting club near. It started to rain as we walked to the cliff top to admire the grey ocean, which it had done intermittently during the morning.
Anson Bay showing moored Bulk Carrier, with Tug and Barge in distance, seen from clifftop viewpoint, Norfolk Island.
Radio transmitting station, Anson Bay, Norfolk Island.
Because of the intermittent rain, instead of having a picnic lunch in Emily Bay as originally planned, we returned to the café for lunch.
During the meal, I was surprised when a twin-engined turboprop, clearly on final approach, passed overhead. I was even more surprised when a commercial twin jet aircraft landed a little later. Norfolk Island airfield had been used by the Americans during World War II, leaving a legacy of two quite long runways now used by commercial flights. A little over an hour later, the turbo-prop departed, followed by the twin jet.
After lunch, the coach took is back to Kingston via Burnt Pine. The weather had improved, so at Kingston we had a good look around the Commissariat (inside and out) and the Barracks (outside only) before driving slowly past the restored houses in Quality Street now used by Government officials on two-year postings to the island. One property had not been restored but was open to view so that the construction techniques could be appreciated.
All Saints Church (former Commisariat), Norfolk Island.
The Barracks with Officers' Quarters in background, Norfolk Island
Quality Street, Kingston, Norfolk Island.
We stopped to explore the graveyard and our driver showed us some of the interesting memorials, some of which related to convicts.
The Graveyard, Kingston, Norfolk Island
Our final stop was at the remains of the 1847 prison near Kingston pier.
Entrance to the 'New Gaol', completed 1847, Norfolk Island
After a fascinating day on Norfolk Island, we boarded Zodiacs at the jetty and returned to our comfortable accommodation on ‘Caledonian Sky’.
Related posts on this website
This is the fourth post in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
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Next report.
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All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so the pictures link was added later. Pictures in this post can be viewed uncropped, where necessary, by clicking on the image. Selecting from the album below allows viewing or downloading in various resolutions:-
Norfolk Island (Australia)
[Link to pictures added 4-Mar-2020: Minor edits, pictures embedded 19-Apr-2020]
