Island life

My thoughts and stuff
My thoughts and stuff
Island life
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I spent the last week working on Norfolk Island. I flew there on Monday via Sydney and returned to Canberra on Friday, again via Sydney.

Photograph of Norfolk Island Pine trees | Norfolk Pines Gary Lum
Norfolk Island Pine trees | Norfolk Pines

Norfolk Island

I’ve never visited Norfolk Island before. I had heard from my parents that many of their friends had spent time on the island as tourists.

Norfolk Island history

I remember in school learning a little of the history of Norfolk Island. It had been inhabited by Polynesian people for a few hundred years and then abandoned. When Australia was settled and colonised by English convicts there were some convicts who were sent to Norfolk Island. This occurred in a couple of waves. In addition, some of the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island also sailed to Norfolk Island when the population of Pitcairn Island was getting too large to sustain.

The island weather

The weather on the island is almost perfect for me. It never gets above 28 °C and never gets below 6 °C. It’s on the same latitude as my hometown, Brisbane. Being a small island, moist sea air wafts across the island so it’s never dry.

The people I met were all friendly and welcoming. Driving around the island is pretty straightforward. There aren’t too many roads. I don’t know about cycling though, apparently some locals can get close to 100 kilometres per hour cycling down the hills. The roads are good, but not suitable for a road bike at that speed.

Cattle everywhere

The other hazard on the roads are the cattle. Cattle have right of way on Norfolk Island and they are allowed to roam freely across the island. The cattle form a significant amount of the red meat supply to the people on the island, although quite a bit of beef as well as other mammalian meat is imported from New Zealand and Australia.

Poor Internet access

The only downside in my opinion is that the mobile telephone network is 2G. There is no undersea cable connecting Norfolk Island with the mainland so Internet services require satellite networks to work. Heavy rain and cloud cover can create problems similar to what I saw on the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste. To use the Internet the island is dotted with Wi-Fi hotspots which require a token. Access is not cheap either. Just to keep being able to do my work I spent nearly $100 on Wi-Fi tokens.

I know some people who cherish an isolated remote quiet break away from the connectivity of modern society probably see the relatively inadequate Internet service as a plus. I suppose if I was there for a holiday I might think otherwise. These days, so much of my work is Internet dependent.

Highly recommended

If you’ve never been to Norfolk Island, I can recommend it for anyone wanting a quiet break. It’s quiet. The people are friendly. You can read a heap of books. You can walk, jog, run, and cycle. I was told there is good snorkelling, spear fishing, and scuba diving to be enjoyed too.

What have I watched this week?

There was no chance of watching any streaming services. Data was precious and for work.

I watched free to air (FTA) TV. Mainly ABC 24 to keep abreast of the heatwave and bushfire situation on the mainland.

What have I listened to this week?

I had downloaded a few medical podcasts before leaving but there wasn’t much chance of downloading fresh material while on the island.

What have I eaten and photographed this week?

I really enjoyed the food on the island. If you want to read a review and see some photographs, I wrote a post on Yummy Lummy yesterday.

Photographs

This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and scroll through the rest of them.

Yummy Lummy and Random Yummy this week

Eating on Norfolk Island

Photograph of Dino's Restaurant, Norfolk Island. Seafood platter King prawns Kingfish Sashimi Kingfish salad. Absolutely superb. Gary Lum.
Dino’s Restaurant, Norfolk Island. Seafood platter King prawns Kingfish Sashimi Kingfish salad. Absolutely superb.

Slowly roasted lamb shoulder roll and fennel salad.

Lamb shoulder Fennel salad thumbnail. Gary Lum.
Lamb shoulder Fennel salad thumbnail

Final thoughts

  • Have you been to Norfolk Island? Did you enjoy it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
  • How do you cope with relatively inadequate Internet access?
  • Would you like to see more cattle on the streets of where you live?

6 Replies to “Island life”

  1. Norfolk Island looks so lovely Gary. I see one of your pieces of toast is rather burnt…afraid that would have to go to the birds if it was mine. That bench with the ducks, are the ducks real?

    1. I was distracted on Friday morning. The toast was cold. The New Zealand butter is nice though.

      Those ducks were real. That bench is on Lake Ginninderra.

  2. I’ve never been to Norfolk Island, but I really want to. I have spent far too long looking at tiny islands in the middle of nowhere on Google Earth and wondering what’s there. Norfolk seems to be one of the easier places to get to, with relatively regular flights.

    Is it the most remote / smallest population centre you’ve visited?

    1. Yes, apart from a small village in the copper belt of Zambia when I was a junior doctor this is about as remote as I’ve been. Flights from Sydney and Brisbane (Air New Zealand) are available on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
      I reckon a week is about as long as you’d need unless you’re after a complete reset with minimal access to social media. Phillip Island off Norfolk Island (not the other Phillip Island) is apparently good for photography too.

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