Day 3 : Exploring

I have discovered that you learn something new about the island from everyone you talk with here.  The locals are very conservation conscious.  The parks and roadsides are completely litter free.  There is no garbage collection service.  Everyone must deliver their rubbish sorted for recycling or burning to a central station.  There is no reticulated water system, with the island depending totally on rainwater.  Each residence has its own tank, and water saving gadgets are the norm.  The local hospital has three doctors, pharmacist, dentist and physio.  OK for 1700 people.  The Central School is P - 12, and has 300 students.  A few are sent to boarding school for their senior years.  The students can get a motor cycle licence at age 15, and a P plate drivers licence at 16 -- quite a crowded parking area near the school!

I hit the road at 9 am, driving first to Mt Pitt, the high point of the island -- just over 1000 ft.  Has a wonderful lookout giving you a 360 degree view of the entire island.  It was a a warm sunny day, and there is no pollution here to spoil the view.  The stars really shine at night!  From there I drove around to the Captain Cook Memorial.  This is a lovely picnic area cum lookout that looks down on the rocky beach wher Cook is believed to have landed in 1774.  He had a quick look around before continuing on his way to New Zealand.  He noted he abundance of tall straight trees (the pines) and flax and later reported this to Admiralty as a potential source of timber and sail cloth for the navy.  I noticed tamper-proof rat poison baits along the edge of the lawns.  Apparently the Polynesians brought their native rats with them (rattus exulans), and left them behind when they departed 400 years later.  No other rodents or pests to worry the locals.

Near the Cook memorial there are a number of islets, volcanic plugs poking up out of the ocean just offshore, a sort of mini 12 Apostles.  In the summer they are breeding grounds for thousands of birds, safe there from island predators.  Today I saw one solitary bird in flight.. And it has been a noticeable feature of my time here, the total lack of bird life.  Apparently they all migrate away for the winter.

Passing back through Burnt Pine township, I called in to see the Cyclorama.  This is a 360 degree painting depicting the story of the Bounty Mutiny and the eventual arrival of the mutineers descendants here on Norfolk when they outgrew Pitcairn.  The painting involved took two years, and was based on detailed historic research to be very accurate in its depictions.  With the accompanying information charts, it was a very interesting hour spent there.  Morning tea followed in the neighbouring Queen Victoria Gardens which feature some clever sculptures from driftwood.  I am pretty sure Devonshire Tea is the national dish of the Norfolkers.  On sale everywhere, and the scones are feather light.

The local Catholic Church was just up the road, dedicated to St Philip Howard, Duke of Norfolk and a cousin of Elizabeth I who locked him in the Tower for 10 years for refusing to abandon his Catholicism. It is a neat little church, left unlocked - unlike our city churches these days.  T here is no resident priest, and only three visits are scheduled for the rest of 2018.  The locals have to get by on their own.  I noticed that they advertise youth activities for school age youth run by the Anglicans and Uniting Church.

Next I explored along the foreshore of Slaughter Bay where all the original settlements had been located.  The convict ruins are located here in the area known as Kingston.  I managed to take in 2 of the 4 museums here before closing time at 3 pm.  The Sirius museum displays many artifacts from the wreck of HMS Sirius which foundered on the coral reef just offshore in 1790.  This ship had been the flagship of the First Fleet to Botany Bay, and was then used to ferry supplies and troops and convicts back and forth between Sydney and Norfolk.  Lots of interesting items have been recovered, including a huge anchor.

The Commisariat Store is a two-storied building, originally controlling supplies to the troops and convicts.  The upper floor was converted into All Saints Church of England and is still is use.  The museum displays interesting relics of the past, especially crockery and other household items recovered from the ruins.  It also records the gruesome Commandants of the second penal era who were noted for their cruelty.

By then my legs had decided enough for the day, so I headed back to Coast for a nap and some reading.  Back into the township for dinner at 6, tonight patronising the local RSL.  A cosy establishment with an adequate menu -- and no pokies .  By 7.30 I was the last customer and they were closing up.  So much for night life on Norfolk!

Photo records of the day can be found here.