Norfolk Island

We're back after our week on Norfolk. What can I say about it? Well, for one...it was quiet! I just love peace and quiet and it made for good stitching mojo. I have almost finished my 12 Blessings of Christmas! If only I hadn't run out of WDW Holly.

Norfolk Island is about 2.5 hrs flight time east of Sydney and is 1.5 hrs ahead. It's classed as an international flight from Australia as it is an external territory of Australia. It's a funny place...it wants to be part of Australia but it doesn't! They use Aust currency and passports but have their own elected government. The island is a volcanic outcrop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean so is quite hilly which I didn't realise. The island is also known as a duty-free paradise however I found the shopping catered more for older folk. It consisted of lots of Royal Doulton figurines and dinner sets, knitwear and some perfume/cosmetics. There wasn't much in the way of electrical items nor did I see any iPods or computer games for kids.

This pic shows the shopping centre. Pretty high tech, huh?


We spent most of our days lazing around, reading, watching TV (although there wasn't much to watch and what little they had was 1.5 hrs behind as it was beamed from Australia - therefore if I wanted to watch a show that screened at home at 9.30pm, I had to stay up until 11pm!!). We also went swimming - the temperatures on the island were mostly around the 19C (70F) and didn't get much colder at night. Apparently at home, they had a very cold week! LOL. Our plane home was delayed due to fog on the Saturday....the plane didn't come in so we couldn't leave on the Sunday (there is only 1 plane in & out).

This is DD & DH at the safe swimming beach. They did actually swim...it's apparently a good snorkelling site too.

And a couple of views around the island.