Blogs from Norfolk Island, Australia, Oceania

Tour Day 25, Cruise Day 25 – Day At Sea Tour Day 26, Cruise Day 26 – Day At Sea Tour Day 27, Cruise Day 27 – Cascade, Norfolk Island, Australia Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, about almost 1000 miles northeast of Sydney. Together with the neighboring Phillip Island and Nepean Island, the three islands collectively form the Territory of Norfolk Island. At the 2021 census, it had 2,188 inhabitants living on a total area of about 14 square miles. Norfolk Island is one of Australia's most isolated communities and one of its oldest territories, having been settled six weeks after Australia's founding settlement at Sydney. The first known settlers in Norfolk Island were East Polynesians but they had already departed when ... read more

Today we had a tour of Colleen McCullogh’s house. Her husband still lives in the top storey. The bottom storey is full of her lifetime of collecting. Glass, paintings, sculptures. We were given a tour and explanation of the works on display and a glimpse into the woman. Our guide was an actor from the previous nights play . Another example of the multiple roles people play. In the afternoon Kevin had a hire car so we drove around the island and revisited some sites. In Kingston we saw a great retrospective photo exhibition run by Lions of early life in NI. We also saw some masked boobies on the headland. That night we were collected by the bus for the Island Fish Fry. We had to sit undercover due to the possibility of rain. The ... read more

Sunny After breakfast we found the laundry and used the washing machine and dryer. A relaxing morning and then a walk into town. We had lunch at the bowling club and then a rest before our afternoon tour. There was a blackout at 1pm. A common occurrence on NI. Our tour this afternoon was to a wine tasting at Two Chimneys Wines. BEST wine tasting experience ever. The owners Rod and his wife Noelene provided delicious wines with foods to match. The wines are made under Rod's supervision at Cassegrain wineries, Port Macquarie. He has two wines using Chamboursin grapes which we were familiar with following visits to Cassegrain.... read more

A day at sea. I know folks who say they would be bored cruising. I never seem to have that problem. Today I awoke at 5:30 and that seems to be my routine so far. Checked my email and the news then had breakfast in my cabin; juice, cereal and coffee. It was then time to visit Australian immigration officials as we will hit an Aussie port tomorrow. Headed to the Lido for my smoked salmon and sat in the sun to enjoy. Next I went to a lecture on bio-diversity in the South Pacific. It was excellent. Checked out the casino to see if we would have a tournament but only three signed up. Took a little time on my deck chair chatting with my next cabin neighbor and reading and before I knew it ... read more

1969: is where it all began … but, for now, fast-forward 47 years, to 2016! We were up early this particular morning – 5am – as Jen was picking us up at 6-30am to, very kindly, take us to the airport. Our flight wasn’t leaving until 9-50am but, we wanted to beat the traffic and to also give Jen a chance to get back to work without getting caught in the morning peak-hour. We got a good run into the airport with Ted employing some of his famous short long-cuts (no – it’s not a mis-print – he’s good at these :) ) to avoid traffic along King George’s Road and also the M5 tunnel which, can be like a car park in peak times. Easily navigating Jen through the back streets of Greenacre, Wiley Park ... read more