After a good night's sleep Duncan went for a run. Unfortunately it is far more hilly than he imagined and the downhills really got to him.
We went to the main street - getting used to the 50kph speed limit and the many cattle stops. We looked at the markets, but a lot of trinkets so not much interest to us. The supermarket is quite expensive and not a great deal of choice, but we want to have a few meals at the apartment. We went to Olive for lunch - very nice. "Crikey" said Duncan when he got his mango smoothie!
Had a quick look at the shops -many from the days when duty free shopping was available here.
We had a voucher for an orientation tour this afternoon and headed off with other geriatrics to get oriented. We went to Kingston where the sandstone houses built by prisoners were very well preserved. The first penal colony was abandoned and all wooden buildings destroyed. The second penal colony was closed down and in 1856, 194 people were transported from Pitcairn Island, made up from the remains of the Mutineers of the Bounty and Tahitian men and women.
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| The far island is Philip Island where the basalt stone for foundations came from. The near island is Nepean Island where the softer sandstone came from. The golf course is a modern addition. |
Emily Bay is a most attractive spot with turquoise water inside the reef and golden sands and a backdrop of Norfolk Pines which when it was planted they found the site of an early Polynesian settlement (11thC to 14thC) Why they left we don't know. Norfolk Island is named for the Duchess of Norfolk by Captain Cook, and the name of the native pine trees followed.
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| In the distance you can see the chimney of the salt chimney where salt was formed by evaporating off the water from sea water. Salted meat made up a huge part of the diet. |
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Look! it is so beautiful that even Duncan is looking at Emily Bay. (The golf course is behind).
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We wind around the country roads with feral chooks and free range cattle - hence all the cattlestops.
Our next stop is Saint Barnabas Church which was the centre of the Melanesian Mission, and as well as a lovely stained glass window by William Morris there is one showing the baptisms of Melanisians. Huge Kauri timbers bought from New Zealand frame the church and form the pews.
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| The ends of the Kauri pews reflects the Tahitian influence |
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| The basaltic foundation stones, the sandstone blocks and the wooden (Norfolk Pine) Bell tower. |
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Stained glass window
by William Morris |
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| The nave of the church |
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| To finish our tour we have a Devonshire tea on this point overlooking the Pacific Ocean |
It is a pleasant drive back to town and we return to our Jacaranda Park Apartment to negotiate the gas oven which I am not familiar with.
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| This is part of the Norfolk Telephone book. Bookie is one of the Jacaranda hosts. |
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