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NORFOLK ISLAND
by Ted Cookson
Published in June 2007
People sometimes ask me which is my favorite place in the
world. Without hesitation I usually reply that Norfolk Island is my favorite
spot. Not only is the island extremely scenic, but its history is fascinating,
being intertwined with the Mutiny on the Bounty saga.
Situated between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, beautiful
34.6-kilometer-square (13.3-mile-square) Norfolk Island is a self-governing
territory of Australia. In the fifteenth century Polynesian settlers remained
on the island for perhaps a century and then departed mysteriously. Banana
trees, stone tools and the Polynesian rat provide evidence for their presence.
Captain James Cook, the European discoverer of Norfolk Island, landed on the
island in 1774 during his second voyage to the South Pacific. Cook was under
the impression that the native Norfolk Island pine trees would provide excellent
masts for ships of the Royal Navy, and he thought that the island's flax plants
would yield material for ships' sails. Unfortunately, history proved Cook
wrong. The Norfolk Island pines had too many knots to make strong masts, and it
was too difficult to prepare the flax plants for manufacturing.
In order to foil possible French settlement of Norfolk Island, the island's
first European settlers were sent in March 1788. This was only three months
after the British settlement of Australia in January 1788. The original party
of 15 convicts and seven free men was later supplemented with additional
convicts, and the island's grain and vegetables were sent back to Sydney in
order to relieve the conditions of starvation there.
By 1792, after successive waves of convict setlement on Norfolk Island, the
island's population exceeded 1,000. Some of these were convicts who elected to
stay on as free farmers after serving out their sentences. However, due to its
remoteness and the absence of a safe harbor, almost all of the population was
transferred to Tasmania by 1813.
In 1825 Norfolk Island was repopulated with convicts who had been convicted of
further crimes after arriving in Australia. During this 30-year second penal
settlement, Norfolk Island's remoteness was viewed as a plus as Norfolk was then
the ultimate punishment short only of death. Living and working conditions were
horrifying, food was scarce, and even trivial infractions were punished
excessively. The last convicts were transported to Tasmania finally in May
1855.
Little more than a year later, June 1856 marked the arrival of the residents of
an overpopulated Pitcairn Island. All were descendants of the Bounty mutineers
and their Tahitian wives. Although some of these families elected to return to
Pitcairn in 1858 and 1863, even today roughly half of Norfolk's population of
about 1,900 is descended from those Pitcairn Island immigrants. Norfolk Island's
population also grew in the nineteenth century as whalers stayed on when their
ships called at the island to resuppply.
The New Zealand army garrisoned Norfolk Island during World War II, and an
airbase was built on the island. Fortunately, Norfolk was never attacked during
the war.
Norfolk Island has been self-governing since 1979. Australia controls the
island's foreign affairs. Sponsorship by a current resident is necessary in
order to obtain residency. Alternatively, one can apply for residency by
investing in an island business. Although the government is run from Kingston,
Burnt Pine is the main commercial center. Education is available only through
secondary school.
English is the main language on Norfolk. However, the islanders also speak
Norfuk, which is a Creole consisting of eighteenth-century English and the
Tahitian language.
There is air service to Norfolk Island from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland. Some
80 km (50 miles) of roads exist on Norfolk. A number of interesting historical
and cultural tours are run by local tour operators. Most visitors arrive from
Australia and New Zealand on one-week package tours. The importation of fresh
fruit and vegetables to Norfolk Island is prohibited. Also, interestingly,
non-Australian visitors who come to Norfolk Island from Australia require a
multiple entry visa in order to return to Australia!
ABOUT TED COOKSON: Egypt's most widely-traveled travel agent, Ted has been
to every country in the world! He has also visited 307 of the 315 destinations
on the list of the Travelers' Century Club (visit
www.eptours.com and refer to World Travel Club). A travel agent in Cairo
since 1986, Ted manages EGYPT PANORAMA TOURS, a full-service travel agency, at 4
Road 79 (between Roads 9 and 10, near the "El Maadi" metro station) in Maadi.
Contact Egypt Panorama Tours (open 7 days a week 9 AM-5 PM) at: Tels. 2359-0200,
2358-5880, 2359-1301. Fax 2359-1199. E-mail:
ept@link.net. Web site:
www.eptours.com.