PARADISE FOUND
Tell people you are going to Norfolk Island and it seems everyone has an opinion. Significantly, the most vehement are from those who have never been there. A destination for the newly wed and the nearly dead, is the common response. Even harsher: there’s nothing to do. If your idea of a holiday is theme parks by day and night clubs by night, then perhaps Norfolk has a deficit. But if a genuine getaway with pristine beaches, great surfing, swimming and snorkeling, stunning wilderness walks, overlaid with a vibrant food culture in a society that still leaves its doors and hearts open to all appeals, then Norfolk is paradise on earth.
The island is an eight by five-kilometre blip in the Pacific Ocean loosely midway between New Zealand, New Caledonia and New South Wales. It’s approximately the same latitude as Lismore on the coast of Australia as the locals somewhat disconcertingly refer to the mainland. Technically, Norfolk is an external territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, but as far as the 1400-odd residents and 500 tourists who visit weekly are concerned, it might as well be a world away.
This is due in no small part to
