Cruising News Magazine Cruising News February 2019 | Page 32

The Gem of the South Pacific – Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is the Gem of the South
Pacific. An external territory of Australia,
it remains a boutique destination,
relatively untouched by mainstream
tourism. Today it is inhabited by 1800
people, many descended from the
Bounty’s Mutineers, and occupying 8km
x 5km of picturesque Island landscape.
It is a clean, pristine and friendly place
with a rich and varied history.
Its first settlers were East Polynesians,
travelling by canoe as part of the great
Polynesian voyaging. A small settlement
was discovered in the Kingston historical
area and was excavated in the late
1990s. Artefacts from the Polynesian
settlement have been discovered from
the date of the first British settlement
in 1788 to the present. Examination of
the artefacts found place the date
of settlement between 800AD and
1450AD. By the time Captain Cook
adjusted his telescope to focus on
Norfolk Island, the Polynesians had
moved on.
“You have to wonder if Cook could
have envisaged how he would reshape
the story of this sub tropical Island
Paradise as he laid eyes upon it.
Certainly he intended to make his mark
on the place as he recommended
to the Admiralty that it be used as a
source of masts, spars and sails for a
burgeoning British Navy.”
Norfolk’s next settlement, the First
convict settlement, came as the British
Empire began to colonize Australia. The
day after the First Fleet reached Botany
Bay, a small group was selected to
form the Norfolk Island colony. Britain,
being engaged in the American War
of Independence, needed supplies for
boat building and Norfolk’s abundant
giant pines & flax were seen as valuable
resources to be secured. The main
settlement was at Kingston and lasted
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from 1788-1814. Settlement had the
dual purpose of preventing another
European power occupying the Island.
Kingston was a hive of activity with ships
sailing to Norfolk carrying supplies. On
19 March 1790 the HMS Sirius, flagship of
the First Fleet & supply ship to both the
Sydney & Norfolk Island colonies was
wrecked on the Coral reef at Kingston,
a devastating loss to the struggling
colonies. Many of her artefacts can be
viewed in the Norfolk Island Museums &
today the site of the wreck is a dive site.
The Second convict settlement began
in 1824 and ended in 1856. The buildings
& ruins left in the Kingston & Arthurs
Vale Historic Area are remnants of this
settlement. Many of the convict tales in
circulation today come from this period.
Often described as Hell on Earth, the
second penal settlement began to
wind down after 1847 and the last
convicts were removed to Tasmania in
May 1855.
Prior to the First Fleet leaving England
events were already playing out that
would shape Norfolk today. The HMS
Bounty left England in 1787 on a mission
to transport breadfruit plants from
Tahiti to the West Indies. Her famous
mutiny took place in the South Pacific
on 28 April 1789, with acting lieutenant
Fletcher Christian & other disaffected
crew putting their captain, Lieutenant
William Bligh and 18 loyalists adrift in the
ship’s open launch. The Bounty then
island hopped through the Pacific,
losing crew & gaining some Tahitian
natives before finally resting at Pitcairn
Island in January 1790.
When Norfolk Island’s second convict
settlement closed down in 1855, Queen
Victoria granted land Grants to the
Bounty Mutineer Descendants. In 1856
The Bounty Mutineers sailed to Norfolk
Island on the Morayshire, a journey of
6,000 kilometres which took 5 weeks.
On 8 June 1856, 194 people began the
fourth & current settlement of Norfolk
Island. They landed at Kingston to the
sight of some of the finest Georgian
architectural buildings, which are still
standing today. The Bounty Mutineer
Descendants brought with them a
new language which had evolved on
Pitcairn Island, a mixture of Polynesian
Tahitian and old English. This language is
still spoken on Norfolk Island today.
Norfolk Island has an experienced
and exceptional tourism industry
being that it is the Island’s major
industry. Historically the primary tourism
industry has been from Airline services
from Australia and New Zealand. Of
more recent years there has been a
growth in Cruise ship calls to Norfolk.
As an emerging destination on the
international cruise program, Norfolk
Island regularly finds itself at the top
of passenger surveys following a visit
and is embracing the Cruise industry
enthusiastically.
When P&O pioneered cruising from
Australia in 1932, the first cruise to
Brisbane and Norfolk Island sold out in
just one day! Although Norfolk’s history
of cruising stretches that far back, it
wasn’t until recently that the Norfolk
cruise market received a kick start
with Norfolk Island being added as a
destination to select cruise itineraries.
There are deep anchorages close
to shore and disembarkation is via
ship tenders. Norfolk Island has 2 piers
that serve as landing places for cruise
ships with one receiving a 15 Million
dollar extension in 2018. This was to
the primary pier at Cascade on the
Northern side of the Island. The second
pier, located at Kingston on the Island’s
Southern side, is nestled amongst the
historic convict penal settlement. It