Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island was another interesting island to stop at on our way to Tonga. Originally it was a penal colony, with the worst offenders shipped here from Sydney and kept in the most appalling conditions. Our first anchorage was at Kingston, where the remains of the old town are. The cells in the jail there measured 5 foot by 6 foot and housed up to 3 prisoners. The prison was finally closed down, being deemed inhumane, in 1855. A year later the island became the new home for a unique race of people from Pitcairn Island, 194 descendents of the Bounty mutineers, with their own language which is still in use today. The surviving English and Tahitian crew had originally settled at Pitcairn after the Bounty was wrecked off that island following the mutiny some 150 years earlier, but the colony had outgrown the island. We met some of the descendents of these settlers.
We had not really expected to stop here, as we had heard the anchorages were
tenuous at the best of times, and getting ashore meant negotiating the swell
with the dingy in a cargo net being winched onto the jetty. As we approached,
conditions were calm and we had broken a halyard so we were keen to find shelter
for the repairs. We discovered we had no chart, but no matter, we contacted
the local customs officer and he guided us in to the anchorage. Getting
ashore was easier than we had imagined, and the dingy bobbed happily inside
the old stone jetty, with the crane above us only used in adverse conditions.
The customs officer was waiting for us at the jetty and kindly drove us
around the island to look at other anchorages in case we had to move from Kingston.
We finished up in his office, completed our paperwork and he even copied
parts of the chart for us. Next on the agenda was lunch, which turned
out to be excellent fish and chips at the brewery, washed down with the local
beer. As we left the pub I noticed a cow standing in front of the butcher
shop - no - we had only had one beer! I thought it would make a good photo but
by the time I had my camera out, the butcher had come outside and was hand feeding
the cow bananas. We purchased some fresh provisions there and fed the
cow before strolling back to town. We discovered that we could buy duty
free alcohol (as well as other goods) which was a bonus, since we had missed
out on this important part of provisioning before leaving Australia.
Over the next few days we explored more of the island, and moved around to Anson
Bay to get away from the strengthening easterly winds. We were joined
by another yacht from New Zealand. They were also sheltering from the
winds. It was a good anchorage, with a resident turtle and a nice school
of pan-sized Travelli..
On our excursions into town we were able to buy fresh local produce, tasty
although not plentiful, bread and eggs. The people went out of their way
to help us, giving us rides to wherever we wanted to go, and one man even offering
to lend us a car. For a small island, there are a surprising number of
hills and valleys so the transport was much appreciated. By the fourth
day the swell made landing on the beach impossible so it was out to sea again,
as the winds had eased. As we were leaving we heard a third yacht calling
in their approach on the VHF. It seemed an unusually busy time, considering
they only clear around 25 yachts per year here.
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We spent the next 9 days at sea, struggling against head
winds of up to 45 knots, to make only 775 miles to Minerva reef. We
were again lucky to be able to get what we needed along the way, catching
a couple of nice tuna
and a Mahi Mahi .
At one time we were running low on water, but were able to top up the
tanks in a particularly heavy squall. The next day the sun came
out and the wind died so we could hang out all the wet things to dry.
That night was absolutely black, with no moon, and we had rafts of phosphorescent
plankton washing around the boat in pools of molten silver. On our last
two days, we finally had some favorable wind to lift our spirits. We
were all relieved to arrive at Minerva reef, and look forward to a few
days respite here before our final 275 miles to Tonga.
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Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla)
is pictured on their flag
Kingston to Anson Bay
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