The remote Australian hell that transformed into a heavenly escape

Today, we know Norfolk Island as a heavenly escape from the hustle and bustle of life on the Australian mainland; a place where the local population live unhurriedly on “Norfolk time”; where cattle still wander the roads, and pristine landscapes are wondrous to behold.

But all that seductive peacefulness disguises an incredibly tumultuous past, unleashed soon after the First Fleet arrived with its cargo of convicts.

Emily Bay Lagoon … plans for the pines to become the basis of a ship-building indsutry never took off.

For back then, King George III was determined that Norfolk Island be set up as a second great colony, after Sydney, to supply Britain with ship masts carved from the towering spruce pines, linen produced from the flax plants, and everyone with an abundance of food from crops.

Miserably, none of that happened, and it became a hellish settlement tormented by the lack of a safe harbour, with shipwrecks and deaths, cyclones and accidents. This history led me to write The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress, a book about the island’s first colonial days.

It tells how Philip Gidley King, who later became the third governor of NSW and sent the first settlers to what would become Melbourne, discovered the trees were so brittle that they snapped like carrots, and no one had any idea how to process the flax. Even abducting two Maoris from New Zealand to help didn’t work. That was women’s work, they informed Gidley King, and they wouldn’t have a clue.

As for food, most of the crops were destroyed by a plague of rats, grub worms, aphids and caterpillars, while anything remaining was finished off by the harsh sea salt winds.

History is everywhere you look on Norfolk Island.Credit: Adobe

So turning Norfolk Island into what it is today, after the first settlement was eventually abandoned in 1814, has been a triumph of need, human ingenuity, determination and modern technology, via huge advances in shipbuilding, the construction of a pier to defeat the treacherous rocky coves and, of course, flight.

Now the island, which has a permanent population of 2188, has tourism as its major industry. Last year it welcomed about 31,000 visitors, after recovering well from the pandemic when arrivals fell to almost nil.

The allure is obvious. It’s fascinating to see how people live on one of the most remote parts of the country, and to taste its rich history with that first settlement, the notoriously harsh penal town that followed, and the arrival of the HMS Bounty mutineers who began to shape its culture.

“It is an amazing place, with its history woven into every inch of the fabric,” says adventurer, writer, photographer, filmmaker and former Getaway presenter-turned local resident Sorrel Wilby, who is creating a hand-drawn record of Norfolk’s native species.

“It’s there at every turn, whether that’s wandering spirits at the cemetery or in the bricks and mortar of the extraordinary World Heritage buildings.

Cemetery Bay: Peaceful with a dark past.

“But there’s also the contemporary stories and the way we live here, and the tremendous natural beauty all around us; the sea, the remarkable landscapes, and the dark night skies, perfect for stargazing.”

Today, the island is a happy, easygoing place, the perfect antidote to busy city life. It offers a range of accommodation, from hotels and apartments to holiday homes, and an array of attractions. There are beautiful beaches, stunning cliffs, pristine forests and lots of water sports to try.

Kingston, Norfolk Island, has a turbulent past.

The islanders are incredibly friendly too, and some hold progressive dinners in their homes, with singing and storytelling. There are also theatre shows, Polynesian dance, ghost tours and themed dinners curated around historical events that have affected the island, like that mutiny on the Bounty that ended up making survivor William Bligh the fourth – and equally ill-fated – governor of NSW.

Everywhere you look on the island, there’s evidence of its extraordinary past. At Duncombe Bay, you can see the monument to Captain James Cook, who claimed Norfolk for the Crown, and where Gidley King first landed to hack his way through the thick greenery, tangles of irises and groves of tall pines. Then there’s historic Kingston, the first seat of government.

These days, it’s all a blissful escape from the outside world, but there are reminders in every direction of how it took so much struggle in hell to turn it into the heavenly idyll it finally became.

THE DETAILS

FLY
Qantas has regular direct flights from Sydney and Brisbane to Norfolk Island. See qantas.com

STAY
Aloha Apartments at Burnt Pine, Norfolk’s main town, has its own coffee shop, pool, barbecue and free Wi-Fi. From $214 a night. It’s surrounded by landscaped gardens and is close to shops, cafes and restaurants. See aloha-apartments.com

The writer travelled at her own expense. Sue Williams’ book, The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress (Allen & Unwin, $34.99), was published in January.