Approaching Norfolk Island there is immediately something different. Pine trees. And for the first time since leaving Lima the humidity was less than 8700%. This is actually a very lovely island.
Our tour started in the Bounty Museum, which is really more of a “stuff folks don’t need anymore” museum. But yes, I’m talking about that Bounty. Again. We visited Pitcairn Island a few weeks ago and talked about the mutiny. Seems eventually Pitcairn was getting overcrowded by the descendants of the mutineers. Norfolk Island stopped being an Australian prison (a second time) just the previous year, so the UK moved almost 200 Pitcairn folks here. The museum documents that and the life after.
Here is a model of the Bounty and a ball and a chain used by prisoners.
The rooms that followed became general history.
A (former?) resident of Norfolk Island wrote mystery novels. Even so, I thought these were kind of strange.
I then strolled thru the “technology” section.
Afterwards, we visited the Norfolk Cyclorama. I had never heard of the term, either. “Cyclorama” describes a 360-degree artwork. Seems someone who lived on Norfolk Island saw one and thought it would be a great idea to have one here. They constructed a purpose-built building to house it, and included an art gallery, cafe and such. They asked we not take photography, but their website has all you need to see. It took the artists over 18 months to complete.
We then drove around the island. The mini-bus played an voice reenactment from the point of view of the Pitcairn settlers. There were about a dozen nice homes used by former prison officers which were given to the settlers by drawing of lots. One of these homes are now a golf course club house. Much of the audio described how they had never seen stone houses before, nor indoor fireplaces. On the other hand, most families had more than a dozen children, but with a high childhood fatality rate.
At the end we saw the two nearby Nepean and Phillip islands. The larger may look a little red. Seems during the penal colony years the tried herding pigs, goats and rabbits on that island with the hope of developing a steady meat source. They ate all the plants. All of them. Since there was nothing to hold the top soil anymore the wind blew it all away, exposing red clay. Over the years Australian park services have slowly attempted to re-introduce plant life.
We had a brunch day yesterday, which featured many food stations. It was kind of cool getting waffles and caviar. The muffin was too darn good. I’m fighting to minimize my carbs…
