23 Jan 2016 Adelaide to Woolloomooloo, Sydney.
Holiday time, yay!!!!!
We had an easy morning, got to the airport around 10am and our flight left on time at 11am
Our driver picked us up at the airport (it just takes all the hassle out of it getting a hire car rather than a taxi, and for not much more) and delivered us to our hotel, The Ovolo in Woolloomooloo. It’s very comfortable and a great location.
After we checked in and settled down we did a little bit of Ingressing (a couple of local missions) and then relaxed before heading to “5 o’clock Happy Hour” at the bar with free drinks and canapés.
At about 5:30 we hopped into a cab and went to The Butler on Victoria St Darlinghurst to meet-up with Laura and Sean for dinner. To make it simple we ordered the banquet and, a bottle of wine. The meal was very good (and plenty of it) and the company was even better. It was great to catch up with Laura and Sean and all their news. We swapped a lot of travel tales and laughed a lot.
They had a party to go to and we had to clear our table so others could eat, so we finished up and said our good byes. The end of a really good day.
24 Jan 2016 Woolloomooloo, Sydney
After breakfast and a lazy start to the day we set out for a stroll over to the Opera House via the Botanic Gardens, doing a lot of Ingressing on the way. Was a really fun morning, we haven’t laughed together so much for a long time.
We got back to our hotel around 11:45am, so I suggested we had lunch at a Sydney Institution, “Harry’s Cafe de Wheels”. Deb had never heard of it, sort of the equivalent of an Adelaide Pie cart. But its history goes back beyond the 1940’s and was once the late night (or very early morning spot) to be for “Sydney A Lister’s” on a night out. I had a Pie and Peas, and Deb had a beef roll and peas. My pie was delicious and Deb enjoyed hers as well. We sat on a seat overlooking the naval ships and our hotel while we ate, it’s a very tough life for some.
After lunch we had a drink in the hotel foyer and then went back to our room to relax a bit. Deb had a very relaxing afternoon snoozing and watching the tennis. I got an invite from a local Ingress player to come out and meet up with some of the local Ingress players at The Lord Robert’s Hotel for a “Fracking Farm”. It was a fun couple of hours. They were very much like the people in Adelaide. I came away with a load of L8 gear which was good.
Once I got back to the hotel we went down for Happy Hour, had a drink and a bite to eat before retiring for the night. It’s been a nice relaxing fun time in Sydney, and we are both looking forward to catching up with everyone tomorrow and heading off to Norfolk Island. (An early start tomorrow – being picked up at 6:45am!!)
Monday 25th January 2016
We both had a rough nights sleep, seemingly waking every hour!! We’ll sleep well tonight. My alarm eventually went off at 5:45 and we were soon all packed up, checked out, ready to leave, and downstairs having breakfast by 6:20. Breakfast opened at 6:30am, so yes we were those people getting in the way of the staff as they got everything ready. After a light breakfast and coffee & tea, our driver picked us up at 6:45 and we were on the way to the airport.
We checked in easily, and saw Phil and Lou, and a few others at check-in, but we all seemed to move through at very different speeds. Next we passed through Customs and Emigration without a hitch. Airport security was another thing altogether. Deb passed through without any drama, I was diverted off for a full body scan, and then a pat down!!! Next, one of our carry-on luggage got kicked out for inspection. Damn!!!!!, it dawned on both of us, we had left a bottle Nine Popes in the carry-on case!!! Despite our pleads it was confiscated, and we were told it would be destroyed, what a waste!! I am sure will laugh at that in the future, and NEVER make that mistake again!!
Deb got some duty-free perfume and we headed to the gate, a bit sad not having a lounge to go to! We found a “comfortable” seat, to wait out the next 1hr or so before boarding our flight. Soon enough everyone started to make their way to the gate and everyone was together.
It’s a 2 ½ hr flight to Norfolk and we are flying economy, it’s pretty tight back there!!
The whole reason for this holiday is to celebrate Barry Freshwater’s 60th with him. His family are from Norfolk. There is a group of about 30 of us helping him celebrate for a week.
While in Sydney I picked up a couple of Capsules of keys for New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island, we have plans to contact an Enlightened Ingress agent (from Brisbane) in Noumea to do a bit of fielding. It should be fun and our first involvement in Mega Fielding and also an International Operation. So while we are on Norfolk we plan to kill the blue portals and links to New Caledonia, light up all the portals there in a nice shade of Green and try a bit of fielding. It should be lots of fun. As I won’t post this until after we have done the fielding. Hopefully, we may even make contact with “LonePine” theResistance Agent on Norfolk (or as we call them, the local Smurf!)
We arrived on time in Norfolk and got through Customs with a breeze. Apparently the only thing you can’t bring on the Island from Australia (in a practical sense – Not what the info says) is fresh fruit and vegetables.
We all hopped on a bus and were taken to our accommodation. We are all spread out amongst about 4 venues. We are staying at Channers, along with the Freshwaters, and a few others.
After settling in and getting our hire cars, we all went down to Kingston, right on the coast, for a welcoming get-together “Fish Fry” and drink. The fish was cooked up by Barry’s brother in law and it was amazing. So fresh, sweet and light, the best fried fish we have ever had, it was Trumpeter. The views were amazing, looking out to sea and along the coast, Norfolk Island is very lush and green and yes has lots of Norfolk Pines. From there we all headed to the local bowling club for more food!!, I mean dinner. Deb and I shared a chicken pizza. It was a bit different with some ingredients we didn’t really expect, but was ok.
Tuesday 26 Jan 2016 Australia Day
Happy Australia Day everyone, hope you all had a great time celebrating the day.
We started the day with a bus tour of the Island. It basically served to introduce us to the Island and its history. It gave us all a good idea of where everything was, most of the local attractions and an introduction into the history of the islands settlement. (From Polynesians, to British explorers to British settlers (including some convicts), then a British penal colony and the relocation of Pitcairn Islanders.)
We had a quiet afternoon and then went for an evening Fish Fry on the cliff tops at Puppies Point. It’s a magnificent view west from there over a small bay and beach way below. The fish wasn’t up to yesterdays dizzy heights but was ok. It was served up with a selection of local salads, sweet potato mash and a banana slice, finished off with a coconut cake and cream for dessert.
Wednesday 27 Jan 2016
Had breakfast and a relaxing morning on the Freshwaters deck overlooking a valley with views to the ocean down near Kingston. We did a little shopping and I drove around playing Ingress, trying to capture local portals and get keys for them so we can link back to the Island when we get to the Central Coast. Despite having 2 different wifi passes, it is impossible to get a connection in the north of the Island, which is a bit disappointing.
In the afternoon we did a tour of the Island with a guy Barry grew up with. The tour was called History in the Making, and covered the history of the Island from Polynesian times to present day. The content was slightly different from our tour on Tuesday and presented from a very different perspective, so I think we have had a balanced view of the local history, either way, the early inhabitants of this Island did it tough in one way or another.
A group of us went to Jolly Rogers for dinner. It’s a relatively new restaurant on the island and the food was delicious. The owner is a musician and played various guitars and a ukulele. AC/DC was never meant to be played on a Ukulele, so funny!! We had a great night singing along and relaxing.
Thursday 28 Jan 2016
Woke up early to blue skies. A bit too early, 6am’ish (Deb maybe earlier). After a bite of breakfast I went down to the shops and got some bread and steak for a BBQ dinner tonight at Kingston. The rain set in around 9 and continued for a few hours.
I had arranged with a couple in New Caledonia to do a bit of Ingressing. First to have a portal flipped by them to remove a blocking link from New Caledonia to NZ South Island and secondly to try to make a field between New Caledonia, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Unfortuantely there were some distant links in the way from NC to LHI, so I finished up making a very skinny field from NI to NC, 895km x 500m for a total of 51MU. Was lots of fun for not a lot of reward, but I did get my longest link to date, so that is something.
In the afternoon I played golf with about 12 others on our “tour” The Norfolk island Golf Club is in an original old convict built building and has expansive views down over the course to the ocean, a lush green outlook. It’s a 9 Hole course with a set of different tees if you want to play 18, just to make it a bit more interesting. The golf was so much fun, reminded me of years gone by when I used to play with Phil and Tony. So many laughs and our golf games haven’t improved any!!!
In the evening Barry arranged a BBQ down on the grounds between Government House and the beach. We scored magnificent weather for it, a nice cool breeze clear skies and a magical sunset. A few people had been out on a fishing charter in the morning and we ate their catch on the BBQ, delicious.
Friday 29 Jan 2016
Deb had a Colleen McCullough tour booked for this morning, so I went out and had a snorkel along the beach and coast at Emily Bay. The water was warm and crystal clear even though it was mid tide coming into high. There is a lot of coral on along the shore and the reefs here. It doesn’t have much colour to it but all the different shapes and forms make it very interesting and beautiful in its own way. The fish here are very friendly, one dark brown species seemed to be just as interested in me as I was in them and kept swimming up to me, I could almost reach out and pet them!
Deb’s tour was fascinating by the sound of it. It just happened that Colleen had died exactly 1 year ago today. Deb described her house as like an art gallery, full of magnificent paintings, glassware, ornate furniture, etc. They took the group through her life, from her days as a neuro-physicist and how she had to give that away as her celebrity as an author took over her life and she became a full time author. Deb was very glad she did the tour.
In the afternoon I went snorkelling down at Slaughter Bay, in the gap between the shore and a reef about 150m out to sea. The area was abounding in all sorts of fish and coral. Great place to swim and watch nature doing its thing. I saw Phil, Lou and Tony out on the water. Tony was just swimming while Phil and Lou were snorkelling, so I joined them for the swim. After a while we came across this seething mass of black squiggly things around a rock. At first it looked like some sort of alien life form. On closer inspection it turned out to be a school of a couple of hundred Catfish. We weren’t sure what they were up to, but they we just a big black mass of whiskers and fins swarming around together.
In the evening we all went to Dino’s restaurant for dinner. It was a set 2 course meal, the food was good. We sat at a table with some of Barry’s old work mates. It was interesting to hear their stories and how they met Barry. Later in the evening we watched the 2nd semi-final of the Aust open Tennis, Deb’s favourite, Andy Murray was playing, and eventually won in 4 sets.
Saturday 30 Jan 2016
Last night we were told there was a cruise ship and a cargo ship due in port today, and to get all the timing details off the local radio in the 7am news. It turned out the Cruise ship, was an expedition ship and only had around 100 people on board (we were fearing an inundation of hoards from a large cruise-liner), so we breathed a sigh of relief.
After breakfast we drove down to Kingston and had a look at the ship. I think we may have either just missed or didn’t wait long enough for, the people coming ashore. The ship reminded me of a few we have been on, built for purpose, not for luxury, but still very comfortable and able to get into places that large boats simply cannot. While we were down there we went over to the old cemetery. It was really interesting walking amongst all the gravestones. Colleen McCullough is buried there, her grave marked by a very simple white cross with her name on it. The earliest grave we saw was dated 1802. It was really interesting seeing the inscriptions on the early gravestones, many it seems were accidently shot or drowned swimming or fishing. A tough life back then. Going by the ages on the graves, if you made it into your 30’s you could expect to live a long life, the oldest I saw was someone who made it to 103 years old.
From there we went up to town for the Saturday produce markets. We had heard that they were a reasonable size with BBqs and stalls of local produce. But we were very disappointed, there were only about 4 or5 stalls and it was very quiet. We did buy some goats curd for lunch, which was nice.
We then spent the morning driving around the Island taking in all the views. We started with a drive north to Cascade Bay, the alternative wharf on the Island (and only other wharf!). Between the two wharves they seem to manage to be able to unload cargo in most seas. We hear that occasionally the seas are just too rough to unload a ship safely, so they just sail on, and the Island goes without that weeks supplies!! We then drove via New Cascade Road to the west of the Island and out to the site where Capt Cook landed back in 1774. It’s an amazing out look over Norfolk Islands similar to the 12 Apostles, featuring Moo-oo Stone, a large monolith. A note to myself, electric fences designed to keep cattle away from certain areas should not be touched, particularly accidently, as it will cause a surge of energy through your body and a general shock to your system. (Resume Sinus rythm now. ) From there we drove around to Point Howe on the NW corner of the Island for views back along the north coast. Magic views everywhere. We then went to the top of Mount Pitt, the 2nd highest point on the Island (by a couple of meters) and enjoy a full 360 deg panorama of the Island.
From there we drove to see the Cyclorama at Hilli’s . The Cyclorama displays the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty in a progressively changing picture as you walk around a circular room. (It seems that what we have thought previously were Dioramas were in fact Cycloramas, subtle difference) Once out of there we decided it was time for morning tea/coffee and a scone with cream and jam of course!! Hilli’s is a very comfortable and well presented restaurant in a garden setting. The scones were large, fluffy and delicious.
We spent the early part of the afternoon relaxing. And then we saw an operation was going on in Ingress to stop a resistance (Smurf) mega field over Australia. I offered to try and get a blocking link in to Lord Howe Island if they could block elsewhere. I put the link in at around 3:30 and all was good in the world LOL
Pre dinner drinks at 5 and Barry’s birthday dinner at 6 at The Paradise Hotel. It was an entertaining night. Lots of great speeches giving about all aspects of Barry’s life, from his early teens on Norfolk to present day, hooning around on motor bikes on Norfolk Island to following the Green Rats and working in far flung places. It was so good to see people there from every period as well, lots of “old” friends from the island, work and social sides of his life. The locals put together a band for the night, a bunch of pretty talented musicians who gelled together from the start. We left around 10:30 and the party seemed to be settling in for a big long night!
Sunday 31 Jan 2016
We set out early’ish to go and see the Cargo ship unloading. First we tried the Kingston pier, no ship there, so we drove across the Island (took less than 10mins, probably more like 5!) to The Cascade Pier, but no ship there either. Not sure what happened there!!
Undeterred, we set off into town to the Sunday Craft market. This was much bigger than the produce market yesterday and there must have been 20+ stalls selling all sorts of crafty things and some fruit and veg. We got cruised around all the stalls before getting a few more bananas. Deb is doing a High tea with a couple of the girls this afternoon over on the north side of the island, Cascade Bay way.
I had a quiet afternoon relaxing around Channers.
Deb’s High tea was very good by all accounts. She had a good time sharing it with Kate and Sandra. The place she had it at had played host to stays by the like of Gina Rhinehart , John Singleton and Gerry Harvey. After they had finished their tea, they managed to get a bit of a tour through some of the accommodation, Deb took a bit of a fancy to it I think . Just a bit better than where we are staying, lol!
In the later part of the afternoon Deb and I had some quiet time in the gazebo at Channers, looking out over the country side towards the ocean, watching the birds and butterflies playing it the trees around us. So relaxing.
For dinner we had a BBQ, I had bought a couple of local steaks from the Islands butcher and we (Deb) put together a fresh little salad with what we had to go with the meat. It was a delicious meal. We ate the meal on our verandah by candle light and washed it down with a beer (me) and a cider (Deb). A very enjoyable evening.
We finished the day off watching the Australian Open Tennis final , where Andy Murray was beaten by Djokavic, who was way too good on the night.
Monday 1 February 2016
We had a very slow morning, we leave today. Woke around 6:30 and just eased our way into the day. After breakfast I went out and filled the car with fuel, $2.25 per litre, lucky it was only a small tank!!!
We were packed up and down at the airport at about 11:15. After we checked in we went back into town and had lunch at Hilli’s. A much better option than hanging around at the airport for 2 hours and eating airport food. Lunch was clean and fresh, so good to have salad. As I paid the bill I was talking to our waitress and found out her Godmother was Barry’s sister and she (and I gather everyone else on the Island) was right up to date with everything our group had done and were all so happy to have played host for his friends and his party. We got back to around 12:30 (It’s only a 5 min drive to the other end of town). Once back, we still had to wait around 45 mins before boarding our flight and getting into air-conditioned comfort for the first time in a week. Yes, that’s right, because the Island has a limited electricity supply there are no air conditioners used on the island. A fan is the best cooling device you will get, and by all accounts was more humid than normal this week!
The flight left on time, we had managed to get exit seats so got a little bit of extra room. As we took off we noticed a group of locals, were lined up on a property adjacent to the runway waving madly to the plane as we sped past. It made me smile. Barry has a some good friends on the Island. Years ago the plane used to arrive on a Wednesday afternoon, so all of the shops shut and everyone went down to the airport to watch it come in. Flights come more often now, but they still have Wednesday afternoon off.
It’s a 2 ½ hr flight back to Sydney and other than the odd bit of turbulence a smooth flight.
Some interesting Norfolk Island gems
Cows graze on the side of the road as there is not enough grazing land for all of the cows.
Most people have 2 or 3 jobs there are only about 1200 people on the island and only about 700 of them work, so they multitask.
Tourism is a big industry for them, but after the GFC the numbers of people coming to the Island decreased, from 40,000 per year to 26,000 a year. If all the planes that arrive in Norfolk are full the accommodation on the Island will only be 1/3 full. There are 1,500 tourist beds on the Island.
It is like stepping back in time, about 40 years. No-one locks their doors or their cars, they even leave their keys in the ignition!! It took a while to get into leaving ours unlocked. Everyone is very friendly.
As people drive along the streets it is normal practice to wave at the cars coming in the other direction, even at people walking on the street, very country!
Food is expensive and not a lot of choice. Everything is seasonal, so if it doesn’t grow at that time of the year it isn’t on any shelf anywhere! if you come bring your own snacks. The only fruit we could buy was bananas and plums, it is all local fresh produce, whatever is in season. Was great looking at the vegies and the market they look very rustic. There are “Honesty” boxes scattered along many of the “country” roads on the island. They contain fruit and vege grown on local properties and are for sale at the prices given in the box. Simply put your money in the jar and take the produce.
All bulky goods imported onto the island come via cargo ships and the goods are stored in the hull open to the weather. When the cargo ships come into port the goods are put in “low boats” (they look a bit like old whaling boats) to come into shore. When busses and cars part of the cargo, they tie a few boats together and put them on top. Then at shore everything is winched off the boats. The winch ropes are attached to a ute/truck (rather than a dedicated motor) and hauled up. It would have been great to see this in action.
Tourist Packages to the Island are reasonably cheap and come with airfares accommodation and your own car, most cars are second hand Japanese cars. You would not want a good car there it would be rattling before you knew it!
The roads are mostly awful, like driving over cobble stones, 40km per hour is plenty fast enough.
Only July 1, the Australian govt is taking over the running of the island, as it is bankrupt, the people have very mixed opinions of whether this is a good thing. At the moment they don’t pay any income tax, only a 12% GST, will be interesting to see what happens going forward. I think a big problem for them is they have no idea what is going to happen, and it is only 5 months away. Sounds like our govt, think up an idea, bring it in, then work out the details after!
They are very reliant on the Aust Govt for grants to do major works, like the extension of the wharfs.
They only got mobile phones 7 years ago, internet is crap and expensive. No doubt that will improve when they get broadband.
A great place to visit, very relaxing, great views, lots of history and a very different way of life to anywhere else we have visited before.
Monday 1 Feb 2016 Sydney – Gosford
We got through immigration and customs like a breeze and after we had had said our good byes to everyone, and thanked Sue for all her work putting the week together for us all, we got thr shuttle up to the Central coast and mum’s place. Michelle, Kerry’s sister was on the shuttle with us.which was lucky, she knew where the pick-up point was at the international airport ( we were expecting to be met at the gate, but were so wrong!!)
The trip up was nice and smooth with very little traffic by 5pm Monday afternoon Sydney standards. Deb and I Ingressed our way up the highway.
When we got to mum’s, Craig and cook were there, which was a nice surprise. They stayed for dinner and we caught up with what they had been up to and what their world wandering daughters were doing. ( Carly is touring South America and Caitlin is in the Netherlands studying) Craig invited me to a Super Rugby trail game on Wed night at Blue Tongue Stadium. I haven’t been to a game for soooooo long, it will be a good night out with my little bro.
Tuesday 2 Feb 2016 Gosford
In the morning I sorted a couple of computer issues for mum and generally relaxed. We took mum to lunch at the Cowrie Restaurant for her birthday. They have very nice food great service and one of the best views of the coast in the area. It was a very pleasant couple of hours.
In the afternoon, while mum and Deb chilled I went out and played a bit of Ingress, and managed to get up a few fields and generally annoy a few local smurfs.
Not sure what happened to the rest of this blog? But needless to say we made it home in one piece.
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