Norfolk Island
 *Fully escorted from Sydney
Guaranteed SINGLE room throughout

7 Nights Norfolk Island

Departing  Sydney 21 February, 2010

Very limited space available. 

Less than three hours from Sydney and surrounded by coral reefs, turquoise lagoons and thumping surf, Norfolk Island may well be South Pacific's best kept secret. 

Dramatic coastline, rainforest tracks sheltered by whispering  pine trees,  horseshoe shaped beaches of yellow sand and emerald water, world class dive sites with drop-offs, swim-through caverns, arches and grottos ..... it is easy to see why Norfolk Island is the only one of the hundreds of islands that Captain Cook chartered, including Australia, Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand, that he called 'paradise'.  

 First established as a British penal colony from 1825 to 1855, once the convicts and their gaolers left,  Norfolk was settled by people from distant Pitcairn Island - the descendants of Fletcher Christian's Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. 

Toady this is an island where every scarred stone and every creaking door has a story to tell, an island crewed by people bred from one of history's stormiest chapters, but also today this is an island where there are no income taxes, no McDonalds, no foreign debt, no dole and no graffiti.  The only skyscrapers are pine trees and there's only one street light.   With 70 shops duty free and GST free prices are 50% less than what you'll find in Australia - Norfolk Island still lives up to Captain Cook's description of 'paradise'. 


Day 1  21 February, 2010  Sydney -  Norfolk Island (D)  Check in 2-3 hours prior to your flight departure - Norfolk Air Flight ON333 to Norfolk Island. The flight departs Sydney at 11.20am and arrives into Norfolk at 2.25pm.   Welcome to Norfolk Island!!  Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to the South Pacific Resort Hotel. After a refreshing tropical fruit cocktail, you can check-in to your room to rest and relax. Dinner tonight is included.  Accommodation:   South Pacific Resort Hotel (or similar)  7 nights Centrally located in the township of Burnt Pine, South Pacific Resort offers many facilities, including three bars, a restaurant, a pool with kitchen and bar area, room service, guest lounge, internet access, a conference centre and much more. It is within walking distance to the town centre and restaurants, plus only minutes drive to the beach and historic Kingston ruins.  The comfortable three and a half star* rooms are set in lush sub-tropical gardens with mountain and valley views and offer all the creature comforts that will make your stay one to remember.

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Day 2  22 February, 2010  Norfolk Island  (B,D)  Breakfast this morning is at your hotel. The rest of the morning is at leisure.

After lunch be ready at 1.00pm to join  your Half Day Orientation Tour - a must for every visitor! Visit historic Kingston, Cascade, Longridge and much more. See and hear about the famous convict buildings, beautiful beaches and golf course, the renowned Melanesian Chapel, the Government, the laws and lifestyle. Enjoy views from scenic spots on this full commentary conducted tour. Rest for a delicious afternoon tea in the garden of an historic island home built by Fletcher Quintal – descendant of ‘Bounty’ mutineers Fletcher Christian and Matthew Quintal.

Tonight is one of the highlights of your holiday. Join the “Progressive Dinner”   commencing at your hotel at 6.00pm. The coach will visit four different mystery venues for your evening meal. Visit a selection of private homes and restaurants for the various courses - commencing with nibbles and finishing with desserts and coffee. This is a fabulous chance to visit traditional and historic homes of Norfolk Island and to mingle with the locals.


Day 3 23 February, 2010   Norfolk Island    (B, D)   Breakfast this morning is at your hotel and then be ready at 8.30am when we will commence our  Behind the Hedges Tour. Travel to Anson Bay to visit a small hobby farm, which has been instrumental in improving the local livestock industry. Close by see a demonstration at Norfolk's major pottery and browse at the Cottage Pottery Shop. After a delicious morning tea at a scenic location, visit a beautiful private and commercial garden that supplies the local florists with stock. Visit a palm plantation, which has exports around the world and finally visit 'Sweeties' to learn how chocolate is made on Norfolk Island. The remainder of the day is free to further explore the island.

Tonight join the Commandant for a Night as a Convict. Outfit supplied. This evening’s festivities are held at your hotel.

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Day 4  24 February, 2010  Norfolk Island  (B,D)   This morning have your walking shoes ready to join the Breakfast Bush Walk. We will leave the hotel at 7.00am. Your guide will you give you a great run down as you walk through the National Park and on to your breakfast venue. If you’re not a walker don’t worry – just come along and be waiting for the walkers to arrive and enjoy a full cooked barbeque breakfast on the cliff top.    After enjoying your cooked breakfast, you will visit The Pitcairn Settlers Village” and experience what life was like in the early days of Norfolk. Watch an informative Norfolk film, take part in a Bounty Boat ride around the gardens, visit the museum and the Blacksmiths, a model of the first shop on Norfolk, take a ride on Marie’s first tour coach, and enjoy a cuppa and much more before returning to the hotel.     Remainder of day is at leisure.

This evening we enjoy dinner at Barney Duffy’s Charcoal Grill.  Barney Duffy’s has the well earned reputation of being Norfolk’s premier steak house.

Day 5  25 February, 2010   (B,D)   After breakfast you have a choice of a glass bottom boat tour or 4WD tour across the island. Late this afternoon, grab your jackets and join us for a Fish Fry. We will leave the hotel at 4.45pm and weather permitting will be able to enjoy the setting sun  at the fish fry venue - one of the islands’ many coastal beauty spots. An island fish fry is a traditional way to enjoy island fish; cooked outdoors and served with island salads and desserts; this is a popular way to enjoy your evening meal. Islanders will join you at dinner providing interesting discussion and some local gossip.    

After dinner we enjoy a Sound and Light Show. A must for the history lover with a sense of the dramatic. Nightfall at Kingston brings a different mood to the Convict Settlement. The stillness and the stars are there just as they were well over 100 years ago. However, with the dramatic use of real life sound together with theatrical lighting and costumed actors, the stillness is broken as you are taken through the horrifying decades of Norfolk Island’s convict era.

Day 6  26 February, 2010  (B,D)  After breakfast morning is at leisure.    At 1.00pm this afternoon we have an "in depth" tour of the historic Georgian Settlement of Kingston. We take a walk through the cemetery and hear the history of interesting convict & colonial headstones, hear stories of the houses Quality row & visit the restored military barracks, (now the Legislative Assembly chambers) - and much more.

Tonight we enjoy a 2 course dinner at Governors Lodge.

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Day 7 27 February, 2010  (B,D)  Day is at leisure.   Standing today on Queen Elizabeth's Lookout, gazing out over the peacock's-tail colours of Emily Bay and down at the superbly-preserved Georgian residences of Quality Row, one can scarcely comprehend that this was once a place in which were perpetrated some of the worst depravities in the history of British colonialism. From this vantage point you can gaze down on a pristine 9 hole golf course. (18 holes different tee's)

The beaches are gorgeous -  the cleanest salt water and softest sand imaginable and excellent surf too.  Another fascinating aspect of Norfolk's heritage is that this is the home of the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty. If you pick up Norfolk's slim telephone book, you will find something in the order of 36 families with the surname of Christian or Christian-Bailey, and 31 Buffets, 26 Quintals, 20 Nobbs, 18 Evans, 17 Adams and 8 McCoys. All go back, at least by matrilineal descent, to the mutineers. With so many shared surnames, identification is made easier by the use of nicknames and this is the world's only phone book to use them. Amongst the Christians you will find Bodge, Loppy, Smudge, Toofie and Tatie, whilst the Evans boast a Bubby, Diddles, Hunky, Tardy and Pelly!

The main attraction of the island consists of natural beauty: beautiful landscapes and wild seascapes. Almost a third of the island is devoted to reserves and national parks.    If shopping is your thing the island is tax and duty free, so high end items like Italian leather shoes, French lingerie (think Simone Perele, YSL) and perfumes are super cheap. They also have the cheapest lego in the world.

This evening we have a farewell 3-course dinner at our hotel and reflect on how much we've squeezed into one week and how we are about to return home with a revitalised mind, body and soul.

Day 8  28 February, 2010   Norfolk - Sydney  An early transfer to the airport for our flight to Sydney.   Flight departs Norfolk at 8.00am and arrives into Sydney at 10.20am.   
 

Tour cost  $AU3190 includes

Tour cost does not include:

N.B.  All prices quoted are subject to increase and/or currency fluctuation

To contact us
Destination World Travel
P O Box 2040
South Plympton   South Australia  5038
Australia

Phone: 08-8293-6988  Outside of Australia telephone 61 8 8293 6988
Fax:      08-8293-5988  Outside of Australia fax   61 8 8293 5988

Email:  destinationworld@internode.on.net

Lic. TTA 156054