Norfolk Island

[cruisine21]

Not cruise related. We are planning to go to Norfolk Island. Would a week be enough or should we stay longer?

[mr walker]

A week is just about right. We have been there 4 times, three times for a week & once for 10 days. Most packages are based around a week. It is surprising just how much there is to see/do on such a small island!

Great place to holiday! We have many friends there now

 

[Ozwoody]

2 hours ago, cruisine21 said:

Not cruise related. We are planning to go to Norfolk Island. Would a week be enough or should we stay longer?

That’s a good question.

 

It seems a lot of people say a week is enough, and although they enjoyed their trip, felt they had done it all.

For my wife and I, we have done two trips to Norfolk, the first a standard 7 day, and the second a ten-day trip.
Love every day of them. And planning another 14 day trip there, as we feel there still plenty we haven’t done yet.

Initially everyone seems to do the standard tourist tours on offer, and some feel that’s it.
But there is a lot more to Norfolk.

We love to go for walks, and Norfolk has some of the greatest walking trails you can imagine, from easy to more challenging.

It’s a great place to relax and chillout.

Even better if you make the effort to get to know the people.

The tours where you meet the locals, like visits to farms, progressive dinners are excellent. And the sunrise breakfast, sunset dinners, are well worth doing, one trip is a morning walk with a breakfast at the end is excellent.

Go enjoy you will love it.

Oh, and if your lucky you will be there when the supply ships in, now that’s an adventure in its self.

 

So to answer you question, for us NO a week was not enough, were still going back for more, but maybe fore a first visit,,, maybe if you only want to do package tours, but there is a hell of a lot more, to do. Including picnics by the bay, or mountain tops, etc.

 

Regards
 

[NSWP]

Highly recommended, did a 10 day trip there some year ago, plenty to see and do, convict night, progressive dinner, light show, fish fry on the cliffs, so much history. We stayed at Governors Lodge which was brand new back then. Get a car for travelling around the island, great bay and beaches.

 

I recommend 10 days.

[MMDown Under]

I find ten days is usually perfect. With one day to settle in and one day to do last minute things and pack, 7 days turns into 5 days which is not enough.  

[benjoon]

We are heading there for a week in July. We are really looking forward to our trip to Norfolk Island. I'm sure we will find loads of things to keep us busy. For me it's a break from work and getting on a plane.

 

We have a few tours and dinners to do as it's Christmas in July themed.

[joejoe 59]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Highly recommended, did a 10 day trip there some year ago, plenty to see and do, convict night, progressive dinner, light show, fish fry on the cliffs, so much history. We stayed at Governors Lodge which was brand new back then. Get a car for travelling around the island, great bay and beaches.

 

I recommend 10 days.

Did you find that there were enough gf food options for coeliacs?

That is the only thing that concerns me.

How did you go joining in with the progressive dinner & fish fry?

[Ozwoody]

16 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

Did you find that there were enough gf food options for coeliacs?

That is the only thing that concerns me.

How did you go joining in with the progressive dinner & fish fry?

Hi

We aren't gf, but did notice that a few of restaurants quoted gf on their menu's.

But you can take food with you if you want to, as long as it's not fruit.

I don't think there is any other restrictions other than fruit, but the Norfolk Island site as I remember it was very helpful with information.

As certain foods can be in short supply if a supply ship is late due to weather, we took a select group we couldn't live without.😁

 

[Ozwoody]

23 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

How did you go joining in with the progressive dinner & fish fry?

 

On the fish fry, my wife asked for grilled fish, and they provided it on the day.

We did have to speak to someone when arrived to ensure they remembered it.

 

When you book they generally ask if you have any food requirement for the tours that involve meals.

 

[joejoe 59]

40 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

 

On the fish fry, my wife asked for grilled fish, and they provided it on the day.

We did have to speak to someone when arrived to ensure they remembered it.

 

When you book they generally ask if you have any food requirement for the tours that involve meals.

 

Good info thanks 😀

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, joejoe 59 said:

Did you find that there were enough gf food options for coeliacs?

That is the only thing that concerns me.

How did you go joining in with the progressive dinner & fish fry?

I was diagnosed Coeliac in 2010, after it hit me. From memory Norfolk Island trip was about the year 2000 so gf food requirements were unknown to me. But as in my travels since 2010, if you let tour operators, hotels, cruise companies etc know in advance, they will do what they can. The progressive dinner at Islander's homes could be a problem, fish fry, well as someone said, grilled fish should be available or even gf batter/breadcrumbs.

 

Even now on my many road trips around mainly NSW and Victoria I either take my own gf bread and cereal, or buy it when I get there if the hotels/motels cannot provide such items, but they generally do when requested. But I generally go for the hot brekkies and request gf bread for toast, never been knocked back.

 

Now you know what is coming from Uncle Les..lol..

Edited April 25, 2022 by NSWP

[losfp]

We went for 7 days in Jan. Was lovely to get away, but it was the most stressful holiday we've ever had, between waiting 3 hours for a PCR test, stressing out over getting the results back in time, and surviving the airport and stay without catching covid....

 

I think it'll depend as to what sort of holiday you enjoy as to whether you'll like it. I think for us, 7 days felt about right.  We're not really beach people or relaxation people so that was enough days for us.  I would suggest packing cereals, snacks, coffee etc from home because grocery shopping is shockingly expensive there.

 

Very interesting place, and the beaches and views are gorgeous. Worth a look at least.

[NSWP]

12 hours ago, losfp said:

We went for 7 days in Jan. Was lovely to get away, but it was the most stressful holiday we've ever had, between waiting 3 hours for a PCR test, stressing out over getting the results back in time, and surviving the airport and stay without catching covid....

 

I think it'll depend as to what sort of holiday you enjoy as to whether you'll like it. I think for us, 7 days felt about right.  We're not really beach people or relaxation people so that was enough days for us.  I would suggest packing cereals, snacks, coffee etc from home because grocery shopping is shockingly expensive there.

 

Very interesting place, and the beaches and views are gorgeous. Worth a look at least.

I am afraid to say any travel these days can be stressful, all these tests and masks and things.

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I am afraid to say any travel these days can be stressful, all these tests and masks and things.

Yes I'm afraid that's the way travel is these days, bit surprised Norfolk was that intense though.

When we went in April last year there was no problems, might have been that we're from Queensland, and at the time travel from here was considered safe.

Lets hope things settle down in the not to distant future, as they seem to be coming up with new treatments and vax's as the months pass.

 

 

[losfp]

1 minute ago, Ozwoody said:

bit surprised Norfolk was that intense though

I think for us in particular it was because we already had our Norfolk Island trip postponed by a year because of the Northern Beaches outbreak (we originally booked it for Jan 2021 in September 2020 when it seemed reasonable). So we were keen to finally get our trip done, and paranoid that it'd be cancelled again.

 

And when we were there, Norfolk Island got to around 15-20 active cases for the very first time so alert was on an alltime high there.

 

Still glad we did it, and I think we'd like to return in a few years to do it in a more relaxed situation.

[Ozwoody]

32 minutes ago, losfp said:

I think for us in particular it was because we already had our Norfolk Island trip postponed by a year because of the Northern Beaches outbreak (we originally booked it for Jan 2021 in September 2020 when it seemed reasonable). So we were keen to finally get our trip done, and paranoid that it'd be cancelled again.

 

And when we were there, Norfolk Island got to around 15-20 active cases for the very first time so alert was on an alltime high there.

 

Still glad we did it, and I think we'd like to return in a few years to do it in a more relaxed situation.

 

Wow, was not aware they had joined the covid club, sad to hear that, one of the things for us was the feeling of safety to travel there at the time.

 

Also yes, taking certain basics with you is a good idea. We didn't feel the costs at the time was overly high on most things, but certain things like milk and fruit/Veggie's were a bit steep. But if you time your arrival to be a Thursday or Friday, the Saturday market is a good source of fruit &veg, at not so steep prices.

 

Edited April 26, 2022 by Ozwoody

[Ozwoody]

For interest sake these are the things we took with us.

Possibly not the best selection, but in our innocence its what we hedged on.

We ate out most meals except breakfast.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Ozwoody

[MMDown Under]

27 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

For interest sake these are the things we took with us.

Possibly not the best selection, but in our innocence its what we hedged on.

We ate out most meals except breakfast.

Impressive selection.  Our accommodation inc breakfast and was walking distance to town and we were taken to a progressive dinner, fish fry, etc.

(We take food with us to Lord Howe Island but are limited by weight restrictions. However we eat out at night.  Great system where your accommodation takes you to your choice of restaurant whilst restaurant brings you home.)

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, Ozwoody said:

For interest sake these are the things we took with us.

Possibly not the best selection, but in our innocence its what we hedged on.

We ate out most meals except breakfast.

Holy Moly, an entire pantry, suitcase full.  Do you not think taking all that tucker was over the top? I can understand taking dietary foods, like gf if you are  coeliac like me, as some of the foods may not always be available on the island.  Good to see you have the Heinz beans, I eat them a few days a week for brekkie, keeps you regular, lol.

[losfp]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Do you not think taking all that tucker was over the top?

 

I think if you had the luggage space, that looks like a good snack selection for a week, plus maybe a few things to have a quiet quick meal. I would absolutely pack something similar if we go back.

 

We found the grocery prices to be quite high, so packing your own snacks and things would make sense.  And if you wanted to save a bit of money by having some of your meals at your accomodation (assuming you had a kitchenette or similar), that makes sense too. We had some great meals there, but a lot have a decent premium on them because of how remote NI is.  RSL-type meals at the cost of a restaurant in a bigger city for example.

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

Impressive selection.  Our accommodation inc breakfast and was walking distance to town and we were taken to a progressive dinner, fish fry, etc.

(We take food with us to Lord Howe Island but are limited by weight restrictions. However we eat out at night.  Great system where your accommodation takes you to your choice of restaurant whilst restaurant brings you home.)

 

We were there for 10 days, in a self-contained cottage, very quite and romantic setting.

Weight was not a problem, we were well within our limits.

If we were in accommodation which included breakie most of it would not be needed.

several of our activities included either lunch or dinner, so the other nights we mostly went to the bowling club, found their meals quite good and at reasonable prices.

Also if your there try out Hilli's restaurant, bit more expensive but great food.

There is plenty of other places there to eat, even the local soccer club serves meals, not great ambiance but surprisingly good food.

So if breakie included don't need to take much.

But we loved our little cottage, so hopefully it will be available when we next go.

 

[joejoe 59]

22 hours ago, NSWP said:

I was diagnosed Coeliac in 2010, after it hit me. From memory Norfolk Island trip was about the year 2000 so gf food requirements were unknown to me. But as in my travels since 2010, if you let tour operators, hotels, cruise companies etc know in advance, they will do what they can. The progressive dinner at Islander's homes could be a problem, fish fry, well as someone said, grilled fish should be available or even gf batter/breadcrumbs.

 

Even now on my many road trips around mainly NSW and Victoria I either take my own gf bread and cereal, or buy it when I get there if the hotels/motels cannot provide such items, but they generally do when requested. But I generally go for the hot brekkies and request gf bread for toast, never been knocked back.

 

Now you know what is coming from Uncle Les..lol..

Haha now that's a good fry up...gf of course 😁

[mr walker]

some good points raised here by you all.

 

Yes, groceries are expensive as they all have to come in from OS. Fresh stuff like milk that comes in by air is particularly expensive compared to home. One of our tour mates declared that milk is dearer than beer and so he was going to have beer on his cornflakes - don't know if he did 🙂

On each of our trips, after  arriving at accommodation & settling in ie put suitcases in room, first stop is normally bond liquor store for the duty free drinks (make sure you take you air-ticket to the store, and then to the Foodland grocery shop foe the staples - bread, milk, cereal etc. 

As other have said, we normally only have breakfast at accom & eat out for most of our meals. Spend a fortune on coffee & cakes & Happy Hour!!

No pubs, but 3 clubs (RSL, RL & bowls) & many restaurants/bars. 

 

Great place for a holiday!

[Ozwoody]

36 minutes ago, mr walker said:

 

No pubs, but 3 clubs (RSL, RL & bowls) & many restaurants/bars. 

 

 

 

 

Actually there is a bar of sorts there now, or was when we were there, called the "black anchor bar" in the main street.

Very noisy, and a bit much for this grumpy old fuddy duddy😬, but a lot of people seemed to like it.

Evidently they do serve some meals as well, but never went there so don't know the quality of their offerings.

But if your keen on a bar environment it may be suitable.

 

 

[mr walker]

48 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

 

Actually there is a bar of sorts there now, or was when we were there, called the "black anchor bar" in the main street.

Very noisy, and a bit much for this grumpy old fuddy duddy😬, but a lot of people seemed to like it.

Evidently they do serve some meals as well, but never went there so don't know the quality of their offerings.

But if your keen on a bar environment it may be suitable.

 

 

I think that was the one that was the 'Jolly Roger' during our visits there - last time was 2018. I know that the family that owned it moved back to the mainland (as they call us there 🙂 ).