Isaac Robinson is the man credited with bringing Thanksgiving Day to Norfolk Island. Arriving aboard a whaling ship in 1860, he went on to become an important member of the community. Some believe he may have been educated in England, such was his keen interest in botany. He certainly had sufficient standing in scientific circles to enable him to send many plant specimens to scientists in Europe.
Carefree and idyllic, Norfolk Island is the perfect place for a childhood that is rarely found elsewhere in the world today. Written about my daughters Libby and Annie’s experiences growing up, and illustrated by Annie, they spent some of their formative years on Norfolk Island living an enviable, unique, carefree life that is rarely found today.
From critically endangered to being declared extinct, then back again – the fate of Norfolk Island’s morepork owls hangs in the balance. But now there is some great news – with the dedication and care of researchers and Parks Australia – it can be revealed that two chicks successfully fledged in the 2019–2020 breeding season.
A tongue-in-cheek look at sharing the household chores down gender lines: Our household chores are unashamedly gender specific. He does his thing, I do mine. That’s the way we roll and it means we are both in our respective happy place. No dramas, no arguments.
On Norfolk Island, the bullet-proof among us have demonstrated a cavalier attitude to a simple request to step up and self-isolate during this coronavirus, covid-19, pandemic. Even with non-stop media explaining the nuances of herd immunity, and banging on about self-isolation, social distancing and cough etiquette, sadly some still choose not to ‘get it’. It is more important that they can party, see their mates, and maintain ‘business as usual’.
Isaac Robinson is the man credited with bringing Thanksgiving Day to Norfolk Island. Arriving aboard a whaling ship in 1860, he went on to become an important member of the community. Some believe he may have been educated in England, such was his keen interest in botany. He certainly had sufficient standing in scientific circles to enable him to send many plant specimens to scientists in Europe.
Carefree and idyllic, Norfolk Island is the perfect place for a childhood that is rarely found elsewhere in the world today. Written about my daughters Libby and Annie’s experiences growing up, and illustrated by Annie, they spent some of their formative years on Norfolk Island living an enviable, unique, carefree life that is rarely found today.
From critically endangered to being declared extinct, then back again – the fate of Norfolk Island’s morepork owls hangs in the balance. But now there is some great news – with the dedication and care of researchers and Parks Australia – it can be revealed that two chicks successfully fledged in the 2019–2020 breeding season.
On Norfolk Island, the bullet-proof among us have demonstrated a cavalier attitude to a simple request to step up and self-isolate during this coronavirus, covid-19, pandemic. Even with non-stop media explaining the nuances of herd immunity, and banging on about self-isolation, social distancing and cough etiquette, sadly some still choose not to ‘get it’. It is more important that they can party, see their mates, and maintain ‘business as usual’.
We have a robust and healthy population of sparrows on Norfolk Island, not living in the woodland areas of our national park, but right next to us, dwelling comfortably near our homes. Around the world, people have become alarmed about the decline in the sparrow populations . World Sparrow Day highlights the sparrows’ decreasing numbers and the state of our urban environments.
After Captain Cook first sighted an uninhabited Norfolk Island, its destiny changed. As he sailed away, with the darkness closing in, perhaps sitting in his cabin writing up his log, he left the island to the seabirds and the trees, at peace with itself once more. But at that moment, as he recorded his observations, the future of Norfolk Island had been irrevocably altered.
Norfolk Island has a freight conundrum: There’s no infrastructure onshore to cope with shipping containers – and increasingly the world’s cargo is containerised. The island is still serviced by small non-containerised ships, which in themselves, are a dying breed. Meanwhile, food is running low, and the islanders are desperate for a solution.
We’ve had gifts of plants for our very spacious and presently rather barren wrap-around veranda, freshly laid eggs, banana cake, massive chunks of pumpkin, a bunch of flowers picked from a garden, and a truck load of split firewood to keep us ticking over – all delivered with smiles, greetings and advice on where to go, what to do, how to do it, and who to ask.
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