Norfolk Island is located in Melanesia, Oceania. Australian Outer Territory located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.
Captain Cook discovered and named the island after Lady Norfolk
during his second voyage around the world. The first settlement was
established by the British a few months after their settlement in New
South Wales in 1788. Some of the most capable men and women were sent
from Sydney to the island. Hopes for self-sufficiency did not
materialize, and the colonists on Norfolk Island struggled to feed
themselves. When the island was evacuated, almost all structures were
destroyed.
The second settlement was from 1825 to 1855. This time
the settlement was carried out with a purely punitive function. While
the first settlement consisted of free settlers, convicts and military
men, and both sexes, the second settlement had men, all convicts and
military men. Many of the military left their wives and children in
Sydney while they served in Norfolk. Over 2,000 convicts were housed on
the island, more than the current total population. In the end, the
costs of maintaining the colony were no longer justified, and all
convicts were transferred to Van Diemens Land, and the colony was
evacuated.
The third settlement in 1856 belonged to the former
inhabitants of Pitcairn Island. The islanders on Pitcairn were
descendants of the Bounty rebels and later inhabitants of Pitcairn.
Pitcairn Island was unable to feed its 200 inhabitants, and Queen
Victoria offered them land grants on Norfolk Island with the convicts'
departure. The island's administrators from the second settlement stayed
long enough to show the Pitcairns the way of life in Norfolk before they
left the island themselves.
Although Norfolk Island has been an
autonomous territory of Australia for most of its history, in 2016 the
Australian government decided to reduce the autonomy of Norfolk Island
and incorporate it into the state of New South Wales.
Later
settlers descended from American sealers, Australians and New
Zealanders.
The administrative center is the town of Kingston on the south coast.
Of the approximately 1750 inhabitants, some speak a dialect in which
archaic English is creolized with Tahitian words (Norf'k). The
approximately 250 hectares of the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic
Area there are under special protection as a monument to human cruelty
as a World Heritage Site. There are also traces of a Polynesian
settlement from the 12th-15th centuries in the area. century found.
The local time zone is UTC +11½ which is 1½ hours ahead of EST
(Sydney) and 1½ hours behind New Zealand. Summer time (“Daylight Savings
Time”) has been in effect since 2020.
Burnt Pine. in the center
of the island is the largest settlement with 180 inhabitants.
The
island was a penal colony from 1788 to 1813 and again from 1825 to 1855,
with the cruel treatment of prisoners being particularly common during
the second phase. As on Lord Howe Island, descendants of the Bounty
mutineers from Pitcairn settled here from 1856.
Due to increasing
financial difficulties - the number of visitors fell from 40,000 to
26,000 annually - support was sought in Canberra in 2012. The federal
government granted aid, but at the price of largely abolishing the
autonomy that had existed since 1979. The island has been “enjoying” the
Australian system of taxation, health insurance and immigration
regulations for the first time since 2016. This does not find unanimous
approval.
The area is still a duty-free zone. Flights from the mainland are
handled at the major airports in the international area.
The
import of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers is prohibited, pork and
chicken meat may not be brought from New Zealand.
By plane
Norfolk Island International Airport (Norfolk Island Airport, IATA: NLK)
Air New Zealand flies twice weekly from Brisbane and Sydney, and Air
Chathams connects the island to Auckland every Friday. The international
duty-free allowances may be used on the return flight to the mainland.
Last change: Oct. 2017 (information may be out of date) edit info
By
boat
Since July 1, 2016, there has been a permanently manned border
police post. The general Australian regulations apply on arrival,
although Australian citizens must also be able to identify themselves.
Customs, the area remains a duty-free zone, can be contacted (only
during normal office hours) on VHF 16.
The history of Norfolk Island begins in the 14th-15th centuries, when
it was settled by Polynesian fishermen.
Early history
The
first settlers are believed to be East Polynesian fishermen who came
either from the Kermadec Islands or the North Island. They arrived on
the island in the 14th or 15th century and lived there for several
generations before leaving. Their main settlement was found near Emily
Bay. The settlers also left stone tools, after which small rats and
banana trees remained on the island, which proves the presence of
settlers here. New Zealand flax was also brought to the island, taken
either from Raul Island or from New Zealand. The further fate of the
fishermen is unknown.
The first European to visit the island was
James Cook in 1774 during the Second Pacific Expedition on the sloop
Resolution. He named the island after the Duchess of Norfolk, although
she had died a year earlier, which Cook did not know.
James Cook
landed on the island on October 11, 1774. He collected samples of New
Zealand linen to report on its potential use for the navy. At this time,
Britain was very dependent on flax for sails and hemp for ropes. Any
problem in the supply endangered Britain's maritime power. Also, the
British Empire needed New England wood, which it lost during the
American Revolutionary War. Some historians, such as Geoffrey Blaney,
believe that the resources were the reason for the forced settlement of
Australia.
hard labor settlement
Since 1788, the island began
to be used as a place of exile for prisoners from England. In 1814, the
colony was abandoned as an expensive one, but in 1825 the prison was
restored and intended for especially malicious criminals. Governor of
New South Wales Ralph Darling said: "My goal is to make this settlement
a place of the most severe punishment, close to death." The prisoners
worked in the quarries and in the mill, where they manually set the
heavy millstones in motion, they were forced to wear heavy shackles and
mercilessly flogged for the slightest infractions. The island, which
could have remained a peaceful Pacific paradise, for 30 years - until
1854 - turned into the most severe hard labor prison. Several times the
convicts unsuccessfully staged rebellions.
New story
In 1856,
part of the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island, descendants of the rebels of
the Bounty ship, moved to Norfolk. In memory of this event, the most
important local holiday, Bounty Day, began to be celebrated on Norfolk
every year on June 8th.
In the same year, 1856, a local
government was established on the island, which was under the control of
the governor of the British colony of New South Wales.
In 1901
the island became part of the Commonwealth of Australia.
In 1913,
Norfolk became an Australian "outside territory" and was administered by
an administrator appointed by the Australian government.
During
World War II, Norfolk was used as an air base and fuel depot on the
route from Australia to New Zealand and the Solomon Islands.
In
1979 Norfolk's internal self-government was expanded.
From 1979
to 2015, the Legislative Assembly acted as a legislative body. On June
17, 2015, the Australian Government abolished the Assembly, which
temporarily ended self-government on the island.
In 2016,
Australia extends its institutions and laws to Norfolk Island,
implementing the decision taken in March 2015 to annul the territory's
self-government status.
The 2021 census was held on Norfolk
Island
Practical hints
June 8th is Bounty Day, a local holiday.
Bounty Day is celebrated to commemorate the arrival of the Pitcairn
Islanders on Norfolk Island in 1856, who then left Pitcairn Island
in search of better living standards.
cellphone and internet
Telephone code: ☎ +672 3…
Local calls to landlines are free.
Phone booths are located at the Communication Center at 9 New
Cascade Rd. in Burnt Pine. There are special pre-paid SIM cards from
Norfolk Telekom for A$ 20. You can still make calls using the GSM
standard, although an upgrade has been in the works since 2016.
Roaming is done through the major Australian operators.
Credit for using WiFi hotspots can also be purchased but is
relatively expensive (2017: 1 hr A$5, 10 hr A$35; 1 GB: A$25, 4 GB:
A$70).
post
Post Office, 6 Taylors Road, Burnt Pine.
Norfolk Island issued its own postage stamps from 1947-2016. The
Australian Post Office, which is now responsible and whose tariffs
apply, will continue to issue stamps with the overprint Norfolk
Island, Australia.