Swell to hight for Pacific Sun

On Wednesday morning, the decision to stand down for the Cruise Ship was made due to the swell running too high.

As the NIGTB General Manager Wayne Emery reported to our Minister of Tourism, ‘The Captain observed the pontoon trying to be installed from the bridge and it was clear that the team were having difficulty in getting the pins into the gangway platform due to the swell moving the pontoon around. As a result the Captain declared the swell would make disembarkation unsafe for his passengers, and the decision to cancel was made around 10.20 -10.30 am.’

It is unfortunate that the Cruise Ship was unable to disembark, but we look forward to better seas and weather come spring for our next scheduled Cruise Day on the 19 September 2010. This will be the Pacific Jewel and the cruise is called Tongan Treasures. The ship will depart from Sydney Australia on`6 September, and return to the same port on 22 September.

Adventures abound on this fantastic cruise. One of the highlights will be visiting the location where the Mutiny on the Bounty took place in 1789. You’ll travel past Nomuka Island where Bligh visited the day before the mutiny occurred. You will also cruise past Tofua Island where Bligh and his loyalists landed. Along the way you will discover island gems across the pacific; historic Norfolk Island, fabulously friendly Fiji as well as breathtaking Tonga and French Noumea.

In December 2009, Pacific Jewel appeared on the horizon, offering two incredible firsts: an amazing high-wire circus and trapeze arena on the top deck and P&O Cruises largest spa afloat in the southern hemisphere. Our new Aqua Heath, Spa & Fitness Centre™ offers ocean-view treatment rooms for the ultimate in pampering. Experience P&O Cruises first ever celebrity chef at sea with the NEW Salt Grill by Luke Mangan restaurant.

Pacific Jewel sails year round from Sydney to the South Pacific and New Zealand.

We all have our fingers crossed that the weather and the seas will be kinder the next time one of these fabulous ships comes our way.

When Too Much Sport Is Never Enough

Queen’s Birthday Long weekend: Norfolk Island Interclub Challenge, 2010.

It’s a huge month of sport on the world stage – the Soccer World Cup, NRL State of Origin, Rugby Union Tests, Tennis French Open just finished and Norfolk is no exception with the “ Norfolk Island Interclub Challenge “ in which pride is definitely on the line.

What is it? It’s the ultimate challenge between all of the Norfolk Island Sporting Clubs, in each of their sports. That is:
Squash VS Golf VS Tennis VS Netball VS GAP (Gun club +Archery + Pistol Club). The competition is to see who is the ultimate, sportiest team !

The Bowls Club was in the mix as the sixth team but was a late scratching . (Maybe this is understandable as they do have the Commonwealth Games coming up soon!)

So - Game on!

The day started with anticipation at 9a.m. at the Golf Club.
We were in awe of the “elite athletes” assembled from each sporting code.

We teed off in groups of four and we cheered when our player started our day’s competition, by hitting her ball one whole metre down the fairway. The crowd packed on the golf club verandah was ecstatic! As netballers we aim to get as many points as possible, so we were so happy with our average of 11 balls per hole over four holes!

After four holes, there were two winners. The tennis team beat the netball team and the squash team beat the GAP team. To finalise the golf challenge, teams sent in their best putter.
Jo Kelly felt the pressure representing the Golf Club and Karen Menadue cleaned up for the Netball team – our biggest win of the day.

Next it was off to the squash courts for lunch and a squash and darts competition. We were really fast to sacrifice, (sorry girls), our four biggest hitters to play squash against the golf team. The golf team was so confident that they elected to play their joker card which allowed double points for a win.

The winners for Squash were the Golf team and a tie between the Tennis team and the GAP team.

The Darts competition brought out calls of “pub-rats” and “misspent youth”. The winners here were the Tennis team and the Squash team and Andrew Glenny won the Darts challenge, being the first to reach 500 points.

Our next move was to the Netball courts. The refreshments by this stage had definitely slowed some reaction times and made others feel a bit more invincible!
The Tennis team defeated the Golf team with some scary moves from Hose and some awesome defense from Amanda Cribb on goal shooter, Grub. With two sin bins, the pace was frenetic and bodies were definitely put on the line (e.g. Meg, Vanessa).
The Squash team had an outstanding game, winning against the GAP team with Tanya Randall from the Tennis team nailing the netball shooting challenge.

On we went to our final sport- Tennis. Here everyone played doubles and there were some great match ups. Our Netball girls – Toni, Michella, Debbie and Karen whipped the Golf team’s top seeds. (Payback from squash). The winners of the Tennis competition were the Squash team and a tie between the Netball and Golf teams.

The Tennis Club put on a great dinner and the “Inaugural Sports Challenge Presentation Trophy” was presented by Andrew Umlauft. Andrew was the organizer of this excellent event and we congratulate him and thank him for a really enjoyable day.
The final results were close –
The Tennis team won on 11 points; the Squash club were worthy runners-up on 10 points; the Golf team and GAP team tied on 5 points; and finally, the Netball girls were still looking fabulous on 3 points.

Everyone is looking forward to next year’s challenge.
Bring it on!

(Written by Suzanne Evans)

Anniversary (Bounty)Day on Norfolk Island

Well Anniversary (Bounty) Day is over for another year. But what a day it was.

The day dawned cold, overcast and windy. A friend said he was ‘in town’ about 5.30am and it was absolutely freezing. I wasn’t there quite that early but it was still quite fresh.

We all assembled down on ‘town pier’, the young, the not so young, all dressed in our Bounty gear, and what a sight it was. The sea ‘kar doo’ to launch a boat, but it didn’t matter. Mr & Mrs Steward and Captain Denham met the landing party, and the march from Kingston Pier began. It is wonderful to see all the visitors and the residents who don’t march lining the road, taking pictures and videos, and cheering everyone along.

First stop was the Cenotaph where the National Anthem was sung and wreaths were laid with help from some of our young school children, to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice at war. We then moved off again to walk down Quality Row to the cemetery, and the crowd followed us, snapping cameras all the way with friends in the crowd calling out greetings. At the cemetery the hymns ‘In the Sweet Bye and Bye’ and ‘Let the Lower Lights be Burning’ were sung, two of my favorite hymns. The prayer of John Adams was read, the Pitcairn Anthem sung, and wreaths were placed on ancestor’s graves by descendants of the Pitcairn Islanders.

From the cemetery it was just a short walk across the golf course to Government House where we had morning tea as hosts of the Administrator, the Hon. Owen Walsh, and Ms Walsh. There we caught up with friends and family we had missed earlier and waiting anxiously for the announcement of the ‘best dressed family’ trophy. The Administrator thanked all those involved with the day’s celebrations, and announced the Young family as the winners for 2010. While they are only a small family group the win was well deserved, and very well received by all present.

From Government House we all headed back toward the pier. The ‘kids’ had fun rolling down the hill, something that has been done by kids and some adults for decades.

The number of those walking in period costume was huge. I asked friends to ‘guestimate’ how many, and numbers ranged from 300 – 500. All I can say was there were plenty of salan (people) involved. Many enjoyed lunch in the compound, with grace being sung at 12.30pm, while others headed off to their own special places. Some went to Munnas and to the Salt House, some to the old hospital, and some like me to private homes, to share sweet wetls (food), laughter and good times with friends and family. By the end of the day, all agreed that another great day was had by all.

So now Bounty Day 2010 is over for another year. Let’s hope we always have this amazing celebration, and all who make the effort to dress up, to involve their children, and to cook our traditional foods for the picnic lunch will continue to do so.

See you all in 2011 for the 155th Anniversary Bounty Day.

By Jan Christian

10th Art in the Park

Norfolk’s 10th Art in the Park is in its final days at Kingston, opposite Slaughter Bay.

The exhibition closes on June 14 so take this last opportunity to go and have a look at the amazing creativity of the Norfolk Island people.

The most outstanding exhibit is ‘Improbobull’, a carving by Archie Bigg (our most famous poet) and his grandson James, complete with this own little fenced yard.

You will see the ‘chainsaw man’ by Kevin and Jill from KCIndustries, two amazing scarecrows from the Banyan Park kids, lots of exhibits from our NICS kids, including a ‘Mandella’ from the years 1-2, a ‘turtle’ fashioned from stone and plants, an Anson Bay Express and many others. There is a ‘living picture’ and a ‘moving picture’, spiders and fairies in Chimney Hill, octopus and spiders in trees, one of George Douran’s amazing and glamorous fashion outfits, and a Teddy Bear’s picnic, just to mention a few.

Many thanks again to Community Arts and all those associated with this event and especially to all those who had taken the time to make this event successful.

by Jan Christian

The Queens Batton comes to Norfolk Island

The Commonwealth Games baton made its 63rd stop on an epic round-the-world journey when it reached Norfolk Island on day 219 of the Queen’s Baton Relay.

Delayed in Tuvalu by two days, the baton was welcomed to the Island by the Administrator Mr Owen Walsh, Assembly members and the Norfolk Island Queen’s baton relay organising committee.

Community Services Minister Tim Sheridan, representing the Norfolk Island Assembly, received the baton at the Norfolk Island Bowling Cub.

He said the baton’s visit marked the 6th Commonwealth Games in which Norfolk Island has fielded competitors.

“The baton itself is an extraordinary piece of equipment and it looks really magnificent in Norfolk Island colours,” he said.

The Queen’s baton relay representative Ms Bianca Negri said the community spirit shown at the bowling club was the same spirit that athletes displayed at the Commonwealth Games.

Mr Denis Sterling from the Norfolk Island Amateur Sporting Association said the young people who had taken part in the relay and were representing their sports at the bowling club were the sports ambassadors of tomorrow.

Despite the rain and strong winds, sportsmen and women, children, Norfolk residents and tourists took the opportunity to watch the baton make its way from the airport down Taylors Road to the bowling club. Many had their photo taken with the baton.

The baton began its journey on October 29 last year, making its way from Buckingham Palace, England to Delhi, India for the start of the Games on October 3.

The 340-day marathon baton relay will see it travel more than 190,000km through 71 Commonwealth nations.

The baton relay is traditionally the curtain-raising event for the Commonwealth Games and was first conducted in 1958.

It symbolises the unity and shared ideals of the Commonwealth nations as they gather every four years for a celebration of sports and culture.

Passed from hand to hand, the baton carries a message from Her Majesty the Queen, which she will read at the starting ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.

The baton can capture images and sound as it travels so check out www.cwgdelhi2010.org/batonrelay2010 to see the baton’s visit to Norfolk Island.

RED HATTERS KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN

One lady in a Red hat and wearing a Purple outfit looks outstanding. To see over 70 ladies all at the same time, wearing that combination, is stunning. But then add ‘bling’ and badges and the effect is defiantly overwhelming! Norfolk Island has been treated this week to a small taste of what Red Hatter members get up to: that is … enjoying life to the full and enjoying sharing it too.

Our visitors have invaded with their various colourfully named ‘Chapters’ from different places in Australia, and include : ‘Ritzy Rosellas’ from Melbourne, ‘Scarlet Tops’ from Allandulla, ‘Novocastrian Red Ratbags’ from Newcastle, ‘Sarina Red Hat Belles’ from Brisbane, ‘Gympie Red Diamonds’, ‘Top Hats Darwin’, ‘Gorgeous Gussies of the Gateway’, and ‘Sarina Red Hat Belles’ from near Mackay. Queen Glorianna from the Ballarat LadyBirds enjoyed her visit so much last year that she returned to spread colour again this year. And guess what! She doesn’t want to go home!

A little about “Red Hatters”: It is a worldwide organization that was started by the inspiration of a poem written by Jenny Joseph from England in 1961, and called “Warning, When I grow old I shall wear purple”. The poem goes on to express the feelings that there should be no constraints on the enjoyment of life, and why wait for age to catch up on us before “making up for the sobriety of my youth”.

And that is what the visitors to the Island have been doing. The fun activities started with a street parade on Sunday starting at The Village, ignoring a few light showers and ending at the Markets. A Welcome Dinner was held on Sunday evening. Various entertainment and skits from visitors and locals made sure that it was a fun filled evening. The week has followed with a Champagne Party and Luncheon, tours, sight seeing, shopping, and a general desire by all Red Hatters to make the most of our relaxed and beautiful Island.

The Norfolk Island chapter ‘The Bounty Babes’, led by Queen Shirl the Purl, are grateful to all our visitors who have brightening our lives, and added a great deal of colour and cheerfulness to our Island.

Norfolk Island

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