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Day 1: Depart Brisbane for Norfolk Island & Welcome Island Fish Fry
Our Norfolk Island adventure begins with our included group flight from Brisbane to Norfolk Island. On arrival, we’ll receive a warm local welcome before transferring to our accommodation at the South Pacific Resort, nestled amongst lush subtropical gardens in the heart of Burnt Pine.
After time to settle in and relax, we come together this evening for a memorable Welcome Dinner on the western side of the island at the wonderful Island Fish Feast Dinner.
Perched on the clifftop above Anson Bay, we’ll enjoy an eagle-eyed view of the tiny crescent-shaped beach and the magnificent expanse of ocean stretching to the far horizons. Dinner showcases paddock-to-plate freshness, including local fish prepared the traditional island way.
Adding to the atmosphere, talented Tahitian-style dancers will entertain us with singing and dancing, setting the tone for a wonderful evening of fun, friendship and relaxation. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet your fellow travellers and your friendly Great Value Holidays host.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Welcome Dinner
Day 2: Discover Norfolk Tour & Progressive Dinner Experience
This morning we begin our Norfolk Island experience with the Discover Norfolk Tour, an ideal introduction to the island. We’ll travel around the main points of interest while learning about Norfolk’s geography, settlement history and daily life.
Our local guide will share fascinating stories of the island’s early Polynesian settlers, convict era and the Pitcairn Island descendants who continue to shape modern Norfolk culture.
This evening, we enjoy the much-loved Progressive Dinner Experience, providing a wonderful opportunity to meet local residents and experience the real Norfolk lifestyle.
We’ll visit several lovely island homes, where our hosts will welcome us with home-cooked food showcasing the goodness of fresh island produce. Relax, chat with your fellow diners and enjoy the stories shared by your island hosts as they reveal their passion for their little island paradise.
A complimentary glass of wine or juice accompanies the main course, with tea and coffee served with dessert.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 3: Foundation Day Re-enactment & Celebrations
Today we enjoy a very special Foundation Day experience, commemorating Norfolk Island’s first British settlement, established in 1788 by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King. As this important public holiday unfolds, we travel to beautiful Emily Bay, where a moving First Fleet landing re-enactment brings the island’s history vividly to life.
The celebrations continue with beachside lunches and banquets accompanied by live entertainment. We’ll also enjoy historical talks and displays providing insight into the realities of early convict life.
Community gatherings and performances by local school students add a heartfelt touch to the celebrations, creating a meaningful and memorable day.
For many Norfolk Island families with First Fleet ancestry, Foundation Day is a deeply significant celebration of heritage and history.
After a full day of events and celebrations, we return to our hotel this evening for dinner.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island Meals: Breakfast, Morning Tea, Foundation Day Lunch & Dinner
Day 4: Island Markets & Convict Kingston Tour
This morning we enjoy return transfers to the Island Markets, where there is time to browse local handicrafts, artwork, souvenirs and home-grown produce. It’s a wonderful opportunity to support local artisans and discover something truly unique to Norfolk Island.
Later today, we explore World Heritage-listed Kingston on the Convict Kingston Tour.
Walking through one of Australia’s most significant convict sites, we’ll learn about the harsh realities of life during both the first and second penal settlements. The ruins, cemetery and historic buildings tell powerful stories of hardship, resilience and survival.
We’ll finish by discovering how Norfolk Island became home to the descendants of the infamous Bounty mutiny.
The remainder of the afternoon is at leisure before we enjoy dinner at the hotel.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 5: Optional Morning Tour or Shopping, Cyclorama, Island Culture Tour & Murder Mystery Dinner
This morning, choose how you’d like to spend your free time.
OPTIONAL TOUR OR SHOPPING: Explore the charming boutiques and local stores of Burnt Pine, with plenty of opportunities to browse island crafts, souvenirs and duty-free bargains. Norfolk Island is not subject to Australia’s GST, making it well known for GST-free shopping and great-value bargains.
Alternatively, join a guided tag-a-long tour of the Kingston Pier Area and No. 10 Quality Row, taking us behind the scenes to reveal additional stories from the museum collection and Norfolk Island’s fascinating history.
No. 10 Quality Row was built as the residence for the Foreman of the Works and completed in 1844. Its first inhabitants, Thomas Seller and Robert Orford, were responsible for the building programmes in Kingston.
As the house with the most original fabric, it was beautifully restored to this period in the 1980s. From 1856 until 1890, Isaac Christian and Miriam Young lived in the house before handing it over to the Church of England for use by its chaplains.
In 1926, Ernest Stephenson, Registrar and Collector of Customs, lived there. The house then became the residence of the Official Secretary to the Administrator and included local Charles Potts Buffet.
From 1960 until 1984, it was home to police sergeants on the island. In 1985, visiting Systems Analyst Phil Munnings and his family lived there. The house was subsequently restored and opened as a house museum in 1985.
This tour also includes a Museum Pass, providing multiple entries to all museums at any time during your stay.
In the early afternoon, we visit the spectacular Cyclorama, home to a stunning 360° panoramic painting that continues to impress with its remarkable “wow” factor. The artwork brings to life the Bounty mutiny and the history of the Norfolk Island people.
We then enjoy the Island Culture Tour, celebrating Norfolk’s unique customs, language and traditions. Learn about the Norf’k language, family life and the strong sense of community that defines island living.
Tonight brings plenty of fun and laughter with the interactive “Who Killed the Surveyor?” Mystery Dinner.
Enjoy a delicious meal while following clues, characters and stories throughout this theatrical and light-hearted evening. Step back in time to 1859 — three years after the arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856.
The scene is set upon arrival as you dine in Kingston’s elegantly restored No. 9 Quality Row building, when available.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 6: Norfolk Today, Taste of Norfolk & Bounty Show and Dinner
This morning we join the Norfolk Today Tour, discovering how Norfolk Islanders live in the 21st century and what makes life on this tiny South Pacific island possible. How is petrol and gas brought to the island? How is the island powered? This fascinating behind-the-scenes experience allows us to meet local residents and discover how Norfolk Island contributes to worldwide weather monitoring. We’ll also visit the community radio station.
Next, our Taste of Norfolk Tour introduces us to some of the island’s passionate local producers.
We’ll meet a local salt maker, taste a brilliant blend of Norfolk teas and visit a local beekeeper. We’ll also enjoy a cooking demonstration and tasting of traditional dishes handed down by Tahitian foremothers, including the opportunity to taste local green banana fritters.
This evening, we attend the Bounty Show and Dinner, a lively cultural performance featuring music, storytelling and humour. The show brings Pitcairn heritage to life and is accompanied by a delicious island-style meal.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 7: Colleen McCullough’s Home, Glass Bottom Boat & Commandants Dinner and Show
Following breakfast, we visit the property of the late Colleen McCullough, the world-renowned author of 24 books who called Norfolk Island home for almost 36 years. Today we have the opportunity to see into her world. Colleen and her husband, Norfolk Islander Ric Robinson, created a luxurious hideaway and maintained their privacy to ensure Colleen had the perfect environment for her writing. Some of her most powerful titles were created in this much-loved sanctuary. Her beloved property, “Out Yenna”, is now open to visitors and we’ll be escorted through her magnificent home, where we can view Ric and Colleen’s priceless collection of artefacts gathered during their travels around the world. We’ll see where her books were researched and where she worked into the wee hours, creating the incredible tales that have sold in their millions in so many different languages.
This afternoon, Christian’s Glass Bottom Boat takes us on a cruise within the lagoon of Emily and Slaughter Bays. Norfolk Island has the second southernmost coral reef in the world and attracts a diversity of marine life. From the crystal-clear, pristine waters of the lagoon, we’ll have the opportunity to view beautiful coral gardens as well as a wide variety of colourful fish.
Tonight we enjoy the Commandants Dinner and Show, an evening of great entertainment, delectable food and plenty of fun. This factual yet entertaining dinner theatre provides a fascinating insight into Norfolk Island’s history. The cast of actors will take us on an entertaining journey back in time. We’ll hear the Commandants’ stories about the notorious convict settlements on Norfolk Island and how convicts were treated by sadists and reformers. Listen to a chilling account of one of the infamous rebellions and discover how the Commandants and their families adapted to life in a Norfolk Island penal colony, recreating a little piece of England in the Pacific. Explore their great challenges, impressive successes and shameful secrets.
The evening includes a special three-course dinner menu of traditional English fare to complement the theatrical setting — hearty, wholesome British tucker fit for a Commandant and his good lady wife. Fortunately, it is prepared by free men in a modern kitchen rather than a poor convict over a wood stove! The Commandants’ Dinner & Show promises an evening of great entertainment, delectable food and plenty of humour.
Accommodation: South Pacific Resort, Norfolk Island. Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Day 8: Optional Sirius Museum & Pier Store Tour or Shopping, then Return to Brisbane
This morning, choose to enjoy some final free time exploring the charming boutiques and local stores in Burnt Pine. Alternatively, join a guided tag-a-long tour of the Sirius Museum and Pier Store, taking us behind the scenes to uncover additional stories from the museum collection and Norfolk Island’s history. The Sirius Museum is dedicated to HMS Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet, which was wrecked on Norfolk Island in 1790. Among the objects on display are a one-tonne anchor, carronades, cannonballs and delicate pieces from the Officer’s Quarters. More than 6,000 items have been recovered from the wreck site, which lies approximately 100 metres away on Slaughter Bay reef. The reasons why Sirius was at Norfolk Island and the circumstances surrounding the wrecking are fully explored, together with the words of eyewitness accounts. A 20-minute video, “Search for the Sirius”, tells the fascinating story of the recovery of the objects during the 1980s.
The journey of the First Fleet is also celebrated within the museum. A computer contains biographies of all those who landed at Botany Bay in 1788, while a unique First Fleet Wall provides the opportunity to view the names of everyone who made the journey. Visitors can purchase and have mounted on the Wall a timber disc engraved with the name of a First Fleeter and can also view a book containing a page for each First Fleeter. The Pier Store Museum tells the story of the current, or Third Settlement, and the people of Norfolk Island — the descendants of the Bounty mutineers. Downstairs, the story begins with the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty and the discovery of Pitcairn Island by the mutineers. Life on Pitcairn and the eventual resettlement to Norfolk Island in 1856 are explored. A listening post features fascinating recordings of the Norfolk language. Objects include items from the Bounty, including a cannon, kettle and ironstone platter, as well as objects from Pitcairn Island, including a Codex of Laws, wooden carvings and Pitcairn Bibles. Upstairs, displays continue to highlight aspects of Norfolk Island’s history and culture, including Anniversary (or Bounty Day), the Melanesian Mission, Religion, Domestic Life, Industry and Agriculture, Whaling, Tourism and Education. Artefacts on display include historical weavings, items from the Melanesian Mission and whaling implements.
After lunch, and following a wonderful holiday filled with history, culture, local experiences and island hospitality, we prepare for our return flight to Brisbane. We arrive home with wonderful memories of an unforgettable Norfolk Island holiday.
Meals: Breakfast
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