From Anson Bay to Emily Bay, It's my final full day on Norfolk Island. The colour was magical today. I slept in reasonably late after walking all the way home last night. Several days ago I met a Fijian lady named Jipa when she offered me a lift home. She shouted me breakfast this morning at High Tide and, rather fittingly, I had the High Tide Breakfast. There was so much food I couldn't eat it all. Jipa is a single mum to an adopted son, and used to work at the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay before she moved to Norfolk. At the Sunday market I chatted with Trent about Pitcairn and then got a wooden key holder in the shape of Norfolk for Jo. One of my goals is to someday bring Jo to Norfolk; I've only told her about it a thousand times or more.
During my most recent trip to Norfolk, my plan was to fly Juliett at Anson Bay on my final day but I didn't make it out there, so I made it out there this morning and soared her high above the turquoise waters.
If Norfolk looks like a piece of fruit, the northwestern corner is most definitely the stem. I had a bit of a scare when Juliett seemed to be descending by herself. When it comes to flying my drone there's always a risk: when I flew her 3 km south of Pitcairn she was high above the sea. As with any other electronic gadget she can give out at anytime and there's no going out to sea to rescue her. I started to head back toward town but then I realized I forgot my leather Akubra hat so I had to walk all the way back to Anson Bay to retrieve it.
After my usual run of catching up with locals I ended up whiling away much of the early afternoon at Emily Bay. A gorgeous girl named Gabrielle would flatter me. What made her even more special is that she's a firefighter. She allowed me to take some nice photos of her.
A beautiful lady with a beautiful setting: nothing wrong with that. Then I gave her a big hug and thanked her for all her hard work and that I extend my respect to her fellow firefighters. I would eventually invite her to the barbeque we planned for later at Korin's home but she already had plans with friends. The colour at Emily Bay was gorgeous today and I couldn't keep my snap-happy finger off my camera.
After a few hours at Emily I ended up only a couple hundred meters away at Slaughter Bay, chatting to Emily. Along with Dave, Doosy, and Louci, I've seen Emily on all seven of my Norfolk visits.
I brought a lot of meat with me from Australia yet I had nobody to share with; I wasn't going to eat it all myself. After sitting with Doosy at the local for a bit, Korin would pick me up and we'd sit on his veranda with a beer. Korin's brother is Kaine and his fiancee is Kelly. Korin had the coolest way of proposing by making this sign and holding it up at the airport upon her return from New Zealand.
It's another of those "only on Norfolk" moments. Barbeque lamb ribs and kangaroo steak was on offer, and the latter was more popular because there are no kangaroos on Norfolk.
See, locals open their hearts and homes to me here so I return the favour by sharing whatever I have. It was a great time this evening!
Korin would eventually drop me at home and I really thought about just having a quiet one tonight, but later felt like I can't just sit at home on my final evening on Norfolk. I had to collect the pushbike stored at the Local so I put on my African shirt and walked into town. The League's Club was dark but the Lounge was open, so I sat and had a glass of wine with Debbie and Erika.
Trip #8 to Norfolk is already in the cards. Of course it depends on other plans but next time I'm definitely coming for two weeks and I could aim for Bounty Day. Sadly I'm leaving Norfolk tomorrow...again. I fall in love with this place more and more every time I visit. With 63 finds I remain the Bounteous Isle's top geocache finder; I just have to hope there's more caches next time. My 8th trip to the Rock awaits...
