Norfolk Island Travel Guide

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia. Together with two neighboring islands, it forms one of Australia’s external territories. It is a very small island with a total area of about 35 sq km (14 sq mi). The capital is Kingston.

Norfolk Island was first colonized by East Polynesians. Later, the British Empire added it as part of its settlement of Australia. The island served as a convict penal settlement in the eighteenth and nineteenth century for almost seventy years. The island was also uninhabited for a while, until permanent civilian residence on the island began. In 1913, the UK handed Norfolk over to Australia as an external territory.

The evergreen Norfolk Island pine is a symbol of the island and thus pictured on its flag. Native to the island, the pine is a key export for Norfolk Island, being a popular ornamental tree in mainland Australia.

Being the external territory of Australia, the island uses Australian Dollar as its currency. The approximate exchange rate is 1, 4 Australian Dollars for 1 US Dollar. The major credit cards and traveler’s cheques are also accepted widely.

The Norfolk Islands use type I sockets, as in Australia. You need to bring a travel adapter to fit the proper socket type. Check out the above-linked page to see the photos and other useful information. The standard voltage is 230 V.  Many of your devices may need a step-up transformer to match the electrical voltage.

Taxi service is available on the island. However, you have to book a cab in advance. There is also no public transport in Norfolk. So, the best option is to rent a small car. There are so many rent cars on the island, in fact, that people say, there are more rental cars than residents on the roads.

Cars on Norfolk Island drive on the left side of the road. And also, you need to watch out for cows, as they walk freely on the island, except for the town center. If you hit a cow, you will have to pay a fine.

October 5, 2016 1:45 pm Published by Salil Jha