In search of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet

We set out, after a slow start to the morning, and some mundane chores like washing, to explore the 100 Acre Wood. I was sure we would find some of A.A.Milne’s famous characters there. It turned out however that the NI version is actually the Hundred Acres Reserve and while there were some impressive Morton Bay Figs with their ‘flying buttresses’ and a plethora of birdlife as well as the tallest tree fern in the world, there was no Winnie, Piglet, Tigger, or even Eeyore. In fact, with the exception of the nomadic cow population and the feral chooks, NI is severely lacking in ground-dwelling animals. 

Once we had enjoyed the quiet wooded walk, the silence broken only by the terns flying in from the sea and resting briefly in the treetops, and been mesmerised by the broiling sea, viewed from a number of cliff-edge vantage points, we returned to the car and moved on to explore Bumbora Bay accessed via a very well-made board walk which took us to the rocky beach favoured by ‘boardriders’. 

Once we had satisfied our hunger for the sea, we returned to town in search of lunch. Apparently, if you don’t have lunch at midday on NI, you are in danger of missing out, so we quickly found that the closer it got to 2pm, the more limited were our options. Fortunately the good old Olive cafe was open until 2:30, and we availed ourselves of a coffee and village toastie. That hit the spot! 

After spending the remainder of the afternoon soaking up the sun in various sheltered locations around our cottage, reading and catching up on emails (internet coverage permitting!), we readied ourselves for the Island Fish Fry.  We drove ourselves to the location on the western side of the island, and were treated to a beautiful sunset, the first we have seen during our 4 days on the island, a delicious dinner of fresh fish and local salads, followed by a traditional coconut pie dessert, all the while to the accompaniment of a local musician. The highlight of the evening however, was definitely the young hula dance group providing a tribute to the Polynesian heritage of the Pitcairn Islanders who later came to NI. It was a fun and entertaining evening.