Rain, rain go away!

We woke to dark clouds this morning, and it wasn’t long before they were dropping rain on us. We had not had any real plans for today, so stayed indoors, read, chatted and relaxed, until finally the rain eased and we were lured out to find some lunch. 

We returned to the Golden Orb for lunch and, in the absence of two savoury muffins, we shared both a savoury muffin and a blueberry muffin. After satisfying our hunger we set out to find the only winery on the island - Two Chimneys Winery. 

Our host and vigneron, Rod, took us through the range of wines, which are mainly produced in Port Macquarie, NSW, using the limited crop of grapes he is able to produce on the island, in conjunction with New South Wales grown grapes. The wines were very nice and of course we each felt compelled to buy a bottle. 

With our bottles of wine in hand, we then needed to go back to the shops in Burnt Pine in order to find a suitable container to carry said wine onto the plane!  Back home again the sun was shining and I was feeling restless.  

It wasn’t long before I had decided that there was a lookout that I hadn’t scaled yet - Flagstaff Lookout down near the Kingston Jetty. Fiona opted to stay at the cottage, so I took a solo trip, driving down to Kingston and the old settlement. I walked to the end of the jetty, watching the incoming tide, before tackling the 200 steps which would take me to the top of Flagstaff Hill. 

Fortunately there were plenty of seats along the way and a total of four lookout points to break up the journey.  The sun was shining brightly by now, belying the miserable morning and the views were spectacular.  I visited each of the viewing platforms on both the way up and the way down, taking plenty of photos as I went. 

The lure of the beach proved too much for me and I quickly shed my shoes and took to the seashore, making my way along the sand towards Emily Bay. The waves were breaking on the reef, cascading off the rocks; people were snorkelling and children playing in the sand as I walked. I couldn’t resist trying to capture it all on my camera. 

As the tide was coming in, I returned to dry land and drove back to the cottage with one last, long, lingering look at the mesmerising waves and ocean landscape. 

We opted for dinner at the RSL again tonight and as the weather remained fine, we walked into town. It seems ridiculous that we can buy a meal for $20 at the club, yet we could not buy the ingredients from the supermarket to cook for ourselves for the same cost. It certainly is an incongruous existence here on Norfolk Island. 

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