Norfolk Island – the Gods are angry!

Having broken the First Commandment of Cruising (Thou shall not cruise south of Brisbane in Winter), the Gods are angry with us. For those who don’t believe in Gods, blame the deepening low pressure system which has developed to the north of New Zealand. It looks like we will be in it’s grip for another 24 hours.
During the night, the ship’s movement told me that we would not be landing on Norfolk Island in the morning. They have a floating pontoon on the Island which is lowered into the water from the existing wharf – but it could not be lowered today because of the sea swell. (MEMO to P&O AUS – it is probably not a good idea to schedule port stops at Norfolk during the Southern Hemisphere Winter).
But, our Captain gave us a good close look at the Island – circling it twice before proceeding towards Nuku’alofa. One positive that has come out of this is - how many people in the World can claim to have circumnavigated Norfolk Island in a cruise ship??

Early morning arrival at Norfolk Island. Ever hopeful – we did the usual things prior to a Port stop. We arose before sun-up, had breakfast, etc- got our tender tickets early to beat the crowds – but it wasn’t to be!!!

A very brief encounter with what looks like a very nice island – we may fly back sometime and spend a week here.

EDIT – it is now almost 4 weeks later, and we are on our return leg of this cruise to Sydney. The weather is very calm, blue skies and a sea as flat as a mill pond! What a shame it was not like this on our way out.