Norfolk Island

Norfolk is a tiny island in the South Pacific ocean just two hours flight away [1456 kms] from Brisbane. It is approx 35 sq km in size and an Australian territory. This is where we decided to go for a holiday to chill out - with nothing special on the agenda.
I took my camera gear along although photography was not the main intention.
The majority of the volcanic island sits approximately 100 metres above sea level, rises to 320 metres at the summit of Mt Pitt. To visit the beaches you drive downhill to see level. Sea birds are always to be found near the cliffs.  The islanders are a friendly lot and the island has plenty of history. The climate is wonderful (never rises above 24 degrees or falls below 10 degrees C) and the drive to any destination is but short. In my mind you can't go wrong if you choose this place as your holiday destination.
Surrounded by rocky cliffs with tall Norfolk Island pine trees & turquoise blue waters all around there are plenty of opportunities for seascapes. We enjoyed picnic lunches & evening BBQs along the shore and on some very scenic spots. I always carried the camera gear along.

There are plenty of other photo opportunities around the island. I tried my hand for the first time at seascapes & photographed some of the ruins - a welcome relief as I was carrying only the wide angle lens and a tripod instead of long heavy lenses most of the time.

I did some bird photography. If you are ready to go off the beaten track i.e. ready to climb down narrow tracks along the cliffs you can have access to many little beaches and vantage points for seascapes. Some of these are only accessible at low tide and you have to be aware of the tide timings. One of them "Crystal Pool " is accessible by a steep narrow track and clearly sign posted - 'dangerous beyond this point - do so at your own risk' - I tried going there and almost made it but had to beat a hasty retreat as the tide had started coming in.
Another thing you will see only on Norfolk Island is the large number of feral chickens. They have been running wild for a while now and there are hundreds of them.  The roosters are pretty impressive and some of them almost resembling their ancestors [Red Jungle Fowl - gallus gallus].

I spent quite some time trying my luck with seascapes and I found it to be very pleasant and peaceful way of spending time.

 From the cliff tops I tried photographing birds in flight [BIF] and for seascapes I tried long exposure photography.
More about them in separate blogs.
As I said before photography was not the main purpose of this trip and I reached for the DSLR only rarely.
Many photos here have been shot with a smart phone camera [motog 3rd gen] and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
It was very handy and the exposures were good.
Watch this space for more on BIF photos and long exposure seascapes.