Norfolk Island Retreat 2026 Diary
Dear Diary,
I’ve had the bestest time in such a long time that I thought I’d let you know all about it… best start at the beginning….
Thursday 09 July 2026
Left Townsville at the crack of dawn to fly to Brisbane.
The airport was having technical difficulties with the luggage belt not working. Passengers had to carry their bags down to manually hand them over to baggage claim. I was just excited that the flight wasn’t delayed. Hubs waited with me and it was nice to have some time together. Next time he has to come with me!
Flight was just like I like it… uneventful! I started a new book; When the Moon Hatched. It’s off to a good start. I’m looking forward to reading more on Retreat. Kristy and I have been really looking forward to reading while we’re traveling and at night’s on retreat. I’ve packed another book as well for when I finish this one!
Arrived in Brisbane and I’m so thankful that I was able to check my bags in and I don’t have to pick them up from the baggage claim and try and make it to the International Airport. It’s chaos at the International Airport. They’re renovating the terminal and the machines are down and it’s just chaos. Lucky for me I’m breezing through the terminal as I’m checked all the way to Norfolk Island.
I’m meeting Kristy in the boarding lounge. I can’t wait! It’s been six months since we were last together. She got engaged last night and I’m so thrilled for her. She’s found a good one and he’s super blessed to her have her in his life. It’s just wonderful all around. I’m sure she’ll keep it on the down-low while we’re on retreat.
We’ve managed to find each other. YAY! Yes, it was totally like a slow motion Baywatch run towards each other. Who am I kidding, we don’t run. We had a super healthy breakfast together (McDonalds) and caught up before heading to the gate. I’m sporting sunglasses now because I’ve been blinded by the bling!
We’re amassing a group of sewists at the boarding gate. It’s amazing. You can hear the laughter from the other end of the terminal. It’s so weird to meet people who you know, but you don’t know, you know. We’re an easy bunch to spot – bright clothes, bright smiles, and even brighter handmade bags! First time I’ve ever been with a group where there’s sewing machines getting on the flight with us.
Boarded our flight!!! Kristy and I have our books out and we’re ready to settle in for some quality reading time. We’re just having a quick chat about something super important while they get the plane ready for take off…
We’ve landed on Norfolk Island!!! It’s amazing flying over the ocean and then coming in to the island. This little rock in the middle of nowhere. It’s stunning. It’s green, there’s trees everywhere and I’m pretty sure I’ve just seen a cow near the runway. We didn’t end up reading our books, but I’m sure it’s just a once off and we’ll find time to read tonight.
Paradise Hotel is fabulous! The staff are so welcoming and amazing and just lovely. We were greeted by Tahni who I adore. The hotel set us up with a cookie (delicious!) and a mocktail as they ran through all the important information. They even took our bags to our rooms and popped our sewing machines in our sewing space. The sewing space is HUGE! It’s so much better than we were hoping for. It’s going to be such luxury to be sewing in this space for the next five days.
My room is super large and comfy (and clean which I love!). It’s going to be weird to have a room all to myself for a week… but I’m sure it’ll be great for getting this book finished!
We’re just going to pop out and pick up some supplies before dinner. We all know I don’t function well without Coke Zero! I was going to pack a carton to bring with me, but my Dad assures me I’ll be able to get Coke Zero cans on the island. (They’ve been to the island twice before so they’ve got a good idea about the place… even though when they were first on the island a whole lot of stuff had sold out… I’m sure it’ll be ok!)
Ok, so there’s no need to panic… the island appears to have sold out of coke zero cans. I’m sure it’ll be restocked real soon. I mean, just because everything has to come to the island via ship or aircraft doesn’t mean we’ll be without all week. There’s a shipping due in this week, I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. It.will.be.fine.
K and I have hired a van for the week. We’re calling it “Van Diesel” and referring to it as the Scooby Van. I’m the designated driver. I haven’t driven a van in years and we’re off to a cracking start. I accidentally popped our automatic transmission into manual mode and then left it in third for the first half of our trip. But it’s ok… the van sounds fine!
We’ve already established a few rules for the van:
- If someone is getting out of the driver’s seat or front passenger seat the van occupants must call out “Long drop!”. This has be instituted after our first disembarking in the supermarket carpark where I forgot that the van is much higher than a normal car and I fell out of the driver’s seat. I’m fine. I have a wonderful bruise coming up on the back of my thigh where I hit the wheel rim and I may have tooted from surprise, but other than that I’m fine.
- The front seat passenger has to remind the driver to wave to oncoming traffic. It’s an island custom which us city slickers are hopeless at remembering.
- When lost, it’s the obligation of someone in the back of the van to randomly remind the driver that it’s AUD$3.00 a litre for fuel on the island.
We’re having dinner at Paradise Hotel tonight. It was a two course meal – I had lamb shank on mash (it was delicious!) and passed on dessert. (I know, I don’t know who I am either! But sticky date pudding or pana cotta really aren’t my thing! I’m looking forward to more dessert options over the week – I love a good dessert!) I sat with some of the other campers (retreaters doesn’t sound right…) and had a great night! I haven’t laughed with new people in ages – don’t know why I was so nervous to meet new people! Everyone has lead such amazing lives – seriously, got lucky with this group, they’re wonderful!
We stayed up late talking so there’s no book reading, but I’m sure once I get to know everyone a bit better I’ll have plenty of time to read my book.
Friday 10 July 2026
I had a great night’s sleep. Out like a light. I totally starfished on the bed. (Hubs likely did the same back at our house!) This morning we’ve got a hot breakfast at Paradise and I’m looking forward to it. Nothing quite like starting the day with a hot breakfast and no dishes!
I slept in so I haven’t been able to pick up my book, but that’s ok because we have a free day today so I’m sure I’ll get some reading in. K and I have to do some running around for last minute preparations and we want to take some quilt photos around the island before everything kicks off.
We’ve got the van so we’ve asked people if they’d like us to run them into the main street when we head in. (Don’t tell anyone but I’m loving being the unofficial bus driver! Might have to see if I can get a bus driving gig back at home!) Apparently there’s a chocolate factory in town that does tours so we’re keen to get our chocolate on!
We found the chocolate shop! There’s no tour, but there were some yummy treats. (And ONE CAN of Coke Zero. I bought it!) I was surprised that K didn’t want to talk about her engagement and maybe get some chocolate samples for wedding favours… oh well, I’m sure she’s excited about being engaged.
Apparently the craft store, Reflections on Norfolk, is on the main street near the chocolate shop. I’m not sure if Suzanne knows we’re coming… but we’ll pop in and see her just in case.
I’d be lying if we said we didn’t spend any money in the craft store. There’s a great range of creative supplies and Norfolk specific things (like fabric). It’s a great place to stop and shop. We had a great time in there! We’re going to bring the ladies back to check it out during the retreat and Suzanne is coming to teach peeps to make a stuffed Norfolk cow.
The weather is amazing! Perfect day for some quilt photos. I haven’t finished a quilt in too long, so it’s all K’s quilts that we’ll be photographing. Someone suggested we pick up a map of the island, but seriously it’s such a small place how hard can it be to find where we need to go? We didn’t get a map, but we have kidnapped one of our retreat campers. Kaylea wanted to go to the chocolate shop – we took her there and now she belongs to us and is coming on all of our adventures.
Van Diesel is loving all these hills and my defensive driving techniques. We’ve seen so much of the island…. even with fuel being $3p/l. Pictures can’t do it justice. I may not have found the convict settlement we were looking for, but I did find the pacific ocean. You’re welcome!
They don’t have boat ramps on the island, so if they want to go fishing or offload cargo ships it all has to come by smaller boats that are loaded and unloaded via these cranes. It’s amazing. The colour of the water is just so beautiful. It makes me so happy to look at the ocean.
No time to be staring at the ocean, we’ve got quilt photos to be taking! While I haven’t finished a quilt in ages, I have contributed to a finished quilt. We designed an exclusive project for the retreat for those that wanted to make a memento of their time with us.
I made some traditional patchwork blocks perfect for fussy cutting, K designed some foundation paper pieced pine trees and our Canadian bestie, John (@ArtEastQuiltingCo), contributed a whale block. I made the patchwork and whale blocks and K made the pine trees and then quilted it and bound it for us. We brought it with us, but we’re not taking it home. Our goal is to give it to one of the campers.
While the ocean is beautiful it’s time to get back into Van Diesel and try and find those convict buildings… how hard can it be.
We’re all in the van driving randomly around the island (fuel is $3p/l) looking for where we’re supposed to be… we come around the corner and I look up and exclaim, out loud, “Oh my goodness it’s a BEAR!”
I literally stopped Van Diesel in the middle of the road and just marvelled at the bear. Now… in my defence… I was tired and I was thinking about how beautiful Norfolk Island was and how unlike home it is. I’d also had to go through the international terminal and customs to fly here. I thought I was in another country! A country that could have had bears!
This, what I now know to be a brown cow, looked just like a bear when I looked up. (I took the photo and it had moved it’s head up more so it looks even more like a cow and less like a bear, but still… it could have been a bear!)
My understanding passengers were totally supportive and didn’t make fun of me at all! K’s soon-to-be-husband even texted us a helpful tool for animal identification.
Needless to say, there’s no bears on Norfolk Island.
After our run in with the local wildlife we did finally make it to the place we’d set out for over an hour ago. It was stunning! (The word of the day is stunning!) We all piled out of Van Diesel and split up to take photos and have a look at the buildings.
While Kristy was off being all professional and stuff, I was busy taking selfies with islands.
I would later find out while on the Norfolk Island Tour that this island (called Phillip Island) was once decimated by rabbits (which were introduced to the island in 1800s) and in the 1980s the locals went over there and hunted them into extinction via various methods. Kinda sad if you like bunnies, but a great triumph for removing an invasive species and bringing the island back to balance. It also explains the “rare Phillip Island chocolate bunny” in the chocolate shop!
With quilt photos secured we headed back to Paradise to see if the Sydney peeps had gotten in ok. Found our way home rather quickly… turns out the place we were looking for was three turns from where were were staying.
With Sydney on board we were our full number. We all got on coaches and headed to the Bounty Bar and Grill for dinner. The food was so good, it was a two course meal. I had steak and frittes with vegetables followed by pana cotta. (I opted not to have sticky date pudding.) I was lucky enough to sit with a group of quilters from Canberra! Yay! Talk about making me homesick. (I’m now missing Raylee and wishing she’d come too!)
We got back to the hotel and I was shattered. Went straight to bed as tomorrow is the first official day of the retreat and we’ve got things to do! No time for reading, but that’s ok, once the retreat starts there’ll be heaps of time to sit and read while others sew.
Saturday 11 July 2026
Eek, slept in again! Need to get to the breakfast buffet before it’s gone. We’re doing the Island Life tour this morning before we all start sewing. I’ve missed my opportunity to read in bed this morning, but that’s ok there’s tonight for some quiet alone time.
The tour is amazing. Even though we went on an adventure (at $3p/l) we didn’t see half the stuff they showed us on the tour. This little island is jam packed with history. Every time I complain about my climate controlled, plumbed house and comfortable bed I’m going to remember those that settled this island. It is staggering to see what they achieved in the conditions they would have encountered and the tools they had available.
We had two mini buses of participants going around the island and each time we stopped to look at something you could just hear the laughter. Quilters are the best people. We’ve got people from the US with us – which blows my mind. What a great place to come and experience life in the southern hemisphere. We’ve got people from all around Australia, which is fabulous to hear about life from somewhere other than the tropics (where I live).
We finished with a two course lunch at Governor’s Lodge. I had lamb followed by a lemon tart. Both lovely. I got to sit near some quilty friends who’ve been in the quilt industry for over a decade; Peta (@shequiltsalot) and Kirsty (@bonjourquilts). They’re traveling with Cath who is an introvert. It’s proving a challenge to get her to open up, but I’m sure by the end of the retreat we’ll have gotten her out of her shell.
We’re heading back to the Paradise to kick off our sewing adventure. The room is HUGE and everyone has so much space to spread out. It’s wonderful. It’s funny that the room can be so full of laughter and noise and then the next minute there’s an industrious quiet that comes over it. I’ve been enjoying wandering around looking at what everyone is working on. It’s all so varied and amazing. People are just so talented. I love getting a glimpse into how others see the world and colour.
I’m also amazed at how much people were able to pack into their luggage and bring to the island. (Hasn’t stopped them from visiting the craft store though! I love me a quilter!) I packed a cross stitch project I’m hoping to start and finish on the retreat. It should be a quick win as I’m going to have heaps of time to just sit and work away on it. I can’t wait to get my photo taken at the end of the retreat with my finished project.
Tonight we’ve got our Welcome Meal at Governor’s to kick off the retreat. We had the room to ourselves which was lovely. The food was great and the dessert bar was a nice touch. Food has not been a problem on this trip. Between the hot breakfast, the plentiful morning and afternoon teas combined with yummy lunches and amazing dinners I’m going to go home three sizes bigger than my pants!
After dinner we had a little Scooby-Doo adventure. We took Kaylea out to see the stars, explore “the most haunted house in the southern hemisphere” and meet some locals.
Did you know that Norfolk Island is a gold-level dark sky site? I took this photo 👆 on my iPhone! While we were on the island the Milky Way was visible and it was amazing. Seriously stunning. God truly blessed us with the most amazing place to live!
We had such a good time together tonight. My sides hurt from laughing so much. The locals definitely know that quilters have come to town! We got back to the hotel late and then had to try and sneak back in quietly. Lucky for me I was able to pull myself together, park the van like a pro, and quietly walk back to my room. It’s late so I’m going to go straight to bed so I can wake up early and read in the morning.
Sunday 12 July 2026
It’s Sunday, which means church and I’ve got to get a move on! No time for reading, I’ve got to get dressed, have breakfast and then take myself and a small group of quilters to St Barnabas. I’m so thankful that we’re getting the opportunity to worship together. We stopped at the chapel on the tour yesterday and it is stunning! (There’s that word again! I need to get a thesaurus… )
I’ve come out to get in Van Diesel and it appears someone has moved him – he was perfectly parked when I left him last night! Oh well, at least he’s safe.
St Barnabas has the amazing rose stain glass window which I’m obsessed with. Apparently the chapel was designed by the William Morris School back in the UK. You can see the influence throughout the chapel. Made me wish I had some William Morris fabric with me to get a snap of it in the chapel.
The service was lovely and the locals really welcoming. I was fortunate enough to be able to catch up with a local couple that I’d never met, but had been a big influence in my life. My parents had their own business while I was growing up and they had cause to engage with an intellectual property (IP) lawyer. At the time IP was fairly new and as a kid I found it fascinating. My parents spoke so highly of the man who they’d been working with and about how great a lawyer he was and how IP was a thing to be protected. I loved it all. It was a big reason why I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be just like him. Well, after 40 years we got to meet in that chapel.
He and his wife now live on Norfolk Island. My parents have caught up with him again when they’ve been on the island and now I had the opportunity too. I was so thankful to be able to see them both and introduce myself. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways.
With Church done we headed back to the sewing room. I spent the day running people into the main street in Van Diesel and making sure everyone has everything they needed. It’s been so lovely to meet new people and share in their lives for a little bit.
We had a buffet dinner at Paradise so that we could sew, eat, sew again. Seems like I’m doing a lot of the eating bit with very little of the stitching bit. But I’m having so much fun doing it. Another late night with the sewing space open till 11pm. I could barely keep my eyes open by the time I made it back to my room. I’ve just realised I haven’t touched my book yet! It’s ok, tomorrow is all day sewing with the progressive dinner in the evening. Heaps of time to stitch and read!
Monday 13 July 2026
Slept in again. Whoops! I’m just so blissfully tired that sleeping is so wonderful. No time to read my book, I need to get down to the restaurant to say hi to Sam and Rich the Egg Man! (Sam’s been at the hotel for over 10 years and he’s great. Very lovely and funny. He makes sure we’re all looked after. Rich is the man in charge of eggs. Does me right every morning with runny eggs!)
We’re getting into our groove here on the island. Kristy is just so amazing with our campers. She’s so focused on making sure everyone is looked after and that they’ve got what they need. I’m envious of how at ease she is with everyone. They all love her (as they should, she’s amazing!) and so do I.
I’m spending my days doing the logistics things… I run people into the main street in Van Diesel. Help people get tours booked if they want to go on them. Follow up with the technical stuff. I’m busy and I love it. My face is really starting to hurt from laughing so much. We’ve had our first retreat finished block today from Ginabeth. I don’t know how she powered so quickly through that whale – it took me a week at home to make mine!
Lunch was funny today. We found out that Alyssia, one of the amazing staff members at Paradise, is from Switzerland and they’re playing in the World Cup quarter final at midday. K and I have made it our mission to make sure she’s not interrupted while it’s on so she can keep an eye on the game. She’s been so amazing to us while we’ve been here it’s the nice thing to do to help her cheer on her home team. (It didn’t go well…. eek!)
There’s so many international travellers here working on the island. It’s fabulous to stop and chat and here a bit about their home and what brought them to the island. Makes me think I squandered my youth – who knew you could travel the world working in these amazing places.
There is literally no Coke Zero cans on this whole island. Every time a camper ventures out they report back on whether they’ve had any luck finding any. It’s become like a group treasure hunt. A couple of the wonderful ladies have actually surprised me with cans of Coke Zero that they’ve found. Seriously, I nearly cried. I haven’t drunk this much full strength Coke in years. (I know, I know, I should kick it to the curb but I don’t drink hot drinks (no coffee, tea or hot chocolate) and I don’t drink juice or alcohol – this is my one vice and I’m keeping it. Make peace with that!)
Tonight we’re doing a Progressive Dinner. It’s been funny trying to explain a progressive dinner to our American friends. I thought they were a thing all around the world… maybe in the 70s??? Basically you do a 3 course meal where each course is served at a different house by a different family. The idea is that you get to experience a little bit of island life as a local would.
It was an interesting experience. I’m glad I did it so I can tick it off my Norfolk Island bucket list. I did find out that I love a good honey mustard chicken and the coconut bread. The coconut bread is a local dish and they serve it with main meals. It’s such a contrast to have the sweet of the bread with the savoury of the honey mustard chicken. I could have been happy just to eat the bread loaf and nothing else. [Gluten free coconut bread recipe: Click here]
Another late night as the sewing space was open till 11pm. I literally fell into my bed and slept like the dead. Tomorrow I will make a conscious effort to read my book and stitch on my project.
Tuesday 14 July 2026
Breakfast! I am skating so close to the wind with missing breakfast each day. My bed is just too enjoyable. No book time this morning, but I have all day, I’ll crack that spine today!
I’m loving how comfortable the campers are with the island and how the island has embraced us. People are happy to venture away from the sewing room and do tours as well as renting their own cars to get around. Some are walking into main street from the hotel and just enjoying the local restaurants. I love seeing what they bring back with them and hearing about their adventures.
The island has so much to offer. We’ve had people doing eco-tours, house tours, wildlife experiences and so much more. I’m loving that they feel confident to use their time how they want. It’s like a real little choose your own adventure pace here on the island.
K is teaching people that art of foundation paper piecing. We’ve got such a range of skills here that it’s fun seeing people learn new things and watching others share their knowledge. We’ve got the wonderful Leeah who’s never foundation pieced before and now she’s finishing a quilt project of FPP that she brought with her. (I’ve even given her a lesson on fussy cutting and she’s nailing it like a pro!) Gillian and Rana are childhood friends who’ve come on retreat and Rana is teaching Gillian to patchwork. Gillian owns a piece of my black and white loving heart as she’s using black and white prints only in her project. She’s crushing it and has learned so much.
Suzanne from the local craft store popped in today to teach some of the ladies how to make a Norfolk Island cow. I had FOMO when I saw their finished cows!
I’ve been busy today doing more of the logistics. I did get a chance to sit down and do some cross stitching though! Yay! My little project has started. I’ll have this done in no time!
Tonight we’re all off to a traditional Norfolk Island Fish Fry. The fish fry is hosted at a place that has the most amazing ocean views. We were there just as the sun was setting. It’s spectacular. Had to snap a selfie with the bestie. She’s hardly mentioned her engagement at all. I tried to sell her on this as a place to get married with the sunset in the background.
I’ve been saving myself all week for this dinner. I don’t eat a lot of seafood and so I’ve not opted for fish on any of the meals prior to this one so I can have fish tonight. It did not disappoint. It was so fresh and not at all oily. It was served with coconut bread (yum!) and two other local dishes; pilhi and ana. I am a fan of it all. (If I’ve confused the pilhi and ana in the photo below I’m sorry – I tried to work out which was which to no avail.) It was all so lovely and I could have easily gone back for more. Dinner was followed by the traditional Norfolk Island coconut pie. Heaven!
The meal was followed by a showcase of traditional island song and dance. The dancers were amazing and one of them was the daughter of Tahni from Paradise. (Small island!) I’m telling you when they do the over the shoulder wave dance move I would have followed them anywhere – the boys on this island stand no chance!
With full bellies we headed back to the sewing room. Another late night as the space is open until 11pm. Word had gotten out about our Scooby-Doo adventure and how amazing the stars were so we did another quick trip to the “most haunted house in the southern hemisphere”, the cemetery and some star gazing. This time we took Lori (from America) and Kirsty.
We were so excited to be able to show Lori the southern cross and not any ghosts. With our adventure done we headed back to the hotel and to bed. It’s so late I don’t have the energy to read tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow!
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Whoa, it’s our last sewing day today! How did that happen? I thought we had more days here. Better get my butt to the breakfast table. I’ve overslept again… but you know, they know me now so I can always get a hot hash brown.
We’re doing a mix of sewing, packing up the room and final runs into the main street as we all panic about getting souvenirs.
Tahni has been an absolute legend and organised for those of us interested a glass bottom boat tour of Emily Bay. I am obsessed with Emily Bay. It’s this protected little cove with a beautiful beach and the water is so crystal clear.
I spent the entire week hanging out to get down to the bay and go for a swim. Unfortunately the closest I got was wading in the water as we had too much to do. It was amazing – so cool and clear and just calm. I will be totally packing stuff for the beach on our next visit! After my little paddle we boarded the glass bottom boat.
It was the perfect day for it. The weather was amazing, the water was calm and I was so ready for some time on the ocean.
We saw a turtle (which isn’t common), a sea snake (also not common to see), so many brightly coloured fish and we learned more about the conservation by the locals and the history of the area. I am seriously in love with Norfolk Island. We had such a great time on the tour.
With the tour over we headed back to the sewing room and started on the task of packing everything up. Looks like I’ll be adding to my WIP list with this cross stitch…
While I might not have gotten my cross stitch finished, there’s still time on my book. I can read tonight and then we’re on flights tomorrow. I’ll have it finished before I get home!
We’ve got dinner tonight at Governor’s and K and I have organised a little presentation where we’re going to give away our wall hanging and collect all the swap fabrics to make into little fabric sample packs for our last day together.
The meal was really good. I opted for pana cotta instead of the sticky date pudding for dessert. We got to hear stories from our campers about why they chose the fabrics they did to bring for the swap. There were tears and laughs and hugs all around. I was really humbled at how amazing our group is and how they’d all had such unique experiences while on the island. I’m really going to miss being able to just hang out with these amazing ladies when we all get back to real life.
Late night tonight getting everything packed and ready for leaving tomorrow. K and I were joined by Kaylea and Leeah to get all the fat quarters cut up and bundled into camper charm packs. It’s such a cool mix of fabrics that all have such wonderful tales attached to them now. Must remember to pop a pack in my suitcase so I can sew a little something to remember my trip.
Thursday 16 July 2026
Last hot breakfast! I’m gonna miss my egg man and saying hello to Sam in the mornings. Sam is a Coke Zero fan and so I’m going to surprise him with 2 cans that I’ve had stashed in my room fridge all week. It’s the least I can do as he’s looked after us all so well this week.
We’ve got to fill up Van Diesel today and return him. Fuel is now AUD$3.56 per litre as they’ve just had the fuel tanker to the island to refill everything and it’s the first ship impacted by the Iran war. Thankfully I’ve been a really economical driver and it only cost AUD$111 to put in half a tank of fuel.
We have one last adventure today. K and I are taking Kaylea to Captain Cook Lookout. It’s the spot where he’s rumoured to have landed on the island. It’s been wonderful weather all week so this should be a great time to go and see it.
The view was amazing! I just can’t get enough of this island. Seriously, I think I could live here. Shame it’s time to go to the airport and fly home…
I’ve had the best time. It feels like it’s over before it’s even started. We were so nervous in the lead up to the event. Worried that no one would want to come. Worried that we wouldn’t be able to meet the needs of our campers. Worried that people would have a horrible time. Our overthinking brains were having a field day with it. But now we’re at the end we’re wondering why were were worried. It was a blast!
I haven’t finished my book BUT there’s a 3 hour flight back to Brisbane and K and I have been together all week and we’ve got nothing left to talk about so I’ll be sure to get a big chunk of this book knocked over. Maybe K will even be willing to talk about her engagement… she’s yet to really show off that ring of hers.
I did some last minute shopping before we left the island – forced in part because I chose that day to wear a white shirt and it has bucketed down rain. I popped into Wunna T’s, which is a screen printing place, and ordered one of their exclusive Norfolk tshirts. They printed it up for me and I came back and got it after checking in at the airport. (They’re located across from the airport.) I love this shirt so much – it appeals to the 80s kid in me as it’s giving off Goonies vibes. [Side note: Since coming home our 14yo son has taken possession of this shirt. He rocks it much better than I do!]
I am kicking myself that I didn’t pick up a copy of the Norfolk Island Cookery book as there were a couple of standout local dishes that I would love to make at home. Will have to see if I can order one to be posted here. Or just get a copy when I go back again… K and I are already talking about the 2027 retreat!
Friday 16 July 2026
I’m home. I didn’t get any of my book read between Brisbane and Norfolk, but I did get to read some between Brisbane and Townsville. I nearly missed my flight – they were looking to pull my luggage off the flight when I got to the gate! I spent the entire flight thinking I’d be that person that’d talked about on the news as nearly missing the flight, making the flight and then the flight crashing.
I slept like the dead last night. It was so lovely to be home again. I’m a little bit sad today knowing that our Sydney bound friends are still on the island and flying out today. I hope they get off the island and home again safely.
I made so many amazing memories the past week. I’m still laughing now just thinking about them. The boys are jealous they didn’t get to come and K and I have already messaged to confirm we’re doing it again in 2027.
Maybe in 2027 I’ll get this cross stitch and book finished?
