A few nights working on Norfolk Island
I’ve just returned from a short trip working on Norfolk Island. I’ve now had three short trips to the island in three years. While I’m not at liberty to share what I was doing, I can share what I ate!
The first trip was in 2019. The second in 2020 before COVID-19 struck. I also shared some thoughts from my first trip here.
COVID-19 has impacted travel to and from the island, with Qantas taking over most flights instead of Air New Zealand.
No butter on Norfolk Island
We discovered soon after landing that there was no butter on the island. Because of COVID-19 freight supplies had become unreliable and there had not been a delivery of butter. While the island is replete with cattle, the cattle are for beef and not for dairy products. Prior to the legislative requirements for the pasteurisation of milk, there was an abundance of fresh milk, cream, and butter. Now, most island residents rely on UHT milk.
This meant my usual travel breakfast of Eggs Benedict was not possible without butter for the hollandaise sauce.
Monday dinner
“The Bowlo” The Bowling Club Bistro
Taylors Road, New cascade Road, Burnt Pine
Tuesday breakfast
The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Tuesday lunch
The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Tuesday dinner
The Garden Restaurant and Bar
70 Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Shortridge
Wednesday breakfast
Golden Orb Bookshop Café
Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Wednesday smoko
36F Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Prinke makes the best coffee on the island.
Wednesday lunch
Juddway
36 Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Wednesday dinner
Bounty Bar & Grill
Douglas Drive, Burnt Pine
Thursday breakfast
The Olive Café
Taylors Road off Taylors Road, Burnt Pine
Thursday lunch
Links to the places on Norfolk Island I ate at or bought food from
Bowling Club Bistro
The Olive Cafe
The Garden Restaurant and Bar
Golden Orb Bookshop Café
Juddway
Bounty Bar & Grill
Prinke eco store
The damage
So, I know what you’re thinking, how much weight did Gary put on over the three nights away?
Would you believe I weighed in at roughly the same weight I left?
I know right! Pretty amazing. God is good. I think it comes down to the amount of standing and walking and other activity. At my regular job with all the teleconferences and video teleconferences it’s like I’m growing my COVID-19 arse like some sort of weird science experiment.
Final thoughts on Norfolk Island
- Have you been to Norfolk Island?
- What did you think?
- Would you be able to cope for three days without butter?
- What’s your favourite travel breakfast?
Acknowledgements
Work travel always requires support from work colleagues and I am always grateful for their help and assistance.
hey gary! just letting you know that i LOVE your recipes, almost as much as i love butter!! between you and me, sometimes i just get a block of butter and eat it, as you do.
if you could make a recipe featuring butter, i would love you even more!!
keep it up and stay buttery
xoxo sammie butterford
Thank you for your tips! I am currently on NI and will now be having one of those prawn and crab rolls from Juddway – tomorrow’s lunch sorted! Cheers Gary!
My pleasure. Enjoy your time on Norfolk Island.
I have gone weeks without butter. Like you, I like eggs for my travel breakfast, and really any kind of breakfast. Also I love a good slice of bread too especially sourdough 😛
I don’t know how you can do weeks without butter, Mabel. I had extra butter tonight because I was craving it after chatting with friends at work about my love of it 😊
Well, how about this, Gaz. I went most of 2020 without butter. Then towards the end I succumbed to putting butter with garlic on sourdough and warming it up in a pan most days as small snack 😄
That’s much better. A better way to be 😊
I have stopped eating butter garlic bread for a few weeks now. But the butter calls… 😂
🤣🤣🤣 🧈🧈🧈
😂😂
So interesting about the butter situation! I wonder if you could have brought butter with you? The food on NI is really good, especially considering a lot of it is grown there. I bet the chips were fried in beef dripping!
If I have to return later in the year, I’ll check before I travel and will make enquiries if I can bring butter 😊
Wow some serious good eating there for you Gary without the butter of course. I was going to ask about margarine but I see you have answered that to one of your followers.
Thanks, Sue. It really was very good.
You ate very well indeed, what a shame sans butter. Still very lovely food offerings which help to ensure work goes smoothly. The crabmeat and prawn roll are definitely a highlight and I love that the kombucha is made locally with honey.
Thanks, Merryn. Good food always helps me work better and harder 😊
I should not have read this post while hungry! Everything looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks 😊
Even without the butter, it looks like you ate very well. I was wondering about the yellow sauce with your surf and turf, it looks like hollandaise sauce.
Thanks, Karen, it was a garlic sauce.
I enjoyed my food experiences on the island. It’s good when I can work and then enjoy the food offerings!
So…. do you know what those yellow stains really are???
It was margarine. Margarine is naturally grey and coloured yellow to mimic butter.
Oops…my mistake…you need to shake cream in a jar to make butter.
Norfolk Island in the Ullswater, UK? That’s a long trip. You can make butter by shaking milk in a jar. I’ve never tried it, though.
Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand.
Shaking cream makes butter but there was not enough cream to buy.
Your comment about the luscious chips reminds me of a trip to Paris Uwe and I made some years ago. At a bistro I got something with chips and with one bite I knew I was tasting something I’d read about but never eaten: potatoes fried in duck fat.
Hands down the best chips I’ll ever eat.
Yum, Jadi. Roast potatoes in duck fat are also amazing.
Weird science experiment!!! I did look at all your meals in astonishment! (And also envy. It’s my birthday next week and I really, really hoped at the beginning of the year we’d be able to go out for lunch/dinner on the day but it won’t be happening. We have, though, ordered food from Wadadli Kitchen, so I’m looking forward to that.) Three days without butter would be tough. My favourite travel breakfast is the full fry-up.
Thanks, Emma. One of my travel companions ate a full fried breakfast each morning. He’s 2 m tall so he can eat what he likes.
I hope it’s not too long before you can eat out again.
Happy Birthday for next week Emma 🎂
I hope you have a wonderful time and a wonderful dinner.