MG Car Club of South Australia
TRANSPORT ON NORFOLK
ISLAND From..Don Walker
D
ear Customer, your new vehicle
will be delivered by long-boat to-
morrow, weather permitting.
Island, Noumea, New Caledonia then
back to Brissie. If the ship can't unload
due to weather it goes around the circuit
again. Sorry sir, that's last years model
now.
The cars are different from those in Oz
due to the fact they come directly from
Japan, mostly second hand, the differ-
ent emission laws prevent these from
coming to Oz. They look the same as
your Mazda 2, Holden Barina etc but
have very unique names. Some models
you wouldn't see in Australia.
The most common 'car' is the Suzuki
ute, a small 4 wheel drive unit but com-
ing in various guises, Mitsubishi, Dai-
hatsu, Suzuki, but all the same
car...ute...whatever!
The preferred mode of transport for the
kids? Well, packed in the tray of these
small utes, I think a blind eye is shown
by the local police!
Not that we saw many.
The roads are mainly potholes repaired
with potholes but remarkably smooth to
drive on.
Now lastly, the rules of the road: Speed
limit 50kph, except in town where it is
40kph. Give way to all cows, bulls and
chickens. Oh, and 30kmh at the one
school crossing on the Island.
Well that was one day's observation, we
had nine more days to go!
Don and Jeanette.
You might think that this is a notice of
times long gone, but no, it's July 2019
on Norfolk Island.
Jeanette and I visited this wonderful
Island and spent 10 exciting days ex-
ploring it.
Where is it? Well like most people I had
no idea, maybe off the coast of Queen-
sland somewhere? In fact it is 1600km
east of Oz, say between Queensland
and NSW, a tiny speck of some 8km by
5km.
Luckily our Airbus A320 had good
brakes and reverse thrust!
Apart from the history and connection
with the first fleet and convicts etc I was
interested in the automotive aspect of
living here.
All vehicles are delivered by longboat,
buses and larger vehicles by two long-
boats lashed together with two long
poles, front wheels on one boat, rears
on the other yep, a sight to behold. The
transport ship being anchored some
way off the coast.
One of the oldest cars on the Island is a
1928 Ford AA modified 'truck', totally
original!
It was our host Dedi, a charming mature
lady, at the Pitcairn Settlers Village who
drove us around in the Ford, firstly after
topping up the radiator with water using
a Sterling Silver teapot to pour. Dedi
knew every nut and bolt of the Ford,
even where to source original parts from
a small garage on the Island.
Other cars on the Island come directly
from Japan, well via a round about jour-
ney by ship from Brisbane, NZ, Norfolk
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