Where is Australia’s cheapest shopping?
 Not in the malls of Sydney or Melbourne or even at airport duty free stores but 1500km ‘overseas’ in the arcades of Norfolk Island.
The island lies outside Australia’s customs boundaries so most goods represent great bargains and are often cheaper than duty free. Retailers here also buy direct from manufacturers and trade fairs in Europe and have low overheads.
All of which means a huge range of perfume, clothing, shoes, jewellery, toys, china and cameras from around the world are available at unbeatable prices often less than half those available in Australia. Many luxury goods on sale in Norfolk’s 70 plus shops are not even available on the mainland.
‘Welkum to Norfuk Ailen – Da Bass Side Orn Earth’(Norfolk language for ‘Welcome to Norfolk Island – the Best Place on Earth’)
 All islands carry a special mystique that separates them from everyday life. But when you land on an island steeped in as much history, culture, scenery and tranquility as Norfolk Island you are left in no doubt you have arrived on one of the most unusual and beautiful places on Earth.
In 1774, Captain James Cook was the first to officially discover Norfolk Island, describing it as a “paradise” – a term he did not use liberally in his journals. And an island paradise it remains, although to get there modern jets have thankfully reduced what was once a rough sea journey of many days to a quick flight of less than two and a half hours from Sydney and Brisbane.
Today this external territory of Australia is home to the descendants of the Bounty mutineers whose barefoot manners, warmth and hospitality have been woven into the island’s unique and timeless rhythm – a special charm that draws visitors back time and time again.
Norfolk is a Mecca for bargain hunters with low-tax goods available in all shops. When it’s time to drop, grab a picnic hamper, recline under one of the 5001 cliff-top pines overlooking the dreamy blue Pacific and drift into Norfolk time. But be warned, you won’t want to leave!
Aside from lazing under the pines, you can snorkel in the lagoons, surf awesome breakers, hike amongst the world’s tallest tree ferns to find the world’s rarest bird, taste Norfolk’s own cuisine, beer, coffee and wine, gallop across the evergreen hills and dales on horseback, explore the old convict settlement, kayak along the stark granite coastline, play golf on one of the world’s greenest and most beautiful courses, go bush-bashing in a jeep and see vivid recreations of Norfolk’s time as a penal colony and as a postscript for history’s most famous mutiny.
 So jump in a hire car or on a tour bus and make your own discoveries. Like most visitors, you’ll be entranced by the romance, beauty, history, adventure, culture and serenity that define a holiday on this tiny but well-endowed island. But please give way to the ducks and cows, and if a local asks you in the Norfolk tongue “watawieh yourle” (‘hello, how are you?’), you’ll no doubt want to answer “kushu” (‘good thank-you…I’m relaxed, having a great time and I can’t wait to come back again!’).
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