AUSTRALIA: A list of things you may like to do

Norfolk Island is weird. First of all, despite being Australian territory, Citizens who don’t live there need to have a passport to go visit. It’s way off in the Pacific Ocean, and anyone who wants to live there needs to meet very specific requirements. Most importantly, foreigners who visit Norfolk Island and want to come back to the rest of the country need a multiple-entry visa, as it counts as ‘outside Australia’ for some parts of the Migration Act, but at the same time it is “inside Australia” for other parts.

As I said, it’s weird.

Like the Antartic Territory, Norfolk has it’s own stamps if you’re into that. While Norfolk Island stamps are still denominated in AUD, Norfolk Island is the only territory currently a member of the Universal Postal Union, and their stamps can’t be used in Australia, and Australian Stamps can’t be used on Norfolk.

Like all our external territories, a fair chunk of the island is a national park.

Originally, Norfolk Island was a place that they sent convicts who reoffended, but most of today’s inhabitants trace their ancestry to the mutinous crew of HMS Bounty.

The Commonwealth Government recently took away a lot of the Territory’s independence, extended Medicare to the inhabitants, and incorporated them into the regular Australian taxation system. This was a big deal and made many people unhappy, but the territory was pretty much broke and there weren’t a lot of other choices…