Norfolk Island, surrounded by pristine waters for snorkelling, surfing and kayaking, home to an expansive national park and walking trails, and offering an array of beaches and bays untouched by development, should be the kind of destination young people flock to.

But most of the tourists on the plane headed to the island are well past retirement age and, once there, spend much of their time on tour buses experiencing the island through the window.

It means when venturing to a bay for a swim or walking through the national park, it is possible to do so completely alone, which feels special, but also strange.

And it’s a shame. Visiting Norfolk – the tiny 8km by 5km island between Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the South Pacific – is restricted to those who can afford the average $1,000 return flight from most Australian capital cities (though there are some fares as low as $600 return from Sydney), and the high price of food and accommodation.

Many tourists might opt for similar activities at cheaper destinations such as Fiji, Bali or on the Australian mainland, but there are qualities and quirks to Norfolk Island that make it a unique place to visit, such as the friendly locals who speak their own language (a mix of colonial English and Tahitian), a mutinous history and local laws that give cows right of way.

And many of the island’s attractions, such as swimming, hiking and exploring the ruins of convict buildings, are free.

But the global financial crisis hit the island hard, and it went from being a popular destination, particularly for those fascinated with its brutal convict past, to facing financial ruin.

Legislative changes passed in May ended Norfolk Island’s status as Australia’s only self-governing external territory and put it under the commonwealth’s tax and welfare system for the first time.

This will no doubt affect tourism on the tax-free haven, which is just a two-hour flight from Sydney.

By 30 June next year locals will start paying income and land tax for the first time, which the Australian government says will lower the price of the island’s goods and services and make it attractive to tourists beyond just the “newly wed and the nearly dead”, as the locals say.

It may be more expensive, but visiting now affords a perspective of the island at a unique time in its history. For better or worse, it will no doubt be a very different place within a couple of years.

Friday

2pm
Personal tour and check-in

I am greeted at the airport by Rael Donde, the owner of Cumberland Resort and Spa, where I am staying ($171.80 a night). Many accommodation spots offer free airport transfers, since the island’s taxi service requires advance bookings and operates at limited hours, and there is no public transport.

You’ll struggle to find accommodation for less than $150 a night, unless you use airbnb, where most listings are upwards of $100.

Donde gives me a driving tour around the main shopping strip on Taylors Road in Burnt Pine, something offered to all guests, pointing out the chocolate factory and places to buy duty-free alcohol and a good cup of coffee.

Beyond the short main drag, potholed and gravelled roads wind through endless green hills, and the speed limit of 50km/h means you can be prepared to stop for the many, many cows. From the top of these hills, spotted with Norfolk Island pines, there are views of jagged cliffs, the bays, more cows and the sea.

We pull up to the resort and I am shown my cabin, and the 4WD that comes with it. The car, an additional $23 per day, plus $37 for insurance, was something I told Donde I wouldn’t need it – surely an island 8km by 5km was walkable. But given the aforementioned hills and potholes, I’m eventually convinced to take the car, and it proves to be a good investment.

If there are bike hire places on the island, I don’t find them, and unless you bring a torch, as I learned the hard way, walking at night is almost impossible given there is not a single streetlight. As Tim Latham wrote in his book Norfolk, Island of Secrets: “Sans moon, Norfolk is wrapped in a mantle of pure, unadulterated blackness, leaving the stars to twinkle in harmony above. It thoroughly disorientates me.”

There are several places where you can hire a car if your accommodation doesn’t offer one.

4.30pm
Coffee and a walk

I walk back into town and grab a coffee at the Blue Bull cafe and restaurant, which specialises in local Norfolk Blue prime cuts and various beef dishes. I get a coffee and vow to come back for my beef fix some other time. The smell of steak wafting from the kitchen is ridiculously good.

My visit falls during country music month, and I notice many of the shop windows are delightfully tacky, decorated with country-themed paraphernalia. Saddened I will not be in town long enough for an advertised hoe-down, I see an advertisement for a meat-raffle and country music night at the RSL, and I know my Saturday night plans are set.

6pm
4WD around the island

To get a better idea of the lay-out of the island, I take the car for a spin before sunset. I drive aimlessly over bumpy roads and hills until I hit water, which on an island this size doesn’t take long. I also quickly learn it is customary and polite to wave, or at least raise two fingers from the steering wheel, at every motorist you pass.

Eventually I find myself at Steels Point at the north-east edge of the island, looking out from the top of a cliff as waves smash against the rocks. I pull over and walk for a while, taking in the howling sea at the edge of the endless green. There is no one else around, not even a cow.

8pm
Norfolk Island RSL Memorial Club

There are four main pubs on Norfolk Island – the RSL, the Leagues club down the road, and the bowling club and Rumours in between.

It’s Friday night and the RSL delivers exactly what you would expect; cheap wine and a meat raffle. Patrons include airline staff from the Air New Zealand flight I arrived on and plenty of locals who, instantly spotting any newcomer, offer drinks and conversation in abundance.

You’ll get a strong sense of the island’s military history here too; gun cabinets abound and other memorabilia line the walls, including the names of the 81 men who served in the first world war.

Live music is on most nights of the week, country music month or nay, and meals average around $25, with your typical pub-fare on offer. The RSL is the place to go for a good feed and a yarn with locals, who tonight are all too willing to discuss their government’s precarious situation.

Saturday

6.30am
Farmers’ market and breakfast at the Olive Cafe

No matter the weather, you’ll find the farmers’ market taking place every Saturday morning from 7.30 in the bicentennial complex just off Taylors Road, which is the main road in town.

Farmers pull up in their trucks and sell fresh fruit and vegetables straight off the back. Apart from a few root vegetables, no fresh produce is imported to Norfolk Island, so the market is where many locals source their weekly fruit and vegetable supply.

After talking to the farmers I wander a couple of minutes up the road to Olive Cafe for breakfast, which is open daily from 6.30am and serves the best coffee I come across on the island. There are also plenty of gluten-free and vegetarian options on the menu, and my roast-vegetable salad costs me about $16.

11.30am
Run to Emily Bay, a snorkel, and a walk around the ruins

Emily Bay is just 4km from the main town of Burnt Pine, and its sheltered reef makes it a great place for swimming and snorkelling. Despite the hills it’s fairly easy to walk or run to, and you’ll pass the remnants of convict buildings.

The ruins of the the prisoners’ barracks and the New Gaol, which were home to almost 1,000 prisoners, sit by the picturesque waterside, and cows roam freely through them. The quaint scene today betrays the brutality suffered by the prisoners there.

In 1856 the British government, embarrassed by the reputation of the infamous penal colony, which was then constitutionally a part of Tasmania, shut the convict settlement and offered the island to the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, who had escaped to tiny Pitcairn Island, 6,000km out into the Pacific, more than half a century earlier. .

After exploring the ruins I go for a snorkel and am disappointed not to spot a giant turtle locals tell me has been seen in Emily Bay. I am the only swimmer this morning and aside from a few tourists who pull up in their cars and walk around, I don’t see anyone else. You can book snorkelling, kayaking and walking tours through the tourism office in town, or just head out yourself.

I wander up the road and past the New and Old Military Barracks – the latter housed the offices of Norfolk Island’s chief minister, Lisle Snell, until his government was recently abolished.

This takes me to the cemetery, a few hundred metres down the road from the barracks, by the sea. The headstones have been carefully maintained and date back to the first settlement. Many cite the cause of death as drowning or execution.

The day I visit, locals are preparing for a traditional funeral to take place the following day, placing flowers and shrubs into a massive pile which will be thrown by friends and family of the deceased on top of the coffin once it has been carefully lowered into the ground. Throughout the week, many locals take turns to dig the grave, which is exactly six-feet deep – one of the many traditions still carried out on the island.

6pm
Dinner at Blue Bull, followed by drinks at the Leagues club.

The cows I constantly pass while walking or driving around the island remind me of the Blue Bull cafe in town, and it is here I head for dinner tonight to try the Norfolk Blue beef. The breed of cattle is produced on the cafe owners’ 100 Acre Farm – all up, there’s less than 1km between the paddock and the plate.

The Blue Bull beef salad is $18, the meat is juicy and tender and worth every cent. Burgers, kebabs, pies and steak are also on the menu. Please eat here.

For something more upmarket, try the Norfolk Blue restaurant at the 100 Acre Farm itself. It has won many tourism awards, including for best formal dining – the cafe is their more everyday, sister establishment.

After dinner I wander haphazardly through the dark [no streetlights] to the Leagues Club where I join the locals to watch the football and enjoy a couple of drinks. Later, we grab a bottle of wine and continue the conversation and merriment at one of their homes. It’s easy to see why locals leave their homes unlocked and car keys in the ignition. People here are famously warm and friendly, and this makes it impossible to drink or dine alone.

Sunday

9am
A walk through the national park followed by a drive to Captain Cook’s lookout.

Towards the north-west tip of the island sits the national park, which, given its location among the hilltops, is best accessed by car. It’s about 6.5 square kilometres, and when I visit, there is no one else in sight, which is becoming a common theme the moment I venture outside the main town.

The park is home to migratory birds and large colonies of breeding seabirds. Walking trails lead to lookouts which offer views of the island from a variety of stunning vantage points. These alone make it worth the visit.

Fruit trees and flowers dot the walking paths, and signs help to identify wildlife and plant species. There are walks for all levels of fitness and maps can be found at the town visitor information centre. Entry to the park is free.

From here I drive to the Captain Cook monument and lookout which sits above the national park on the northern coast. Cook was the first European known to have sighted the island in 1774, and the lookout marks the small section where he landed and explored. Set at the top of a cliff, it offers one of the best views over the ocean. Whales can sometimes be seen from here during the migration season, I’m told.

After taking in the view I drive around the north coast of the island, stopping intermittently to wander down steep hills to the water.

2pm
Lunch and coffee at the Golden Orb cafe and bookstore, followed by a wander through St Barnabas chapel

Tucked away in town, down a tunnel formed of shrubs and trees, sits the Golden Orb cafe and bookstore. It’s a cosy place to read or work for a couple of hours and a local favourite. The deck outside is encased by trees and is ideal on a sunny day. I order the corn fritters with salad, which is about $16. The cafe offers internet access, but you’ll have to pay for it pretty much anywhere you go. Prices usually start at about $5 for half-an-hour, and be prepared for a frustratingly slow service.

Mobile reception is also variable. Norfolk Island SIM cards can also be bought for about $20, which includes $10 credit, but I have trouble receiving calls during my stay.

After lunch I drive for about five minutes to St Barnabas chapel at the end of Headstone Road. Built in 1880 by the Melanesian mission using stone from the ruins of the New Gaol, the roof is modelled on a ship’s hull, and the stained-glass windows represent the four evangelists.

From here, it seems fitting to end the afternoon with a quick dip in Emily Bay, where the giant turtle eludes me once again.

Travel notes

Until 30 June 2016, Australian travellers will still require a passport to travel to Norfolk Island.

After that no passport will be required, but flights will continue to depart from and arrive at international terminals, given quarantine requirements and the fact travellers are able to buy duty- and tax-free goods on the island.

Flights to and from the island depart from Australia four days of the week only.