Picture yourself on an island surrounded by turquoise seas. It's a warm evening. Above you, the pine trees sway in tune to the music as the sounds of jazz fill the air. Any guesses as to where? Try Norfolk Island.
Jazz in the Pines is an annual festival held on Norfolk Island in December. It's a feel-good week with top acts performing major concerts, dinner shows and roving performances along the island's tax-free shopping strip.
The festival is just one of many sensory experiences you'll enjoy on this tiny volcanic island, approximately two hours' flight from Sydney and Brisbane, and about halfway between Australia and New Zealand. Both Qantas and Air New Zealand operate flights, departing from the international terminal - so don't forget to bring your passport or a document of identity. Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia, so you can use your Australian currency during your stay.
Surrounded by reefs, Norfolk Island is densely covered in rainforest and clusters of the island's famous pine trees - it's an island so beautiful Captain Cook described it as "paradise" when he claimed it in 1774. Be prepared for a change of pace when you arrive - you won't find any traffic lights here and driving is so relaxed that cows have right of way on the roads.
Many of the island's 2000 residents are descendants of Fletcher Christian and the 18th century Bounty mutineers, an interesting mix of English, American whaler and Tahitian. Although English is the official language, Norfolk boasts its own unique language and a grim history as one of the world's harshest convict colonies.
Today you can still walk around the old settlement at Kingston and see the prisoners' barracks. There are plenty of sombre reminders of Norfolk's convict past at the Archaeological Museum and you can learn more about the famous Mutiny of the Bounty at the Fletcher's Mutiny Cyclorama.
The local food, a blend of English and Tahitian cuisines, is something to be savoured, and one of the best ways to experience it is by joining one of Norfolk's Progressive Dinner Tours, where visitors wine and dine with Norfolk Islanders in their own homes, travelling to a different house for each course. Delicious dishes you're likely to encounter include pilihai, (baked ripe banana) mudda (boiled green banana) and hihi pie (shellfish pie). And of course there's the local fish fry, cooked outdoors in an oil drum - with a good dose of local hospitality thrown in - as the sun sets behind the pines.
Lagoons and ocean reefs surround the island, so water sports are a popular pastime here. For divers, there are around 30 world-class diving sites. Snorkellers will marvel at the vibrant colours of more than 100 different types of coral, as well as a multitude of tropical fish and other marine life in the lagoon. Emily Bay is a picturesque and safe place for swimming, and you might like to kayak around the cliff faces. Or, in true island style, why not grab a surfboard and join the locals for a few waves at the end of the day?
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