Norfolk Island is a speck in the South Pacific Ocean east of Australia. It was occupied by Polynesians as early as 400 AD, then named and claimed by Captain Cook during his 1774 voyage. In 1788 the British created a penal colony to cultivate flax on the island, but that endeavor failed as the island was too far from the mainland and offered no safe harbors for shipping. The colonization which finally succeeded was a party of the families of Bounty mutineers who emigrated from the more remote Pitcairn Island in 1856. Kingston, and the nearby Arthurs Vale area, are included in the Australian Convicts Sites designation of UNESCO World Heritage Status. Museums, fortresses and other sites abound on the island. There are also lovely beaches like nearby Anson Bay, and a scenic Captain Cook memorial set among the distinctive Norfolk Island Pines. One unusual local site has a Seabourn connection. The Bottle House is a home built by hand in 1966 by then-21-year-old Pat Keough, using hand-mixed cement and over 40,000 glass beer bottles that had accumulated on the property over several decades. Today Pat is a world-renowned wildlife and nature photographer, who has participated in Antarctic voyages on Seabourn Quest along with his wife Rosemary, also a famous photographer.
