Happy Thanksgiving on Norfolk Island 2017

The children up the front of All Saints church on Thanksgiving

Did you know that Norfolk Island is the only place outside of America that celebrates Thanksgiving?
It is held on the last Wednesday in the month of November here and is celebrated with a public holiday. Most of the island will go to church services where the churches are decorated with amazing home grown produce followed by Norfolk Island style pot luck lunches with families in their island homes.

This tradition is most likely to have started when American whalers and their wives were stationed here on island and the wives shared their traditions, recipes and kitchens with local wives.

This a bittersweet last Thanksgiving on island for me. I am grateful to have had 11 wonderful Thanksgivings here but miss my family terribly and need to get us all back together.

This is me (the hairy baby with my mum, brother and 3 sisters) on my second trip to Norfolk Island. Look how sparse Philip Island is in the backround.

I am grateful for so much here on island but am also saddened by things that have been happening here on island. I adore its customs and traditions but cry for the Norfolk Island peoples loss of independence, their way of life and even their sense of humour and the ability to laugh at themselves.

I love the slower way of life even if I am still 100 miles per hour within it. I love that my children have been raised by a village and encouraged and nurtured by some.

I love that my children have learned patience like waiting for the seasons and the fruits and vegetables to grow, not everything is available all the time but when it does grow and is picked and eaten in the same day, it is the sweetest thing. We have the yummiest natural tasting veggies here. I have learned how to be resourceful and make do with what we have got.

They learn patience while waiting for the mail to arrive via ship. We once kept out Christmas tree up until March and April as our Christmas presents didnt arrive until then. They learned that it was okay to wait, that not everything is available 24/7.

We love that the beaches are only 5 minutes away and there is always parking almost right on the sand.

We love that it only takes a few minutes to get to the  school if the children leave a laptop/hat/lunch/book etc behind.

We love that the community turns up for everything and know how to celebrate. any event (especially school events) become a community event. Pot luck dinners here are phenomenal.

I am forever grateful for the opportunity to live on this wonderful island. I have met some of the very best people and have been embraced as one of your own, for this I will always be grateful.

Thaenks f'aklan an tek keyah

Cousin love