I'm just back from another trip to glorious Norfolk Island where my partner is working for the federal government in biosecurity.
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It's a tough job for her but it's handy for me as it means I have a de facto holiday house I can go to whenever possible.
It's a long way from Mount Isa to Norfolk Island though they could soon be under the one administration with Queensland investigating the possibility of delivering services to the island.
Another thing Mount Isa and Norfolk Island have in common is the occasional food shortage.
Here it happens whenever flooding closes the highways into town while currently on the island the supermarket shelves are empty because the supply ship is late and there is an excess of tourists enjoying a rare opportunity to travel "overseas' in Covid times.
A third thing they have in common is cows on the road. As in unfenced parts of western Queensland cows roam freely on the roads and have the right of way, but with the island maximum speed limit of 50kph there is less chance of a serious accident.
It really is a peaceful place that disguises a turbulent history that dates back to 1788 and the earliest British settlement outside of Sydney.
I enjoyed learning the story of the island including its links to the Pitcairn Islander descendants of the Mutiny on the Bounty that have lived there since 1856.
Meanwhile I thank Samantha Campbell who looked after another ship, the HMS North West Star, while I was away.
There has been plenty happening here including the first vaccinations in the North West administered to health workers and now phase 1B starting this week to adults aged 70 years and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 55, adults with a specified medical condition and high risk workers.
Meanwhile in the energy sector Vast Solar announced it has signed a joint development agreement with Stanwell Corporation for a $10m feasibility study for Vast Solar's groundbreaking North West Queensland Hybrid Power Project a $600m dispatchable renewable energy project located in Mount Isa that will power the local economy and resources sector with low cost, reliable, clean energy.
Derek Barry