Dr Felicity Cutten is a scientist and freelance writer who has published popular science, short stories, poetry and short fiction. She has a PhD from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and was Assistant Professor of Entomology at its agricultural college for seven years. This was followed by thirty years of teaching senior biology and general science in New Zealand. She worked for six years as field assistant with geologists mapping landforms in outback Western Australia. She has also developed an olive orchard. She has a life-long interest in the natural sciences, ecology and the effects of human activities on the natural world.

In late 2024 she visited Norfolk Island and recorded her observations in this charming report – part natural history, part travelogue, part commentary on local affairs.

(Norfolk Island is administered by the Commonwealth of Australia. Health and education services are provided by the Queensland Government under contract to the Commonwealth. It is deemed by The Royal Society of Queensland to lie within Queensland for the purpose of publishing scientific articles).