A three-year ticking clock makes this the ultimate time to visit Norfolk

Travel bucket lists are full of permanent fixtures such as the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids of Giza, but sometimes the most compelling reason to book a trip is a ticking clock.

For the next three years, a window of history is opening in the remote South Pacific's Norfolk Island that may not open again.

An invaluable historic document tracing the Bounty mutineers' descendants, the Pitcairn Register, has come from London to Norfolk Island Museum for a limited loan.

Norfolk Island Museum Trust chair Pauline Reynolds said the community came together to raise the $35,000 needed to transport and display the register.

"There was a feeling that getting the register here as our book of origins, if you like, that it would set everything right," she told Explore.

She said the islanders "felt it very deeply" as the register was unveiled in front of a crowd of all ages, on the remote island of just 2200 people.

For those dreaming of visiting Norfolk Island, the time is now. The arrival of the artifact means visitors are stepping into a momentous chapter of the island's ongoing story.

More than 25 per cent of the population of Norfolk Island can trace its ancestry to the Bounty mutineers, their Polynesian wives and others listed on the Pitcairn Register.

The register of births, marriages and deaths has deep, personal meaning to many of the island's modern inhabitants.

The register draws on the tesitmony of the last surviving mutineer, John Adams, to document what happened on the island from the burning of HMS Bounty in 1790 to 1854.

It shows that the next chapter in the Bounty story was just as violent as the mutiny had been, including a massacre among the mutineers and Polynesian men.

But beyond the brutal history, Dr Reynolds hopes visitors will discover the deep-rooted resilience that defines the island community today

"When I speak with people, I try to get past all of those dramatic moments: the massacres, the mutiny, the kidnapping of women, the attempts at escape, all of that gore," she said.

"The quieter, more enduring story in this register is that of the underlying resilience of a community."

Senator David Pocock, an advocate for Norfolk residents, visited the island to celebrate Bounty Day on June 8, marking its 170^th anniversary.

Bounty Day is the island's foremost celebration, as residents dress is traditional outfits to re-enact historic events and enjoy a community feast, with popular dishes such as po'e served.

"During that day, we are just ourselves, we celebrate ourselves. We dress up in the clothing that they would have worn when they first arrived off that ship onto Norfolk Island," Dr Reynolds said.

It's an extraordinary time to visit the island, but tourists should be aware that they are spectators and will not be invited to join in the most sacred parts of the day, she said.

The journey to bring the register home started with the late islander Mervyn Buffett, who found the document online while researching his ancestry and wrote to the National Maritime Museum asking for it back.

But because the London museum is a United Kingdom national institution, permanent repatriation is not legally possible without going before the British Parliament.

To navigate this political red tape, the Norfolk Island community spent four years building relationships and negotiated a three-year loan.

Dr Reynolds remains optimistic, saying she hopes the register will one day return to the island permanently.

"History is a wonderful thing; to be able to look back is a wonderful thing, and also to look forward and be excited about the world and celebrate who we are as a people," she said.