Pitcairn Islands are a group of four islands that are the last remaining British overseas territory in the Pacific. There are 55 inhabitants of the island, the only inhabited one of the four. You may have read the book or seen the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”. On the British Royal Navy ship, the HMAC Bounty, a mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh. Bligh was cast adrift in a small open boat with 18 loyal men. These mutineers and some Tahitian companions settled on Pitcairn Island and set fire to their ship, the Bounty. The wreck is still visible under water in Bounty Bay. The settlers have survived by farming and fishing. There are now nine families living on this remote island, some direct descendents of Christian and Young families.
So our visit there was quite exciting. Since there is no landing on the island, ALL of their population came out to our ship in a long boat. They climbed aboard the Amsterdam via a rope ladder – people of all ages, the young and old – bringing with them crafts and wares they had been preparing all year for the ship’s visit. They set up a post office for the purchase of the rare Pitcairn stamp, sold postcards, t-shirts, hats, fans, wood carved products, hand woven items, books, etc. They do have internet on the island so some of their products were ordered elsewhere and shipped to Pitcairn because of course they do not have a t-shirt factory or book producing equipment. Items were high priced but of course it was a treasure when considering where it came from. My purchases were a hand woven fan – for those of you have seen my “museum” home, this will add to my collection of fans around the world, and a book, The Bounty Trilogy which includes the “Mutiny on the Bounty”, “Men Against the Sea”, and “Pitcairn Island”. It was published in the USA and I paid more than the listed price but my treasure is that I got it from the Christian family.
The mayor of the island gave a presentation about their life and history. Some of these people have never worn shoes! They all take turns doing their share of road maintenance, long boat maintenance, fishing, cooking, minding their local store. The most popular thing for them they enjoyed on the ship was ice cream. We sent plenty of food back with them after a very enjoyable day on board.
