Land Ahoy!
After another two sea days I was excited to see land as I poked my head out of the door early this morning.
It was just a glimpse of an island in the mist above the horizon, but I knew that this was one of the most remote places and one I'd never really thought I would get to see.
As we approached Pitcairn, we headed straight down for some breakfast, for it was going to be a busy morning and we didn't want to miss a thing.
Our itinerary had offered few details, merely stating today as “At sea off Pitcairn Islands” but during the last few days Captain Abhi has made increasingly confident announcements of “surprises” and “special events”. Yesterday was the first time he outlined his plan in detail, adding - as always - weather permitting.
This morning as the ship headed towards the main island and slowed right down, we went on deck to watch, noting as we did that Mariner was flying the flag of this British Overseas Territory. The Captain had said we'd arrive at 8.30am and here we were, right on schedule, holding off Bounty Bay.
Also right on schedule was a small boat, heading our way.
As it came alongside Mariner, we could see a large group of people on board, together with a small amount of cargo.
I'm glad to say they were all wearing life jackets for their means of transferring to the ship was even more precarious than we'd managed at Easter Island. They had a small rope ladder to climb as well as the challenge of getting from one moving vessel to another.
About twenty Islanders had come on board - almost 50% of the population - bringing with them a few things to sell and a great deal of enthusiasm to share about their life on the island. First on our programme for the morning was to listen to their Tourism Ambassador and member of the local council, Melva Christian. Herself a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian she welcomed us to “offshore Pitcairn” with a bright “Wata wei” and for the next hour or so, told us of her life and her home.
We learned of the other three Pitcairn Islands, Dulcie, Henderson and Oena; about the work the islanders have done to achieve Protected Marine status and become a Dark Sky sanctuary (no lights after 10pm here). The forty-odd people who live here benefit from one small supermarket (restocked every three months from New Zealand), a single church where everyone is welcome, a school that's currently closed because there are no children right now and a marine science base. In additon there's a medical centre with a doctor contracted for 6 or 12 months. Coincidentally, the Polish doctor currently serving the island was once the doctor on this ship - so of course, he was one of the group who came on board this morning.
She went on to answer quite a few questions before declaring the “shopping mall” open on deck 6.
Oh my word.
I hadn't really thought of buying anything in particular, though having read that one of the main products of the island was honey, I hoped there might be some for purchase so I could support this community without adding any additional clutter at home 😉 However, I did not wish to add to this “clutter” here, so left everyone to it and thought I'd come back later, when the crowd had dispersed.
Actually, on a quieter part of the deck I discovered a “souvenir” which was far more up my street…
I'm not sure that this would technically count, but I have literally stood on Pitcairn soil!
From here, we went right “up top” to watch as we sailed around the island. As we did, we noted some landmarks: Fletcher Christian's cave and St Paul's pool amongst them.
I recalled Melva's observation too, that here, we're equidistant from Paris and the South Pole! Before we'd completed the circumnavigation though, I thought I'd scoot back downstairs and see if there was any honey for sale…
Sadly, all had been packed away and I'd missed it. Oh well, next time I'm in Fortnum and Mason…(I understand it's sometimes available there).
I hope the people who'd been doing such a lively trade had packed up early to have a coffee or a spot of lunch before they returned, because at 12.15 on the dot, they had a presentation to make in the theatre.
The Mayor or Pitcairn, Simon Young (originally from Pickering, North Yorkshire), thanked Captain Abhi for his determination to pay the island a visit and spoke of the importance the community placed on such comparatively rare events. He presented the Captain with a hand crafted model of the Bounty. Presentation over, the Captain returned to his main task on the bridge whilst the members of the Island community sang two songs to bid everyone farewell.
As we sat in the restaurant enjoying lunch, we saw them heading back across Bounty Bay to their harbour.
How special had all of that been? Though Easter Island had been the focus of our imagination for this part of the trip, I think we'll both take home the fondest memories from Pitcairn “the world's most remote inhabited island” and the place we didn't even expect to be on our itinerary.
