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| Me with Pitcairn Island in the background. The long white building near the shoreline on the left is the long boat house |
Pitcairn Island
ms Amsterdam
January 24, 2013
Well, pooh.
The Pitcairn islanders will not be coming aboard after all. It seems that over 20 of them
(35% of the island population) have the H2N3 flu virus, a gift from a cruise ship that
passed through two weeks ago. Canceling this was not a decision made lightly; not only
do the islanders enjoy visiting on board but they also receive medical, dental and beauty
(haircuts, etc in the spa) attention as well as some hard currency from the souvenirs
they sell to the passengers. So the captain consulted with the medical team and the
HAL corporate poobahs and the conclusion was that for the safety of the passengers
and crew no islander would be permitted to board the Amsterdam.
Well, pooh.
Instead we headed straight towards the island, arriving off Bounty Bay around 9 am or
so. Once again, it was not at all as I had expected. Pitcairn is mountainous with no real
harbor but it is also lush and green and quite beautiful and a welcome sight after days at
sea.
Archaeologists believe that Polynesians were living on Pitcairn as late as the 15th
century, but the islands (there are four in the group) were uninhabited when they were
discovered in 1767 by the crew of the British sloop, HMS Swallow. Pitcairn was named
for the fifteen-year-old midshipman, Robert Pitcairn, who was the first to sight it. In 1790
the mutineers of the HMS Bounty and their Tahitian companions settled on Pitcairn,
burning the Bounty, still visible underwater in Bounty Bay.
Today the island is inhabited by fewer than 60 people, from nine families, making it
the least populated jurisdiction in the world. It is not a sovereign nation; its residents
hold New Zealand passports. The United Nations classifies it as a Non-Self-Governing
Territory.
Although the people couldn't come aboard, they did come out in their long boat to pick
up supplies. Jim went to the daily "Good Morning, Amsterdam" production (it's a thirty-
minute Today-ish show that tells a bit about the day's agenda as well as interviewing
different members of the crew about their jobs, life, etc) and said that Bruce, the Cruise
Director and host, read aloud the "shopping" list of items the islanders had requested
the Amsterdam bring to them from the mainland. There was everything from toilet paper to chocolate milk and chicken wings to shoes, school supplies and 12-year-old scotch.
Because the islanders would miss out on earning money aboard the Amsterdam, the
captain refused payment for the goods ordered and gifted them as well with other stores
they might need or just plain enjoy.
After everything was transferred to the long boat, we circumnavigated the small island.
It has rich soil and water so the residents are able to grow a variety of fruits and
vegetables. There is a doctor in residence for half of the year. There is also a primary
school for the children. They are sent to New Zealand for high school and college.
One of the issues now is to convince the young people to come back to the island if
only to have able-bodied people to help with the physical labor of launching the long
boat (it lives in a boat house up a ramp from the water's edge) to load and then unload
supplies.
The houses are on the hillside above Bounty Bay. The residents use ATVs to get
around but the dirt roads regularly wash out from heavy rains. It's another strange and
beautiful dot in the South Pacific.
And with Pitcairn Island in the rear view mirror we headed towards Tahiti. But out of
sight was not necessarily out of mind. It seemed that everyone was wondering the same
thing, "Could I live on that little rock with 57 people and no way off?" And didn't that put
living in a 350 square foot stateroom with one other person for 40 days into perspective.
