From 18 to 25 April 2023
My fourth destination is Pitcairn, one of the most isolated islands in the world (the nearest airport is 530 km West in the Gambier Islands, but the nearest mainland, New Zealand is 5’500 km away...
Of the four islands constituting the Pitcairn Islands, only one, Pitcairn Island, is currently inhabited, while the others are dominated by nature, serving as home for endemic species of flora and fauna. Today Pitcairn Island is at the center of one of the world’s largest marine reserves.The locally produced honey is not only exceptionally high quality due to the absence of pesticides and diseases affecting bees, but also considered as the favorite type of honey by Queen Elizabeth II and the entire royal family.
Inhabited by less than 50 people, the British overseas territory of Pitcairn Island is the least populated national entity in the world, the smallest sovereign country on earth.
For more information on Pitcairn => Pitcairn islands
Why go to Pitcairn?
Despite its miniscule size, mind-boggling remoteness and economic insignificance, Pitcairn is probably best known as the haven of the mutineers of the British ship HMAV Bounty (His Majesty's Army Vessel), who settled there in January 1790 (9 Bounty mutineers, 6 Tahitians and 14 Tahitian women) forming a unique biracial ethnicity with its own cultural customs and language known as Pitkern, incorporating both English and Tahitian.
After a successful settlement of Pitcairn, civil war erupts mainly due to alcohol consumption and unequal treatments of Polynesian men, In 1793, – just three years after settling on the island – five of the mutineers, including leader Fletcher Christian, were killed when the remaining Polynesian men rose up again. But their victory was short-lived and they in turn were killed. By 1800, only 11 women, 25 children and one man left - Mutineer John Adams.
By the mid-1850s, the Pitcairn community was outgrowing the island; its leaders appealed to the British government for assistance, and were offered Norfolk Island. On 3 May 1856, the entire population of 193 people set sail for Norfolk on board the Morayshire, arriving on 8 June after a difficult five-week trip. However, just 18 months later, 17 of the Pitcairn Islanders returned to their home island, and another 27 followed five years later.
The population peaked at 233 in 1937,
For more information on the mutiny of the HMS Bounty => Mutiny on the Bounty
Why did I want to go there?
Even though it’s a long and (very) expensive trip, for me who had been dreaming of discovering this island since I was 15 years old and had read Jule Vernes' "The Mutineers of the Bounty" (in the “Extraordinary Voyages” collection), it was ABSOLUTELY worth going there, especially as I was “passing through” Tahiti.
Thinking to visit Pitcairn?
Watch this video by the team at @YesTheory => Video - 19 minutes
How to visit Pitcairn?
True adventurists unlimited by time and costs can get there on board MV Silver Supporter, Pitcairn’s sole supply vessel, making the long round trip from Mangareva Island in French Polynesia about once or twice per month.
In a nutshell, here are the necessary steps to take, (all this, well ahead of your desired date of visit!):
1) Consult the website => https://www.visitpitcairn.pn/
2) Check sailing dates of the MV Silversupporter, AND availability of births on the ship.
3) Select a host on the island that you will be staying with => https://www.visitpitcairn.pn/where-to-stay
4) Make a temporary booking on the Pitcairn tourist website
5) Buy a round-trip air ticket Tahiti-Mangareva with dates matching the sailing dates of MV Silver Supporter
6) Buy an insurance (health and emergency)
7) Pay your MV Silver supporter ticket and your future host
8) You then get the green light to go!!!
Ready? Let's start the epic journey I took...
Flying from Papeete (on Tahiti island) to Mangareva island (part of Gambier islands) after 2 hours of flight we make a stop on Hao...
...we stop to refuel on Hao, which is a large coral atoll (35 km2) in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. It was used to house the military support base for the French nuclear tests on Mururoa.
Below, you can see 2 fuel tanks on top of the truck.
A pump is used to transfer the fuel to the wings of the aircraft.
After another 2 hours' flight we arrive at Mangareva, our destination...
The plane lands on motu Totegegie, which is fair distance from the main island, Mangareva. A 40 minute boat shuttle service run by the local authorities ferries you to the quayside at Rikitea.
After having our passport "stamped-out" of French Polynesia,
we can ride the launch to board MS Silver Supporter.
The MV Silver Supporter was designed and built in Norway
The launch is raised to the side of the ship to enable it's passengers
to get onboard the Silver Supporter.
When it's all done, the launch is hoisted all the way up to be secured in it's craddle.
Welcome aboard!
There are 6 comfortable cabins with 2 berths : 12 passengers !
With Laurent (French) we will share a cabin for the journey to and back from Pitcairn
The begining of a long journey : 2 nights and 1 day
On the morning of Tursday 20 April 2023, we arrive at Pitcairn.
The "long boat" is seen coming out of the tiny harbour to come fetch us to Pitcairn.
Notice that the crew does NOT wear safety life jackets... They are born on the ocean...
Our luggage is first lowered into the long boat
Then passengers go down on the rope ladder while the long boat is heaving with the waves, challenging but fun!
The crew waits for a lull between 2 waves to motor in the harbour of Bounty Bay...
The arrival of the supply ship is like Xmas for the inhabitants as mail, supplies and direct order parcels arrive on the island.
Very small "containers" are stacked on the deck of the Silver Supporter and unloaded first in the long boat before being unloaded at the harbour.
My backpack is taken to my host's house of Brenda and Mike Lupton-Christian (Brenda is a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutineers.)
This is my view for the next 3 days
All set... what shall we do now ?
- Explore the East side of Pitcairn? => Click here
- Take a quad and drive around the island? => Click here
- Visit Adamstown and the school? => Click here
- Say "good-by" at the port and take the ship back to Rangiroa? => Click here
My observations and comments on my visit to Pitcairn:
To be able to visit this VERY ISOLATED rocky island where the mutineers of the HMS Bounty and their Tahitians women took refuge was the trip of a LIFETIME, high on my “bucket list”. Knowing that I would cross the Pacific Ocean with a stopover in Tahiti, when I started to investigate “online” about going to Pitcairn, the island had only recently opened to tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and I was able to book a berth on one of the first rotations of the MS Silver Supporter to and from Mangareva in 2023. More specifically, there was a berth on the ONLY rotation that fitted my timing during my trip from Australia to South America.
As you have read and seen with my photos, the whole trip from and back to Tahiti is a challenge. Not seen on the pictures is that the tiny Silver Supporter is prone to motions in the swells of the ocean and is NOT steady (like a big cruise ship), beware of seasickness from which luckily, I’m not too prone maybe thanks to having circumvoluted Africa twice by ships when I was growing up in Madagascar.
The people on the island are keen to make the few tourists who visit feel “at home” and make us feel welcome and become temporarily part of their close-knit community. My choice to stay with Brenda and Peter was the best I could have made as Brenda (direct, 6th generations descendant from Fletcher Christian) is so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her island; she’s a master at driving her quad over the narrow roads and was very keen to show me many parts of “her” island. Mike (a native of the UK) has fully adopted his new homeland and was able to tell me many aspects of the amazing history of the island and its people.
For Pitcairn, the UK government has a budget of 5.5 million £ for 2023. The bulk of this amount is to pay for the lease and the operating costs of the Silver Supporter. Another part of this allocation is to pay just about everybody on the island for a “government job” at keeping Pitcairn organised and tidy. Indirectly, it’s a minimum basic income for the whole population. There is a medical doctor on the island but no teacher as there are no children.
The Pitcairnners have embraced modern technologies. All their houses have solar panels and batteries to be autonomous, they have internet (albeit at a slow speed), they collect rainwater in underground storage tanks and drive quads and 4x4s around the small island. They all have a garden, some poultry and/or goats and with the tropical climate they do not need to worry about heating their homes. The inhabitants that wanted to leave the small island have left and only “die hard” lovers of Pitcairn and its slow isolated life have stayed; they are happy to be there and smile to life!
In a hurry?
Hum... it would be a shame NOT to visit more of Pitcairn
on the links that are above...
Click here to discover my next exotic trip to Easter Island
