Pitcairn Islands - Pitcairnöarna

Pitcairn Islands[1] is an archipelago in the most remote part of the Pacific Ocean. The distance to the nearest continent is the longest than any other populated island in the world. The archipelago is Great Britain last colony in the Pacific Ocean, as well as the most isolated. The hilly main island was populated by the mutineers on Bounty and theirs Polynesian partners, and most of Pitcairn's residents today are descended from them. It is one of the world's least populated units with its own country code (PN).

Regions

• Pitcairn Island - the only populated island.
• Henderson Island - the largest island, due to the many endangered bird species, it has been included on UNESCO World Heritage List.
• Oeno Island / Sandy Island - two neighboring islands, many of Pitcairn's residents go on holiday here.
• Ducie Island - the most secluded island, has a very exotic bird life.

Cities

• Adamstown, the capital and the only settlement - the houses are very scattered, from Bounty Bay and up on the Hill of Difficulty.

Other destinations

The extremely isolated location of the archipelago means that other destinations are not within reasonable reach.

Facts about the Pitcairn Islands

History

Pitcairn has been either inhabited or frequently visited by Polynesians for a long time, (they carved symbols into the rocks), and was briefly visited by Portuguese and British explorers (one of whom gave the archipelago its name), but it was uninhabited when the mutiners of the British ship Bounty and their Tahitian companions settled there under the leadership of Fletcher Christian. They burned and sunk the ship in what is today called Bounty Bay (there was no good place to hide it), and founded a village. At first it was a lawless society, mostly made up of violent alcoholics, but when John Adams, then the last mutineer in life, converted the local women and children to Christianity, things got better. They lived on the island for 24 years before the British found them and allowed them to stay. In 1838, Pitcairn became Britain's first colony in the Pacific Ocean and is today also the last.

Emigration - first to Norfolk Island and mainly to New Zealand the last century - and an almost dissuasive attitude towards immigrants has reduced the population from the 1937 peak of 233 to today's barely 50. In 2004, the island was also shaken by allegations of sexual abuse of the island's young female population (including underage girls), and the following investigations of several of the island's male inhabitants (including many who no longer lived on the island), six of whom were sentenced to prison. Today, it is uncertain whether Pitcairn society - which is already faltering on the brink of self-sufficiency - will survive.

Locals

Climate

The climate is humid and tropical (Capricorn's tropic is located just north of the island) with an average temperature from winter nights 16 ° C to summer days 30 ° C. There is moderate rainfall, evenly distributed throughout the year, except that it rains a little more often in the winter. Between November and March, typhoons can enter the island, but this is rare.

The landscape

With their varying origins, each island is unique in its own way.

• Pitcairn is clearly volcanic, with protruding cliffs into the sea with a peak of 337 meters, which can trick one into thinking that one is just a stone's throw from the shoreline (from all points of view). However, the island itself has very little of what can be called a "beach" - instead the word "rock" is used very often - and it is difficult to find a suitable port. Bounty Bay ("Bounty Bay") barely deserves the name, the shoreline consists of small notches with a water depth only sufficient for small boats without keel and which do not need a large landing area. It is the only island with fresh water.
• Henderson is the largest island, shaped like a coral, but volcanic activity causes it to rise 17-35 meters above sea level. It has caves along the shoreline that served as either tombs or primitive houses for ancient people (remember: there is no fresh water here). The island would be excellent for an airport if it were not for all the endangered birds that also discovered what a good landing place it is.
• Oeno is a small, flat island (located next to another sandy island, known as Sandy Island) surrounded by round reefs. A typical paradise island with palm trees, beautiful beaches and a protected lagoon.
• Ducie is the island furthest from the others (over 250 kilometers from Henderson and over 500 kilometers from Pitcairn), and is a round reef, popular with seabirds.

Language

English is the official language, and it is spoken by everyone. Pitkern, a mixture of 18th-century English and Tahitian with elements of sailor jargon (for example, "all hands" means "allihopa"), spoken among the inhabitants.

Getting to the Pitcairn Islands

Pitcairn's secluded location, slow bureaucracy and lack of resources make it so very hard to travel there.

No matter how long you stay on the island, you need a license from the governor, because the irregular transport times mean that once you get there, you will have to stay there for at least a few weeks, if not months. To obtain such a license, it is required that you have good health, that you have decided how and when to travel from there (for example with a passing boat), at least 300 New Zealand dollars a week to cover your costs, a number of other conditions and a $ 100 fee; a license is valid for six months. The governor can be reached at [email protected]

By plane

There is no runway on the island, and it is too far away for helicopters. (The largest, flat area on Pitcairn offers a very short runway, and the smooth Henderson Island is partly protected by Unesco, partly it is very far from Pitcairn). The nearest airport is at Mangareva in French Polynesia, about 500 kilometers away.

By boat

Pitcairn Island is accessible to tourists via scheduled visits by a small number of commercial cruise ships and private yachts. To sail from French Polynesia is, relatively speaking, the most practical way: from other places, as New Zealand and Chile, a boat trip of more than 1,000 kilometers is required.

• Pacific Expeditions - R / V Bounty Bay, P.O. Box 3063, Rarotonga, The Cook Islands, 682-52400. [2] The company offers trips from Mangareva on The Gambian Islands to the Pitcairn Islands, each with a special focus.
• Ocean Voyages, 1709 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965, USA, tel. 1 415-332-4681. [3] Book charter trips in the region.
• Tallship Soren Larsen[4] departs from Easter Island to French Polynesia via Pitcairn once a year. Phone 64 9 817 8799

The island is located roughly midway between New Zealand and The Panama Canal, near a main ferry line, so it is possible to travel by freighter several times a year. Contact Pitcairn Island Administration in New Zealand, tel. 64-9-366-0186, to arrange the trip. A single ticket usually costs 800-1000 US dollars.

There is no port suitable for medium or large ships; visitors reach the island itself by residents on the island leaving Bounty Bay in narrow longboats to meet ships anchored some distance from the coast.

Relocation to the Pitcairn Islands

Since October 2005, there is a paved road on Pitcairn (from the Hill of Difficulty to the "harbor" at Bounty Bay to Adamstown), but most of the trails on the island are trails. Hiking or privately owned off-road vehicles (3- and 4-wheel "motorcycles") are the most common modes of transport, most often there are also bicycles for rent.

To see

• The remains of the ship Bounty are located in Bounty Bay. The ship was burned and sunk by the mutineers, and divers have over time taken up large parts of the wreck, but it is still impressive to see (the little that is left of it) the ship from history that made the names "Captain Bligh" and "Bounty" world famous .
• The anchor from Bounty is displayed in the Public Hall in the center of Adamstown, by the library and post office building. Here is also the Church of the Seventh-day Adventists.
• The new museum in Adamstown displays Bounty items (such as Fletcher Christian's Bible), stamps, editions of National Geographic which is about the islands, and much more from the island's history. It is planned that one of the ship's four cannons will be exhibited here.
• The island's school is located in the western "suburb" of Adamstown.
• The tomb of John Adam, the last surviving mutineer to introduce Christianity into society, the only one whose tomb has been preserved for posterity.
• Fletcher Christian's cave, past the school and further up. Here is the place where it is said that the leaders of the mutineers scouted for ships and / or hid from their comrades when necessary.
• A turtle from Galapagos by name Mrs Turpin was left on the island in the early 20th century, and today lives in Tedside on the island's northwest shore.
• Taro Ground in southern Pitcairn is the island's largest flat area and the place for the inhabitants' most important contact with the outside world: the radio station.
• Flatland is a small plateau in the upper part of Adamstown, here there are opportunities for tennis, volleyball and picnics.
• Garnet's Ridge. With its 300 meters, this is one of the island's highest points, here offers magnificent views to both east and west.
• Highest Point is quite rightly the island's highest point, 337 m above sea level.

• Down Rope is a cliff on the southeast side of the island with ancient Polynesian rock carvings on its front and a secluded sandy beach at its foot.
• Gudgeon is a sea cave on the southwest side of the island. Here is a sandy beach in a large, at site excavated by the waves.

To do

• If the sea is calm enough, you can take a swim in St. Paul's Pool, a picturesque collection of tides in the cliffs of eastern Pitcairn. It is not good to swim out in the sea itself, given the rocky edges.
• Sail either by yourself or with the locals to one of the other islands. Oeno has sandy beaches perfect for a swim, at Henderson there are excellent opportunities for bird watching and discoveries of ancient caves (settlements?), And both are well suited for snorkeling and scuba diving among coral reefs and a few shipwrecks. Ducie is about 500 kilometers away, so out of reach of the islanders' boats, and therefore rarely visited, but it is a good place for bird watching.
• January 23 every year is celebrated "Bounty Day" with a great dinner for all residents. At the celebration, a model of Bounty is burned.

To buy

The entire island's economy is based on barter, the inhabitants produce most of their own food and share storage from passing freighters or large fish catches. When money is used, the New Zealand dollar is the most common means of payment, but easy-to-exchange currencies such as US or Australian dollars or British pounds are also accepted.

The most common locally made goods are handicrafts (especially wicker baskets, models of Bounty and wood carvings of the local wildlife in mirot wood from Henderson Island) and honey, and the island's stamps (can also be ordered from abroad) are much sought after by philatelists. Everything else must be imported, and the prices will be accordingly.

Food and drinks

There is a small grocery store that receives food from New Zealand and French Polynesia, usually ordered in advance by customers. It is open for one hour, 3 mornings a week. The local cuisine is largely based on seafood. Fried nanwi (bluefish) is a local favorite, but red snapper, tuna, whitefish, sea bass and wahoo are also common. Pills made from mashed fruit (like banana, sweet potato, or breadfruit) with sugar and milk, then baked into something like vanilla cream. Arrow root, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cabbage, pineapple, melons, citrus fruits, bananas and breadfruit are grown on the island. Some families have chickens and goats.

Alcohol was banned on Pitcairn in 1991, but for visitors it is possible to arrange a six-month license that gives permission to import alcohol for their own use. A license costs 25 New Zealand dollars. It is hardly worth trying to buy anything on the island; you can bring what you need or buy from a passing ship if there is something to buy.

Accommodation

If you stay longer than a day on Pitcairn, you must decide with the mayor where to stay. Those traveling alone or in pairs are usually allowed to stay with one of the locals, while groups are usually referred to a state-owned house known as "The Lodge". You must have booked a home before you get the license that allows entry.

Work

There are no jobs for visitors and there are only a few service professions (such as teachers, nurses, home carers) that are paid by the government of New Zealand, and a pastor employed by the Seventh-day Adventists. On the other hand, those who live on the island are expected to support themselves for a longer period of time, and to, among other things, help to take the longboats out to incoming ships.

Security

Although the great publicity and convictions due to the sex abuse scandal do not make a similar incident probable (and among the victims there were no tourists), it can certainly give any young woman something to think about visiting the island, especially if you travel without male company. Before this incident took place, Pitcairn was considered a safe place, with no violent crimes.

Health

General practitioners are periodically on the island, but most health problems are taken care of by a nurse (currently the pastor's wife). The island has a small clinic with dental and X-ray equipment and medicines for urgent needs, but there is no equipment for more serious injuries or diseases, but you have to wait for days or weeks for a passing ship that can assist with transport to a better hospital. The island is out of reach of ambulance helicopters. It goes without saying that this is not the right place to have a heart attack, stroke, or the like. A thorough health check before departure is highly recommended.

Respect

Most of Pitcairn's residents are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which served missions in the late 19th century. Although the importance of religion has diminished, ecclesiastical doctrine still has great significance for both the general way of life and civil law. For example, alcohol was banned until very recently; dance, to publicly show their love for someone else (PDA), and cigarette smoking is considered inappropriate; The Sabbath (Saturdays) is consistently considered a day of rest, (in addition to the service). The attire is similar to that in the western world and is quite unpretentious and weather-adapted.

The trials of several Pitcairn men (including the former mayor and many of the island's workforce) for sexual assault have been very painful for the close-knit islanders, all of whom have at least one friend or relative among the victims, the accused and / or the convicted. The incident has also sparked a heated debate over Pitcairn's sovereignty (such as the use of foreign British law by the court in New Zealand). You should expect strong feelings about this, and trying to show that you understand how difficult it must have been for the residents, can always involve a great risk of being misunderstood or upset someone.

You are not allowed to bring bees or beekeeping equipment. The island's bees have been declared completely free of disease and Pitcairn honey is one of the island's most important sources of income. Many other places in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean have otherwise been hit hard in recent years Varroamites, which can completely knock out bee communities.

Communication

On Pitcairn there is access to satellite phone, with a public telephone (with answering machine): 870 762337766. Until recently, an amateur radio (ham radio) the island's only contact with the outside world, and many of the island's inhabitants are radio operators, and are "broadcasting" regularly every week. The call signal for a radio amateur from Pitcairn Islands begins with VP6.

The postal service, which runs via New Zealand, is run irregularly, sometimes it takes months before a letter arrives. The post office is open one hour a day, 3 days a week.

Thanks to a seismological monitoring station, the island is connected to the internet at 128 kilobits per second, with wireless connection throughout Adamstown.

The electricity (240 V) is only available for a few hours in the morning, and a little longer in the evening.

There are no radio or TV transmitters on the island, but most households have TVs and VHS / DVD players (PAL format). If you do not bring your own DVD player or laptop, it is important to check that the included DVDs are encoded for region 4. PAL DVDs from the UK do not work on Australian, New Zealand or any other DVD player from Pacific region.

Departure

If you travel with your own boat, the nearest island is in French Polynesia, roughly described to the west-northwest: the distance to the isolated The Gambian Islands is more than 530 kilometers, Tuamotuöarna in the Actéon group more than 725 kilometers and Tahiti and the rest of Sällskapsöarna more than 2100 kilometers. The distance to Easter Island is about the same distance but in the opposite direction.

Passing ships are probably on their way to New Zealand or Panama.