Bounty Day at Pitcairn Island

I think most people have heard of the book/movie called "Mutiny on the Bounty". It takes place in the 1700's, the mutineers ended up on Pitcairn Island, a small island in the middle of no where. It's located 1400 miles from Easter Island, took us 2 days to get there! After dinner last night we had envelopes on our bed which contain Pitcairn postage stamps. The image is of the Rotterdam, the sister ship of the one we are on and the ship we went around the world on in 2009. In 2001 Pitcairn issued 4 stamps with cruise ships on them to honor the days those ship stopped in port. Nice gift!

 

There is no harbor or pier on Pitcairn Island so when cruise ships do stop by, the islanders come to them. They get about 8 a year. Apparently we were a happy surprise to them, they didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that we would be arriving. Strange since it was on the original itinerary when we signed up for this cruise over a year ago. Anyway, today is Bounty Day on the island. It is celebrating the anniversary of the day Fletcher Christian set fire to the Bounty ship after they had arrived there. The islanders usually make a mock Bounty and set it on fire, but didn't have time to do it this year. They were all preparing for our visit.

 

There were about 25 tables set up around the pool on the Lido deck. When the islanders came onboard at about 9:30, they set up their wares to sell. It was a feeding frenzy! They had honey, which is supposed to be the purest in the world, carvings, stamps, shirts, etc. The Postmaster was there selling stamps and collecting postcards from us. Every table including the post office totally sold out of stamps! They ended up just taking the postcards with an additional $1 and will put a stamp on them when they get home. Before the sale started I talked to one islander named Charlotte. She was probably in her 30's. Said she was born on the island and really enjoys her life there. I think she had 3 children with her. She said they grow bananas and pineapple to export to New Zealand, and just keep busy. There are currently only 43 people who live there, 10 of which are children.

 

When the sale started at 10, I sent Mel downstairs to get our passports stamped from the island. It was $10 each to have it done, well worth it for the souvenir! At 11, two of the islanders gave a presentation in the Queen's Lounge, showing pictures of some of their homes and gathering places. They seem to do everything as a community. When they get supplies, they are divided equally amongst the 9 families. Our ship gave them frozen food including beef and chicken, as well as bottled water, soda and beer. We also gave them fresh vegetables including potatoes and onions. They get a supply ship every 3 months only. They grow a lot of their own vegetables and fruit and catch a lot of fish. They were all eating ice cream while onboard, from the little ones to the seniors. I think they were really enjoying it. They were given ice cream from the ship also.

The islanders arrived to our ship aboard one of their long boats. It didn't look very large, but was carrying all the for sale items as well as about 35 people. In the picture you can see some wood covering the bottom of the boat, part of it is open. They put all the supplies under the wood, then the people sit along the sides and on top. It actually holds a LOT.

 

Someone asked about natural disasters in the area. They said when Chile had an earthquake, there was a resulting tsunami. They hauled all of their boats to high ground. All the water drained out of Bounty Bay. Not much of a bay really, just a curve in the rock. The iron keel (I think that's what it's called?) from the original Bounty sits on the bottom of the ocean in Bounty Bay. What a lot of interesting history in this place. It was a great day.