Pitcairn.
We have not been sure for the past weeks as to whether we woud be able to go on land or not. No, it has not been possible but Aida has organsied for the inhabitants of the island to come on board and offer their soveniers and wares for sales.
Passengers have enjoyed this visit and it was by far the most sensible decision to make. The island iss mall, steep and only has a small landing area. It would have been impossible to tender all passengers to this area.
The Pitcairn Islands are a loosely grouped handful of tiny islands in the remote South Pacific, farther from any continent than any other inhabited island. The islands are the last British colony in the South Pacific and the most isolated British dependency, apart from Tristan da Cunha. The rugged main island was settled by the infamous mutineers of the HMS Bounty and their Polynesian companions, and most of Pitcairn's mere four dozen current inhabitants are their descendants.
Pitcairn was either inhabited or frequently visited by Polynesian peoples in earlier centuries (they left glyphs etched in the rocks), and was visited briefly by Portuguese and British explorers (one of whom gave it his name), but it was deserted until in 1790 the infamous mutineers of the Royal Navy ship Bounty and their Tahitian companions settled there under the leadership of Fletcher Christian. They burned and sank the ship in what is now called Bounty Bay (there was nowhere else to hide it), and founded a village on Pitcairn. At first a rather lawless community of violent drunks, it was "tamed" when John Adams, the last mutineer to avoid accident or murder, converted the women and children to Christianity. They lived there for 24 years before being rediscovered by the British, who allowed the community to continue.
Pitcairn was the first Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that empire in the South Pacific.
Emigration – first to Norfolk Island and mostly to New Zealand in the last century have thinned the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50. The island was rocked in 2004 by accusations of chronic and ubiquitous sexual abuse of the community's young female members (including pre-adolescent girls), and the subsequent investigation of much of the adult male population (including several who were no longer living there), six of whom were sentenced in New Zealand to terms in prison.
The prison building in Adamstown is currently unoccupied, but there are plans for it to house the library and small tourist office, and possibly some tourist accommodation.
The Pitcairn Islands are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the last British Overseas Territory in the Pacific. The four islands – Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno – are spread over several hundred miles of ocean and have a total land area of about 47 square kilometres (18 sq mi). Only Pitcairn, the second-largest island that measures about 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) from east to west, is inhabited.
The islands are inhabited mostly by descendants of nine Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians or
Polynesians, who accompanied them, an event that has been retold in many books and films.
This history is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders. With only about 50 permanent inhabitants, originating from four main families, Pitcairn is the least populous national jurisdiction in the world.
The earliest known settlers of the Pitcairn Islands were Polynesians who appear to have lived on Pitcairn and Henderson, and on Mangareva Island over 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the northwest, for several centuries.
They traded goods and formed social ties among the three islands despite the long canoe voyages between them, which helped the small populations on each island survive despite their limited resources. Eventually, important natural resources were exhausted, inter-island trade broke down and a period of civil war began on Mangareva, causing the small human populations on Henderson and Pitcairn to be cut off and eventually become extinct.
Although archaeologists believe that Polynesians were living on Pitcairn as late as the 15th century, the islands were uninhabited when they were rediscovered by Europeans.
Pitcairn Island was sighted on 3 July 1767 by the crew of the British sloop HMS Swallow. The island was named after Midshipman Robert Pitcairn, a fifteen-year-old crew member who was the first to sight the island. Robert Pitcairn was a son of British Marine Major John Pitcairn.
In 1790 nine of the mutineers from the Bounty, along with the native Tahitian men and women who were with them (six men, eleven women and a baby girl), settled on Pitcairn Islands and set fire to the Bounty. The wreck is still visible underwater in Bounty Bay, discovered in 1957 by National Geogrpahic explorer Luis Marden. Although the settlers survived by farming and fishing, the initial period of settlement was marked by serious tensions among them. Alcoholism, murder, disease and other ills took the lives of most mutineers and Tahitian men.
The Pitcairn islanders reported it was not until 27 December 1795 that the first ship since the Bounty was seen from the island, but it did not approach the land and they could not make out the nationality. A second ship appeared in 1801, but made no attempt to communicate with them. A third came sufficiently near to see their house, but did not try to send a boat on shore.
Finally, the American ship became the first to visit the island, when the crew spent 10 hours on Pitcairn in February 1808. By that time, only one mutineer, John Adams, remained alive. He was granted amnesty for his part in the mutiny.
Facts of interest about the island:
In 2004, charges were laid against seven men living on Pitcairn and six living abroad. This accounted for nearly a third of the male population. After extensive trials, most of the men were convicted, some with multiple counts of sexual encounters with children. On 25 October 2004, six men were convicted, including the island's mayor at the time. After the six men lost their final appeal, the British government set up a prison on the island at Bob's Valley. The men began serving their sentences in late 2006. By 2010, all had served their sentences or been granted home detention status.
In 2010, the then mayor Mike Warren faced 25 charges of possessing images and videos of child pornography on his computer.
An "entry clearance application" must be made for any child under the age of 16, prior to visiting Pitcairn, while adults visiting the island for periods of less than 14 days are not required to complete any application or visa request prior to arrival.
As of 2016, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not allow their staff based on Pitcairn to be accompanied by their children.
Peter - Die Insel wurde durch Werkzeugfunde und Felszeichnungen belegt vermutlich bereits um 800 nach Christus besiedelt. Die Entdeckungsgeschichte begann jedoch erst mit der ersten Sichtung durch den englischen Kadetten Robert Pitcairn am 2. Juli 1767. Sein Kapitän ließ die Insel in den Seekarten eintragen, doch die Position war mit einer Abweichung von 330 km falsch vermerkt. Sie erlangte Ruhm und Bekanntheit durch den Film, Meuterei auf der Bounty. Die Meuterei ereignete sich am 28. April 1789.
Nach einer Irrfahrt mit der gekaperten Bounty kamen 9 Meuterer zusammen mit 6 polynesischen Männern und 13 polynesischen Frauen am 15. Januar 1790 auf die Insel. Aufgrund des fruchtbaren Bodens, der Kokospalmen und Brotbaumfrüchte wählten sie die Insel zu ihrer neuen Heimat und versenkten die Bounty.
Seit 1838 ist Pitcairn britische Kronkolonie. Es leben heute ca. 47 Bewohner, die sich selbst mit Grundnahrungsmittel versorgen in Adamstown benannt nach dem letzten überlebenden der Meuterer, alle anderen hatten sich durch Rivalitätskämpfe innerhalb 10 Jahren umgebracht.
Das übrige bringt alle 3 Monate ein Versorgungsschiff.
Jedes Haus hat Internetanschluss, Frischwasser wird in entsprechend großen Tanks sowie Zisternen aufgesammelt. Für jeweils 2 Jahre kommt ein Lehrer aus Neuseeland, des Weiteren gibt es 1 Arzt und 2 Polizisten auf der Insel.
Nun aber zu unserem Erlebnis mit dieser Insel.
Wie bereits erwähnt war es nicht klar was wir Passagiere auf dieser Insel erleben konnten. Die Offiziere haben eine weise Entscheidung getroffen und hatten uns diese am Vorabend mitgeteilt. Sie luden die Bewohner zu uns auf das Schiff ein.
Sie brachten ihre zu verkaufenden Souvenir Artikel mit an Bord und konnten diese in einer Bar sowie im Theater präsentieren. Es herrschte großes Interesse und entsprechend war der Andrang. Gegen 13.00 Uhr war das Spektakel vorbei, die Insulaner beluden ihr Boot und kehrten zurück auf ihr kleines Paradies.
Unser Kapitän umrundete zum Abschied noch einmal die Insel und setzte dann die Reise mit drei weiteren See Tagen nach Tahiti fort.
3 See Tage in Richtung Tahiti, Moorea und Bora Bora. Wir haben inzwischen einen Zeitunterschied von 11 Stunden und unsere Uhren jeweils um 1 Stunde vorgestellt. Bedeutet: Wenn wir aufstehen und den Tag beginnen kommt ihr von der Arbeit und es beginnt euer Feierabend.