The South Pacific: Pitcairn Island part 1 – On a mission 

Today we were on a mission. We had wanted to visit the Pitcairn Islands for a very long time because of its maritime history and had managed to find one of the few ships that visited here. Our booking was suspended, however, due to Covid.

Now free to travel, we looked forward with excitement to reaching this distant and historic island, but had to wait until just minutes beforehand to ascertain if it was possible for our Zodiac crafts to land. Finally, it was!

Not only did we wait many years to travel, but this was to result in what became a mission. For some time I have known Glynn Christian, the great, great, great, great grandson of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the Mutiny on the Bounty. Some in the UK may recall him from his early days as the New Zealand TV chef, one of the few and early chefs demonstrating on UK television at the time.

He had told me of his association to Fletcher Christian and his research into his family history and the mutiny, and I had told him of our wish to travel to Pitcairn. He asked, if we ever make the trip, could we take some of the books he had written, with us. We willingly agreed.

So the time was excitingly approaching and we met with Glynn just before we left for this trip and he passed over some of his books. These we handled with great care, not wishing to damage them in transit, and most importantly not to lose them on the long journey. We had to change planes three times and go through security three times. We could not risk them going in the checked-in luggage, so put them in the carry-on baggage… prior weight training might have helped at this stage! Every step of the way we checked and checked we had them nearby.

After many days of arriving in Tahiti it was time to travel from our hotel to the dockside in Papeete to board the ship. Our bags were transported separately. “No hand baggage!” we were told. Can you imagine how I felt cutting myself away from these precious books!

A short ride and we were alongside the ship. I glanced down at the baggage lined up for our arrival. With relief I saw the hand baggage was still with us.

We climbed the very high steps onto the ship (not so good for those not liking heights, especially with a view of the sea down below), got on board and after check-in proceeded to our cabin. The luggage on the dockside would be with us soon. 

To my relief bag one arrived (looks promising). Then bag two (great). Then bag three (whoopee). These were all small bags I would add – we travel lightly. We awaited bag four… THE bag! It did not arrive. As panic started to set in I wondered where it was. It was no longer on the dockside, but it was not with us either! I asked for help in locating it.

With great relief it was then found and we could at last relax… well for the time being. For the next nine days we pondered if it would be possible to get onto the main Pitcairn island. Nothing is guaranteed as swell is not so swell at sea and can prevent any landing.

But the day finally came and we did land. Our first stop was to complete our mission – to find the Mayor, the first Lady Mayor in the island’s history. Having fewer than 40 inhabitants on the island it was not difficult to locate anybody. We hopped onto a quad bike taxi as recommended, as it would be all uphill from now on (at least until we were to go steeply downhill). Our driver was a gentleman named Steve, owner of Christian’s Bar and past Mayor himself. He told us he was a distant cousin of Glynn Christian. That is not really surprising. There are very many people with the surname Christian on the island.

Steve drove us straight to the Lady Mayor. She welcomed us and said: “You must be Sue and John. I have been expecting you.” 

Then, with great excitement, we handed over the books, and had detailed discussions as to where they would be placed. This was to involve a future meeting of the Councillors and it was likely the books would be heading to the museum so that they would become part of their archive about the people of the island. Amongst Glynn’s many books published were three written on the island’s history: ‘The Truth about the Mutiny on HMAV Bounty’; ‘Mrs Christian, Bounty Mutineer’; and ‘Fletcher Christian, Bounty Mutineer’. These were the books we delivered.

Mission accomplished? In part, yes. But there was one other important thing to do. When we boarded the ship in Tahiti, the first thing we asked of our Expedition Leader was whether he thought it would be possible to get onto the island and whether we would be able to locate the Lady Mayor. She was expecting us, but where might she be?

The Expedition Leader Gerard said the team would do everything possible to enable us to land and, as this was such a unique and unusual request, asked if I might give a presentation about the mission. I happily agreed.

After the successful landing and tour of Pitcairn Island (I will cover our visit in a future posting) the time came to give the presentation – the only presentation given by a passenger I might add. Having notes and microphone in hand, plus some quickly garnered supporting photos, I gave my speech, not realising how rocky these ships can be when standing on stage. Just how the lecturers maintain their stance for considerable times can only fill me with wonder having attempted this for just a short while. It sure is a balancing act.

I discussed the reasons for our long-awaited trip, the content and significance of the books, and how they will become part of the Island’s history being kept in the archives. The speech over, several people discussed this further with us and something I had not expected was one person’s comment that this report back on the ship had brought an historic story right up to date. “You are now part of Pitcairn’s history,” she said. I had not given that any thought. But what the feedback did show was that even after 233 years the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty continues to intrigue and fascinate. 

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022