12th February - Pitcairn Island
“Mutiny of the Bounty”
Sorry folks, but a little bit of a history
lesson. In Tahiti, back in 1789 Fletcher Christian took over the
Bounty and set Captain Bligh and 18 men adrift in an open boat. In 1790 the mutineers and their Tahitian
companions came to Pitcairn Island and then set fire to the Bounty, the wreck
is still visible under water in ‘Bounty Bay’.
The island is a British Overseas Territory,
the last remaining in the Pacific, which is now known as the home of the
descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians who accompanied
them. The history carries on in the
surnames of many of the islanders. With
only about 60 inhabitants many are still called Christian, Warren, Young and
Brown. The rest is history.
The ship dropped anchor off the north side
of the island and soon we saw a small boat approaching the ship carrying some thirty
islanders (50% of the population). After
two attempts to berth alongside, the islanders including all their goods
clambered up the side of the ship and they were escorted to the Meridian
Restaurant, where they quickly set up their stalls.
They were allowed two hours on board whilst
the 2,000 odd passengers pushed and shoved their way around the stalls, which
contained many wood carvings, postcards, jewellery, T shirts, honey and other
crafts made by the islanders. It was a
bit chaotic, enjoyed by Doreen and Geoffrey reckons that they must have taken
approximately $30 - $40,000 in the two hours (not quite all from us).
All too soon they had to pack up their
goods, risk life and limb climbing back onto their boat and return to their
island to await the next cruise ship to pass by.
13th February – Sean’s Birthday
Today is our grandson Sean’s First
Birthday, so we gatecrashed his birthday party via Facetime. It was good to see the children and all the
family enjoying themselves. We celebrated
by dining in The Orchid Restaurant with two of our friends, where we toasted
Sean’s birthday with a fine bottle of
wine.
14th February – Valentine’s Day
We are having a relaxing day as the ship cruises
through extremely calm seas towards our next port of call Tahiti, tomorrow.
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