Pitcairn Island

What a remarkable day we had! We traveled across hundreds of miles of ocean without seeing anything but an albatross, sea birds, and flying fish. And then, in the morning, I walked to the other side of the ship and there in front of us was a very small island (about 18 square miles), bright green and brown in the sunlight. How beautiful it must have looked to the men of the Bounty when it appeared on the horizon before them. Very few ships even today make a visit here.

Tahitian Princess is too large to be able to get close enough to the rugged shoreline to dock at Pitcairn Island. The Island is not large enough to have over 600 people from a cruise ship tramping around it without damage to the infrastructure. So like other ships like ours, we had been scheduled to embark residents of Pitcairn who would give us presentations about the history and life today on Pitcairn and bring their arts, crafts, and artifacts onboard so we could purchase mementos of our visit. But, because of the number of cases of the GI bug onboard, the Mayor of Pitcairn told the Captain that he could not risk introducing illness to their small and isolated community by having contact between us. Given the remote location I am sure it was a wise decision, but we were all disappointed not to have the opportunity to meet the people from Pitcairn and learn about their island first hand.

I was especially disappointed because a Pitcairn reader of my blog, Dave, and I had exchanged emails. He knew the Tahitian Princess was scheduled to check in there and told me that we would be able to meet.

Although no one would come on board, arrangements were made for a few Pitcairn residents to come to the TP’s pontoon and load supplies onto one of their longboats. We were standing at the railing on Deck 5 just above the boat from the Island watching supplies being transferred. Cases of eggs, milk, sacks of potatoes, and other foods were taken off the TP and loaded onto the small boat. I watched wondering if one of the men could be Dave. Then, when the work was done, one man looked up and called my name. I was so excited to think that I was meeting in person someone I am acquainted with at such remote location. Dave called out to me that he had given the Captain a gift for me, and many people on the ship began talking about us. Who is Sharon? Who is Dave? What is the gift? How do they know each other?

JJ, the Cruise Director, and Frankie, the Assistant Cruise Director, talked about the mystery on the daily TV show. Our friends onboard kept pointing out to people who I am and telling them a bit of the story. Michael, the Bridge Instructor, told the class the story. In addition to the gift for me, there was a gift for the Captain for bringing our ship closer to shore than any ship our size and a video about the Pitcairn. The video was shown over the television and is going to be repeated.

So, Dave, a public thank you for your thoughtful gift to me, two lovely King of the Night flowers (one night blooms) and a bottle of Tautama Gold Pure Honey, produced and bottled on Pitcairn Island.