FAKARAVA TO PITCAIRN ISLAND 

FAKARAVA ATOLL:   On Mar. 7 we anchored off Rotoava, the only village on Fakarava, the most easterly atoll in the Society Islands.  As it had been raining Betty was nervous about walking where it might be slippery, thus she decided to stay on the ship.  I took the tender ashore and did some walking before I discovered that I could rent a bike.  There were paved bike trails and I pedaled past some very attractive beaches.   

The population of Fakarava is 817 and there is a church and two small general stores.  The next place is Toau, Pakuria, which is 14 kilometers away and has a population of 18.  It is 430 kms to Tahiti, which would be the closest place with any services.  After visiting here I will no longer refer to living in Antigonish as being at the end of the Earth.  On the other hand, Fakarava does appear to have considerably better weather and nicer beaches. 

PITCAIRN ISLAND:  After Bligh and some loyalists were cast adrift the Bounty returned to Tahiti with some of the loyalists.  These loyalists, and some of the mutineers. stayed on Tahiti (the mutineers were eventually captured and hanged by the English).   Bligh somehow made it back to England.  Incidentally, when he was given command of the Bounty he was not promoted to Captain nor was he given any marines to help keep order.  Perhaps that contributed to the mutiny. 

Fletcher Christain and 8 other mutineers, along with the 11 Tahitian women and 6 Tahitian men, searched for several weeks for a place to hide.  Eventually they discovered Pitcairn, which is a 1 mile by 2 miles island with no harbour.  It had once been inhabited by Polyensians, but in 1790 was empty.  The mutineers divided up the island and burned the ship.   

Meanwhile life on Pitcairn was not without its problems.  The Polynesian men were not treated well by the Mutineers and after 3 years the Polynesian men decided to murder the Mutineers.  Christian and three others were killed, but then the women banded together and killed all the Polynesian men. 

Eighteen years after the mutiny an American whaling ship happened upon Pitcairn.  By that time only one of the mutineers remained alive, but 23 of the mutineers' children and some of the women were still there.  At this moment there are only 38 inhabitants, all but two are descendants of the mutineers and their Tahitian partners.  However, there are 5 others who are off the island at the moment, but they will return later this month. 

There is no airfield or helipad on Pitcairn, thus the only way to leave is by boat.  A supply ship visits every three months and about 12 cruise ships stop each year.  Oddly when we stopped on March 10 there were two ships, ours (the Marina) and a French cruise ship (Le Soleal). 

Because of there being no harbour neither the cruise ship nor its tenders can land.  Instead the people from the Island put a long boat in the water and visit the ships.  Two chose to visit Le Soleal and the rest came out to the Marina.  Once on board, one man presented a lecture on life on Pitcairn and the rest set up a market and sold honey and crafts.  This gave the passengers not only an opportunity to shop, but a chance to chat with these very interesting people, who are very articulate.  For us their visit to the ship was probably the highlight of our entire cruise. 

DINNER WITH DOMINIQUE:  On Saturday we were invited to dinner by Dominique Nicolle, the ship’s general manager.  We know him a bit from other cruises.  He and another senior officer (who is from Montenegro) hosted the meal in an opulent dining room (called Privee) tucked away at the back of Deck 14.  The dinner party included two American couples and a couple from Switzerland. 

The elegance of the event perhaps was indicated by the three different kinds of salt that were on the table.  We were given some choice in the food and I had all seafood starting with raw swordfish, then lobster bisque laced with Armagnac, then calamari, then Dover Sole, and finally dessert.  Although Dominique is from Brittany all the wines he chose were from Piedmont. 

The meal took three hours and my glass was never allowed to be empty.  Betty refused to wear her leg brace to this event so at the end of the evening a waiter was assigned to assist her to the elevator.  If truth were told I probably could have used some assistance myself.