Tower and Town, April 2016

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A Bucket-List Item

Having read and enjoyed last months T&T and the various things on people's 'Bucket list', Caroline Loveday and her husband, recently returned from a round the world trip, tell how they included one such thing they wanted to do.

My late father Jess Chandler, local saddler and historian, had a life long interest in the sea and in particular Capt William Bligh, believing him to be a much maligned figure. In addition to writing The History of Marlborough, he wrote books about Captain Bligh and was considered an authority on the subject.

I was brought up on tales of the Mutiny on the Bounty and such like and knew of Pitcairn Island from an early age!

Consequently, when planning our trip, Christopher and I decided to make the challenging journey from Tahiti to Pitcairn - the smallest, remotest inhabited island in the world. It is a British Overseas Territory. This involved over a year in planning, and flying from Tahiti to Rikatea in the Gambier Islands with a refuelling stop for the twin turbo plane at a strip of land on Tureia.

A ferry took us to Mangareva, another of the Gambier Islands and there we boarded the supply ship Claymore II for the three-day voyage across the South Pacific to Pitcairn. The boat moored overnight and in the morning a long boat came out from Pitcairn to pick us up along with the various cargo and transport us back to the Island to a welcome from almost the entire population of 48 (no harbour and no landing strip on this steep and volcanic 1 mile wide x 2 mile long Island)

Quad bikes then took us up the 'Hill of Difficulty' to our accommodation with a delightful family - Charlene, a descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutineers, her husband Vaine from the Cook Islands and their 8 year old daughter. On the Sabbath (Saturday) we attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The Island is beautiful. Everything,  from avocados to papayas to tomatoes and beans, grows abundantly. Goats and chickens are kept by most families. Bee hives were introduced by the British Government and the honey is reckoned to be the purest in the world.  The climate is wonderful. There is only one car on the whole Island but each household has a quad bike. The flowers are beautiful and the marine life around the Island second to none. Turtles happily swim around in the water with you, close to the rocky shoreline.

Memories of paradise to last a life time!

Caroline Loveday