Adamstown, Pitcairn – 27 March 2019
For our second day on Pitcairn Island, a group of passengers were anxiously waiting to get off the ship and go to shore. The 7:30 am departure however was delayed by at least 20 minutes as the ship prepared to get passengers onto the barges that would take them to shore. The waves were much rougher today than yesterday and the barges dipped up and down swells on the side of the boat that were at least 6 feet from the top to the bottom of the swell. The seamen made it seem like going from the boat to barge was a simple process. This certainly would have been a harrowing experience where they not there to lift you from the boat to the barge.
Once on shore two of our friends on the boat who make friends on Pitcairn last year, introduced us to Wayne & Charleen. We went together to their home for the afternoon to look at their guesthouse and plantation. They have a comfortable self contained one bedroom suite with a full kitchen that they host guests to Pitcairn Island in. For $120 US per person per night, they provide you with food for breakfast and lunch in your suite and then invite you to their home for a family dinner. Their guesthouse is on the side of the mountain above the village of Adamstown. It has a balcony in front of the rooms that overlook their gardens and the ocean.
We toured around their yard to have a look at the 2 year old coffee plants that were discoverd in remote areas of the island. He now has over a thousand seedlings that will be planted to produce Pitcairn Island coffee. As we walked around the property there were dozens of different fruit producing trees and vegetables. We saw oranges, lemons, limes, papayas, mangos, avacadoes, passion fruit and much more. There were multiple varieties of many of these fruits as well. The passion fruits for example included Polynesian and New Zealand varieties. It was our second day to sample some of the fruit as well.
On our way back to the house it started to pour down with rain. It started with a bit of a mist and then a drizzle before it became a downpour. It didn’t take long to get soaking wet as we trudged up the trail with a river that was now flowing down the middle of it. It made me feel like I was indeed on a tropical island.
Our gracious hosts gave each of us a dry t-shirt to change into and offered us a hot drink. It made me feel like I was part of their Pitcairn family. The small island friendliness and hospitality was as refreshing as the rain we had been soaked with. I have been to many islands and this gave us a true feeling for the warmth of islanders of the Pacific.
It was soon time for us to head back to our cruise ship and so we started the hike down their driveway. The red mud was by this point rather slippery. My wife was catching a ride on the quad while I thought I would just hike down on foot. I had not gone more than 50 meters however before I found myself horizontal in the air and landed on my side in the mud. The right side of me was painted earth red. It was at that point that I decided I would take the ride offered to me on the quad bike rather than attempt the 2 km hike back down the hill to the dock.
We said our goodbyes to the islanders of Pitcairn at the dock before the last barge left for the Aranui at 11:30 am. We had a long ride ahead of us to get to Aukena in the Gambier Islands by tomorrow.