February 13, 2019 – Pitcairn Island
We have been setting the clocks back one hour every night since leaving Easter Island. I’m getting used to 25 hour days. We are on Pacific Time today.
Breakfast and then the gym as usual. Land was sighted about 9:30 am. Ian gave his presentation over the loudspeakers. Pitcairn is an interesting island and I can understand why Fletcher Christian chose this island to hide. Even if they were somehow discovered, the cliffs and ocean swells afforded lots of protection.
The longboat contains all of the residents from the island. They came aboard and assembled on the Lido deck to sell us things and did a presentation on the Main Stage.
We quickly worked our way through the crowds gathered on the Lido. Some interesting crafts for sale but nothing we chose to purchase. Long lines at the passport stamping station and at the postcard station. Not sure what the thrill here is.
We went to the Main Stage presentation. Simon is an island resident originally from Yorkshire, England. I was a bit disappointed that he wasn’t one of the residents that grew up on the island. He gave a slide presentation and then did a Q&A session. They have a generator on the island for electricity. It runs during the day only. Old fashioned outhouses. I’m not sure why he chose this lifestyle. His wife is from California. They will never leave. They get supplies every 3 months from a New Zealand ship. There are 9 families on the island. An elementary school has 3 children in it. A few of the folks are hired to come in. The school teacher and police officer are two. Those who want to continue their education beyond elementary school are sent to a boarding school in New Zealand. This is the last of the British Overseas Territories. Many of the residents have part time government jobs on the island.
It was a fascinating presentation. The longboat left at 1 pm. We all waved and decided it was a good excuse for a party.
The serving staff wore festive uniforms to create an 18th century feel. This happened right in from of our door on the lower promenade and it was fun. Someone decided that playing music from some musical production would add some spirit to the festivities. Didn’t happen. In many musical productions, actual good music is an after thought. I would rather have heard “Tiny Bubbles” by Don Ho.
I decided to have a gourmet burger at the Lido for dinner.
The evening entertainment was the return of pianist Tim Abel. Very talented. He did the Liberace version of the 12th street rag at the Liberace tempo. Wow! He is by far the best instrumentalist we have seen on the ship.…