Visiting the Pitcairn Islands. We're talking remote!

I've driven across Texas, and the prairies of Kansas and Nebraska, and thought of the phrase "the middle of nowhere", but at worst, I was no more than a couple hours drive from civilization.

Who's up for a journey to the Pitcairns? A group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that deserves the "middle of nowhere" title.
Visitors to Pitcairn typically fly out of Auckland, Los Angeles or Tokyo, to Tahiti. And you're just starting. From Tahiti to Mangareva, where you will be ferried to a ship called the Silver Supporter. Now comes a 32 hour voyage to Pitcairn, population:47.

The little red marker is Pitcairn.
And I thought driving across South Dakota was a journey...


An isolated speck of land halfway between Tahiti and Easter Island, Pitcairn was the perfect hiding place for the infamous mutineers of the HMS Bounty in 1790. Five Hollywood films and over 1,000 books later, Pitcairn’s celebrity status far outweighs its physical size. With a current population of fewer than 50 residents, exploring its rugged landscape of tall sea cliffs and fertile valleys blends both sensation and fear. It is as remote as it gets in an already remote region, a paradise with a mysterious past and an unclear future.

Travel Guide

The silver Supporter

Yeah, but what about Tristan Da Cunha? Even more remote arguably. Just kidding---I saw that addressed in the comments when I went to save this to watch later. Thanks, Cole, sounds like a nice vicarious adventure.

a reply to: ColeYounger

Thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks for posting.

If only there wasn't a 2 day boat journey to get there , I'd give it a visit. I get very sea sick.

What a beautiful little island. Absolutely amazing people live there.

a reply to: ColeYounger
I have bought honey from there! They say it's the most pure honey in the world. I want to say I bought it after learning from it on ats possibly, like almost ten years ago.

a reply to: ColeYounger
"

In May 1998, the UK Government aid agency, the Department for International Development, funded an apiculture programme for Pitcairn which included training for Pitcairn's bee keepers and a detailed analysis of the disease status of Pitcairn bees and honey. As a result, Pitcairn is now able to export honey products to New Zealand and beyond.

Pitcairn has one of the most disease free bee populations of anywhere in the world and the honey produced is of an exceptionally high quality. The apicultural scientist conducting the project, also found that Pitcairn bees were a particularly placid variety and within a short time, was able to work with them wearing minimal protection. It would therefore seem that the export of live Queen bees is another potential earner for the Pitcairn Islanders. The numbers of hives on the island is now around 60, with potential for perhaps 5 times that amount.

The rich and intense fruitiness of Pitcairn's honey is attributed to the nectar from the Mango, Lata, Passion Flower, Guava and Roseapple flowers found in abundance on Pitcairn."

It would definitely be nice to spend some time there, away from the maddening crowds, the pollution,
the insanity...

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge

Thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks for posting.

If only there wasn't a 2 day boat journey to get there , I'd give it a visit. I get very sea sick.

What a beautiful little island. Absolutely amazing people live there.

Secret!! Good to see you old friend!!

a reply to: ColeYounger

Before you go the descendants who still live there in a community are very clannish and there are allegations of child abuse and incest run rampant among that small community.

I personally would not touch that island with a barge pole, not even someone else barge pole for that matter.
en.wikipedia.org...

Now IF I was made of money and could go and do what I wanted I would love to personally go and search for this in the mid-Atlantic between Brazil and Africa.
To quote from this page but I read about this many years prior to ever having the internet.
www.beforeus.com...

Late in 1942, a pilot engaged on military flights between Recife, Brazil, and Dakar, Senegal, reported sighting a city beneath the waves of the mid-Atlantic. The crew saw what appeared to be clusters of buildings just below the ocean, on the western slope of a submarine mountain near the St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks (1oN, 30oW). It was in the late afternoon sun, when the water was still and clear. The rays of the sun struck the water at such an angle that they penetrated diagonally to a considerable distance. This clarity would occur only once in a thousand flights or more.



Others flying the same route have since noticed what appear to be shallow underwater stone walls and ruins at about 6oN, 20oW, near the Sierra Leone Rise.



The Piri Reis map (another map with ancient origins) traces an island no longer indicated on modern maps. This large island appears exactly where the tiny St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks are now located – about 700 miles east of Recife.


Now it could just be urban legend stuff made up for a book, but it would be a real adventure assuming I had the money and the fully decked out billionaires' yacht with its own submarine etc.

Well, we can only daydream until someone actually investigates such, apparently it falls under Brazil's jurisdiction though as do St Peter and Paul Rock's and sadly they are known for covering up controversial finds such as their navy dumping large stones over the site of a Roman shipwreck off their own coast because it would have thrown up too many questions.
www.mirror.co.uk...

originally posted by: The GUT

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge

Thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks for posting.

If only there wasn't a 2 day boat journey to get there , I'd give it a visit. I get very sea sick.

What a beautiful little island. Absolutely amazing people live there.

Secret!! Good to see you old friend!!

Right back atcha me auld mate. Slainte