Although not part of French Polynesia, Pitcairn, 1,300 mi/2,100 km southeast of Papeete, Tahiti, is nearer that territory than anywhere else. And the island's history is directly linked to Tahiti. Pitcairn's inhabitants are descendants of the HMS
Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians that accompanied them to the island. Remote, verdant and characterized by steep cliffs that make a ship landing difficult, the island was chosen by the mutineers as a hideout from the British Navy in 1790. Their plan worked, though only one of the mutineers survived past 1800. The others, including their leader Fletcher Christian, were killed by a combination of violence and disease. Their descendants became fervent Christians and later adopted the Seventh-Day Adventist faith. Today, the hardy islanders speak in a strange, old-world English dialect. Politically, the island is a dependent territory of the United Kingdom and is administered from New Zealand.
Getting to Pitcairn is not easy. There is no runway for planes, so visitors arrive by boat, usually on one of the few cruise ships that call there. A few hundred tourists arrive in that fashion each year. There are no hotels or guesthouses, so those planning to stay on the island need to make arrangements to stay with residents in advance of their visit. If you want to remain after your boat leaves, you'll need a permit, and that also needs to be arranged in advance.
Adamstown, the only settlement on Pitcairn, has a Seventh-Day Adventist church. The Bible from the Bounty is on display there, and a few other items from the famous ship, including the anchor and a cannon, are displayed around town.
Radio antennae and a satellite receiver decorate the island's highest point and provide the only communication link with the outside world besides the occasional passing ship. When a boat is sighted on the horizon, the church bell is rung 10 times, regardless of whether the ship stops at Pitcairn or not. The locals often come out on longboats to greet ships and sell wood carvings, baskets, needlepoint and the famous Pitcairn Island postage stamps.
