Craig and Amy in the South Seas: Voyage to Pitcairn and Beyond, Part 7. Pitcairn Island, Day 2

“Awake, Bold Bligh! The foe is at the gate! Awake, Bold Bligh! Alas, it is too late!” - Lord Byron, ‘The Island’, 1823

Our second day on Pitcairn was sunny and warm and we were in the first barge at 8am. Our plan this morning was to do a hike to other parts of the island and be back on the ship by 11:30, as we were to sail at noon.

So after landing, up we went on the Hill of Difficulty (the only paved road on the island which goes from the dock to Adamsville) and then made a left turn, walking on a dirt road towards Ship’s Landing Point, a high ridge overlooking Bounty Bay. Here we had a beautiful view over Adamstown, the hill that contains Christian’s Cave (a cave where Fletcher Christian was constantly on the lookout for passing ships), and the beautiful rocky coast of Pitcairn.

Then we hiked to the Down Rope Overlook. Below, carved on a rock on the beach, are several petroglyphs, carved by native peoples who lived here for hundreds of years. It’s estimated that they abandoned Pitcairn 300 years before the Bounty folks showed up. We couldn’t get down to see them as you had to go way down by rope. No thank you.

For the next couple of hours we explored the northwest part of the island, going through lovely forests and there was a wide valley where there is some farming, Aute Valley. It was here that the mutineers first started farming Pitcairn.

As we were hiking, several ATVs passed us with Aranui passengers in the back and a Pitcairner driving. For those who don’t want to hike, this is a great way to see the island. It’s also good for the residents, as they charge $50 per person for an hour or so. But this would be one of the few hikes we would take on the whole trip, so no thank you, we’ll walk.

By now it was time to say goodbye to lovely Pitcairn. At the dock, several residents were there to say goodbye. There were a couple of huge tuna fish that they had caught and sold to the Aranui (the next day we had fresh tuna carpaccio!)

At noon, the Aranui weighed anchor and off we went. The captain did a circumnavigation of the island so we could see the whole thing (didn’t take that long) and off we were to our next destination, the island of Aukena, back in the Gambiers.

Pitcairn's police officer, who is from New Zealand...