Pitcairn Island
We arrived early to Pitcairn Island this morning. The ship sailed by Bounty Bay on the island's Northeastern side but it was too windy and the swell made it an impossible point for any activities. We anchored on the island's Northwestern side during breakfast. You could feel the nervousness creeping up as so many of our guests had this landing as one of the absolute highlights on the voyage. Our Expedition Leader Tom arranged for the longboats to come out and pick us up as they would give us a drier ride than the Zodiacs. They definitely gave us the true feeling about landing at Pitcairn, and how lucky we were to be able to do it.
Once ashore, a steep road up led us through amazing flowers and banana plants. Some got a ride with the quad-bikes. At the top we all wondered off freely. A fascinating museum with remains from the Bounty, a church and a small local market were at the top. Beautifully hand carved wood sculptures and local honey were to be found. The anchor of the Bounty was attached to the fence and quite a few pictures were taken.
Some people rented a guide and took off on the quad-bikes to get to the look-out points on the island. The bikes went through thick vegetation on roads that did not seem to exist. Superb views were to be seen from higher grounds. The waves were crashing onto the rocks and the tropic birds hovered down in the gulleys.
Some people came back for lunch and to enjoy a relaxing afternoon onboard. A good selection of local handy-crafts was found in the lounge for those who had saved themselves from the temptations on the island. The view of Pitcairn Island was great from the ship and you could really picture the Bounty lying for anchor in the Bay.
The weather conditions for snorkeling were too rough but the divers were able to dive. We got geared up in the Zodiac whilst we were bobbing about in large swell. We dropped down in crystal clear water to 20 meters and the swell gently rocked us back and forth together with the fish. A hump-head parrotfish passed by and so did a unicorn fish. A nudibranch slowly made its way across a coral.
When we reached the surface the wind had picked up and the swell had increased. We got back to theEndeavour just as the last longboat came from the island and the ship got ready to sail towards that magic horizon.
We arrived early to Pitcairn Island this morning. The ship sailed by Bounty Bay on the island's Northeastern side but it was too windy and the swell made it an impossible point for any activities. We anchored on the island's Northwestern side during breakfast. You could feel the nervousness creeping up as so many of our guests had this landing as one of the absolute highlights on the voyage. Our Expedition Leader Tom arranged for the longboats to come out and pick us up as they would give us a drier ride than the Zodiacs. They definitely gave us the true feeling about landing at Pitcairn, and how lucky we were to be able to do it.
Once ashore, a steep road up led us through amazing flowers and banana plants. Some got a ride with the quad-bikes. At the top we all wondered off freely. A fascinating museum with remains from the Bounty, a church and a small local market were at the top. Beautifully hand carved wood sculptures and local honey were to be found. The anchor of the Bounty was attached to the fence and quite a few pictures were taken.
Some people rented a guide and took off on the quad-bikes to get to the look-out points on the island. The bikes went through thick vegetation on roads that did not seem to exist. Superb views were to be seen from higher grounds. The waves were crashing onto the rocks and the tropic birds hovered down in the gulleys.
Some people came back for lunch and to enjoy a relaxing afternoon onboard. A good selection of local handy-crafts was found in the lounge for those who had saved themselves from the temptations on the island. The view of Pitcairn Island was great from the ship and you could really picture the Bounty lying for anchor in the Bay.
The weather conditions for snorkeling were too rough but the divers were able to dive. We got geared up in the Zodiac whilst we were bobbing about in large swell. We dropped down in crystal clear water to 20 meters and the swell gently rocked us back and forth together with the fish. A hump-head parrotfish passed by and so did a unicorn fish. A nudibranch slowly made its way across a coral.
When we reached the surface the wind had picked up and the swell had increased. We got back to theEndeavour just as the last longboat came from the island and the ship got ready to sail towards that magic horizon.
