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I am of Pitcairn descent. My grandmother was born there. I'm a descendant of the mutineers Fletcher Christian, John Mills and Edward Young, and the Tahitian wom
by doublec 5y ago
I am of Pitcairn descent. My grandmother was born there. I'm a descendant of the mutineers Fletcher Christian, John Mills and Edward Young, and the Tahitian women who went there, Mauatua, Vahineatua, To'ofaiti and Teraura.
I've been to the island and I'm active in the Pitcairn community here in New Zealand. The island is a vibrant community of people working. When I was there they were very warm and welcoming. The island itself is small but with mountainous areas and there is much to see and do. The vibe on the island is very similar to any small rural town in New Zealand.
I have photos of the trip if anyone is interested http://cd.pn/pn2012/ http://cd.pn/pn2012/
- username91 5y agoThose photos are great! Thanks for sharing.
- cupcake-unicorn 5y agoCan you answer more questions about the state of the infrastructure there like electricity and internet? On Wikipedia it says there's only one person in charge of the electricity and it goes off every night.
- doublec 5y agoWhen I was there the power operated until 10pm at night. From that time homes would either run from personal generators, or batteries - to power refrigerators, lights, routers, etc. These days the homes have or are getting solar panels. Internet was terrible at the time. I wrote about it here: https://bluishcoder.co.nz/2012/05/29/pitcairn-island-and-slow-internet.html https://bluishcoder.co.nz/2012/05/29/pitcairn-island-and-slo... It has improved but is still relatively slow and expensive.
- vimy 5y agoStarlink seems perfect for this island.
- phire 5y agoWill be great once they get the laser links working.
- doublec 5y agoAbsolutely! The cost might be prohibitive for the Pitcairners salary though.
- midasuni 5y agoI suspect that price will be adjusted depending on target market. Won’t cost spacex anything to provide Internet to tiny islands like this
- drran 5y agoYep. They will charge much more in such remote areas with almost no competition.
- jhgb 5y agoExcept that in non-remote areas, there will be greater demand per area, and stations per area is the limiting factor. So I'm not sure they'd charge more in really isolated places than in places with higher density and bad service.
- Gradient-Ascent 5y agoCan you just use one dish and then connect everyone to this one dish? Costs 100$ a month divided by all inhabitants. It makes sense to setup one dish and connect a couple of people to it. It does not make sense to setup one dish next to another. Remote areas = Mostly people, that can't actually afford it. Does Starlink support this or is it against their interest?
- micromacrofoot 5y agoIf Starlink ever adjusts prices downward to benefit people who otherwise can't afford it I'll eat my hat.
- jnord 5y agoIt is truly amazing that this extremely remote island can actually be explored via Google street view: https://goo.gl/maps/Jq2nguTrabm84sKB8 https://goo.gl/maps/Jq2nguTrabm84sKB8
- doublec 5y agoYes! I remember seeing photos of the person doing the google photography. Especially going down an area called "Down Rope" where some pre-european petroglyphs are. You basically have to cling to the side of a rock wall down the cliff to get there - dangerous and tiring! It's safe as long as you stick to the trail, and helpful to have a guide, but sometimes things go wrong https://jimmyaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-and-death-on-pitcairn.html https://jimmyaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-and-de...
- hiddencache 5y agoThat's a fantastic link - thanks for sharing!
- vimy 5y agoHow do people earn money in such a small economy?
- doublec 5y agoThere are government jobs - administration, post office, local council, maintenance of roads, buildings, etc. They make and sell crafts, honey, coffee, etc online and to cruise ships. The latter has taken a hit due to borders being closed during covid. See Pipco for an example https://www.pipco.pn https://www.pipco.pn Some of the islanders have small businesses - one runs a Pizza place with regular pizza nights. Costs of living are low due to growing and catching your own food.
- jnord 5y agoOverseas remittances from family members in New Zealand and Australia play a big part in the economy. Also, Pitcairn Island used to have a stamp bureau selling stamps to overseas collectors.
- hiddencache 5y agoMore to the point, if the island is remote, and relatively self-sustaining, it seems like an alternative to New Zealand for those looking for a bolthole in the event of ecological or societal collapse. Jobs and income might not be the focus for people looking for this.
- JPKab 5y agoIt sounds like a place filled with nature's bounty. Sorry, couldn't resist.
- satori99 5y agoYour family history is a fascinating one! Did any of your family take Queen Victoria's offer and move to Norfolk Island when things got rough on Pitcairn 165 years ago? https://www.discovernorfolkisland.com/norfolk/pitcairn.html https://www.discovernorfolkisland.com/norfolk/pitcairn.html
- doublec 5y agoYes, everyone on Pitcairn migrated to Norfolk. Later some families moved back to Pitcairn, including mine. The same thing happened in 1831 - everyone migrated to Tahiti. That was disastrous for the islanders though, many died of disease and they returned to Pitcairn eventually. See here for that story http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_68_1959/Volume_68%2C_No._2/Tahitian_interlude%2C_by_H._E._Maude%2C_by_115-140/p1 http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_68_1959/Volum...
- distances 5y agoThank you for the link, this was a very interesting read.
- mylons 5y agothe picture of the girl lying in the tall grass is beautiful.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- markdown 5y agoGreat photos, thanks for sharing. Do you know if kava and taro grow there?
- doublec 5y agoTaro grows, there's even an area called "Taro Ground". I'm a fan of kava and I know Tahiti has a kava tradition. I asked one of my cousins about kava on the island and they don't know of it growing there. Given that the island was populated previously by Polynesians it's possible there is wild kava growing there somewhere. Next time I go I'm keen to look out for it. It would be interesting to try and cultivate it and make it a crop for sale in the same way Honey, Coffee, etc has become a popular export item.
- cycomanic 5y agoI just want to say that HN continues to surprise and amaze me. An article about pitcairn is upvoted (amazing enough in itself) and then we get a decendent of the original mutineers chime in and offers to contact their cousins on the island for specific answers.
- markdown 5y agoThat's great to hear. Yes, both those crops were "canoe plants" that Polynesians took with them wherever they went. Kava doesn't seed so has trouble growing in the wild unless conditions are perfect, in which case ancient stands of them might still be alive. In Hawaii, long after the missionaries tried to eradicate kava, some of the old cultivars were rediscovered in the 90's from old kava stands found growing deep in national park forests. But yes if you did find kava growing there, it would be a rare cultivar and given its long shelf-life once dried and packaged, a great crop to commercialise on that island.
- keithnz 5y agoI was about to tag you on facebook about this being on HN! :)
- doublec 5y agoHaha, thanks! I was surprised to see Pitcairn on HN.
- NiceWayToDoIT 5y agoGreat photos! What is the weather there during the year? While I was visiting New Zealand I found out that weather can quickly change, and kiwi told me it is usual thing they even have a song "4 seasons in one day"...
- doublec 5y agoIt's usually pretty warm, 20-ish celcius. It got cold when I was there when a storm was passing through, dropping to about 12 celcius. It can get stormy but for the month I was there it was mostly sunshine with short showers. I'm not sure how different the rest of the year is though - I was there for April/May.
- wyclif 5y agoWhat is the male to female ratio on the island?
- m01 5y agoDo you happen to know why the wind turbine project didn't work out? It seems electricity currently comes from diesel generators, and there was a plan to get a wind turbine installed, but somehow it wasn't delivered?
- doublec 5y agoMy understanding is the UK government cancelled the scheme after the contractors failed to meet their deliverable dates and the costs ballooned. Effort is now going into solar power instead, with some houses already having panels installed.
- playguardin 5y agoI wish the USA was this strict. Any chance my flotilla of refugees can setup shop? Or no?