Pitcairn Islands Study Group (US)
Pitcairn Islands Study Group (UK)
| Sunday, 15th April, 2012 |
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I'm taking a trip to Pitcairn Island, booked using the services of Pitcairn Travel to arrange travel to the island. This involves flying from New Zealand to Tahiti, flying from there to Mangareva and then on a yacht to Pitcairn.
I'll write more about the trip, with photo's, when I have a better internet connection. Currently I'm in Tahiti, and I fly out to Mangareva on the 17th to board the yacht. That's a two day trip then I'll be at Pitcairn.
| Friday, 13th April, 2012 |
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# An interview with Billy Campbell, one of the actors on the AMC TV show "The Killing", mentions Pitcairn Island as one of his favourite places to visit:
Best? Dropping the anchor of a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship, at Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, home to the descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty and their Polynesian companions. They are as salty and rough and generous and jocular a people as you'd imagine necessary, having successfully clung 220 years to a windswept mountaintop, poking nearly 900 feet up out of the center of the planet's greatest ocean.The Island is tiny, two miles by one, but the warmth and hospitality of its folk are boundless and instant. I guess it's the only way for a people for whom the few yearly ships stopping by provide such fleeting contact with the outside world. The only thing better than going to Pitcairn in the first place, is going again. I did last year. It was like seeing family.
| Thursday, 12th April, 2012 |
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# The Pitcairn Island internet connection was upgraded recently to allow higher speeds. According to this Radio New Zealand post, it was increased to 512 kilobits per second to be shared amongst all the internet using residents.
"Bill Haigh, who is responsible for Pitcairn's telecommunications, says a team will head to the island in June to upgrade the link which will see broadband width doubled to just over 500 (512) kilobits per second."
Satellite internet seems to be fairly costly. Pactel's Ku Band VSAT page shows costs for installation and monthly charges if someone wanted their own broadband capable satellite internet connection on the island.
The island used to receive internet by sharing the satellite connection used by the United States Geologic Survey station on the island. There's a nice description of the network setup for this here. Later the government arranged their internet capability. The history of the islands internet is summarized at the Pitcairn Internet Project page, although that page doesn't have the most recent information. The most recent costs for residents that I've heard about were about $40 per 400 MB.
| Wednesday, 11th April, 2012 |
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# The Pitcairn Postcard Magazine is a website containing lots of useful information and images of postcards related to Pitcairn Island. The site is for the Pitcairn Postcard Magazine which can be purchased. There are also links to postcards available for sale as well as requests for information about postcards.
A popular series of postcards, known as the 'HGK' series, has its own website , HenryGeorgeKeyse. These are photo's taken by someone with the initials 'HGK' during the early part of the 20th century. The website documents information about HGK, the postcards, and outlines research into finding out who HGK is. The site also contains photo's of Pitcairn from other photographers, for example Floyd McCoy.
| Tuesday, 10th April, 2012 |
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The March edition of The Pitcairn Miscellany is now online. The Miscellany is a monthly newsletter with information about Pitcairn and its people. It is edited by the island school teacher.
The newsletter used to be available in printed format, sent from Pitcairn Island. It was a great way to get news about Pitcairn along with a Pitcairn stamp and envelope. Unfortunately, for those that like the paper copy, since about mid-2010 it became available online only in PDF format. It's still a great resource however. Cost for access is about $15 USD per year.
Some of the things the March edition covers include:
- Strategic planning for the future of Pitcairn
- Visit by GeoTech engineers
- Social Worker Rae Motu and her husband Eddie depart from Pitcairn
- Pastor Ray Codling and his wife Ann depart from Pitcairn Island
- Introducing the new Social Worker Suzanne and her husband Mike
- Adriana's 5th birthday
- National Geographic Expedition Visited Pitcairn Island
| Thursday, 5th April, 2012 |
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The Bounty-Pitcairn conference is on
again, this time it's being held at the Pitcairn Islands Study Center in Angwin, California, USA, from August 19th to the 21st.
The conference has a range of interesting speakers, including some Pitcairn Island residents. The anticipated documentary film about Pitcairn, Dem Tul Pitcairn, will premiere at the conference.
Cost is $65 USD per person for advance registration or $80 USD per person at the door. Accomodation is available.
| Wednesday, 4th April, 2012 |
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# I was at the British Consulate in Auckland yesterday for a meeting with Kevin Lynch, the Deputy Governor of Pitcairn Island. While waiting for him I noticed some Pitcairn Island items on display and took a couple of photo's.
The first is a painting by Pitcairn Islander Meralda Warren that was displayed in the main waiting area. The second photo is a display case containing Pitcairn carvings, coins, stamps and other items.
There were more items on display (a carved wheelbarrow for example) in the room where we had the meeting but unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo.
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