Wish You Were Here: Visiting one of the most remote places on Earth
Our intrepid readers have traveled all over this last year, sharing their adventures and travel tips from Alaskan glaciers to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. But this one may take the cake. A Sunnyvale reader has just returned from Pitcairn Island. Read on for details, then find more travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.
Wish You Were Here
BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES: Sunnyvale resident Laura Lorman just got back from “an adventure to Pitcairn Island, one of the remotest places on earth and made famous by the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. It takes about four days in transit from California — first a flight to Papeete, Tahiti, then a flight to the island of Mangareva in French Polynesia — the flight is only once a week — where you get on a freighter for a two-night voyage to Pitcairn. Once at anchor, the freighter is met by a longboat from the island. You climb down the side of the freighter using a wooden ladder — you are connected to a cable, so you won’t fall — to the longboat and are transported to the island.
“The only places to stay are with families of the descendants of the mutineers, and the accommodations are nice. It is a beautiful island with lots of history to explore, and the families — there are 43 permanent residents — are very welcoming. You will meet people from all over the world on the freighter that takes you to and from the island. I met a gentleman from Vermont who stays on Pitcairn and works remotely during the cold Vermont winter.
TRAVEL TIPS: Plan well ahead! “The freighter takes a maximum of 12 people. You can find all the information on how to visit on the Pitcairn website at www.visitpitcairn.pn.”
Join the fun! Send a photo of yourself on your latest adventures — local, domestic or international — to jburrell@bayareanewsgroup.com. Tell us where you are, who everyone is and where they’re from, and share a travel tip or two to help fellow readers go there, too.