#pitcairn #flathal
As much as things change, some things stay the same — supplies have always been brought in to Bounty Bay, and still have to be taken up the Hill of Difficulty to the community of Adamstown.
The residents now have quad bikes, and machines to go up a concrete paved road, but the hill remains as steep as ever, and still washes out when heavy rains come.
Heavy rains are a mixed blessing on a remote island like Pitcairn. The residents can’t go outside to garden, or do the things they enjoy outdoors— but the rain fills huge containers next to every house, which means the community has fresh water!
The Flat Friends were a little sad to discover there are no children currently on the island. The school has been repurposed (sounded like recycling to Flat Hal) into a community building until there are kids in need of a school again.
Can you imagine living in a community of less than 50 people? A place where everyone in town knows everyone else — it sounds like the entire community gathers together to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
The Flat Friends really enjoyed wandering around the marketplace the people of Pitcairn created around the pool on our ship. Each of us got a postcard that we quickly wrote and returned to the locals to be mailed “home.” (They did warn us the mailman won’t be stopping by for two months, so we will definitely get home before our postcards!)
Some of our fellow passengers were amazed to discover “Mutiny on the Bounty” was a true story. They said they had watched the movie, or read the books, but never imagined it really happened. Now that we have visited Pitcairn, Flat Hal and Flat Halena have started making a list of books they want to read. A few look more difficult than we are ready for, but that’s a great thing about keeping a journal. We can list the books here to remind us to look for them later!
Books we are now curious about include:
Mutiny on the Bounty (1932), Men Against the Sea (1933), and Pitcairn’s Island (1934) — otherwise known as The Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Written over 90 years ago, we think these may be easier to read when we are adults.
Mutiny of the Bounty and Story of Pitcairn Island, 1790-1894 by Rosalind Amelia Young, the great-granddaughter of John Adams, one of the mutineers who settled Pitcairn. This feels like it would give us “their side” of the story. It was published in 1894, so we aren’t sure it is an easy read. (Do you know who your great-grandparents are?)
William Bligh’s Narrative of the Mutiny on the Bounty, which seems to have been written around 1790 (WOW!) and definitely looks like something we want to be better readers before we try.
