Wow! Have I done a lot on Pitcairn or what? Today I’d visit a place that’d be the feather in my cap during my time here. Down Rope is recommended only with a guide as someone was seriously injured several years ago and had to be evacuated on a French navy ship. I've been up early every day on this journey and today was no exception. After breakfast I was out the door, walking toward St. Paul's Pool where I'd be meeting Kevin, who would to take me Down Rope. Daniel is joining us. He's from Sweden and moved here with his wife and two children several months ago. Pitcairn's population is dwindling and aging rapidly enough that the Pitcairn government has appealed for people to immigrate here with the prospect of free land. Daniel and his family are the only people who have immigrated here thus far. Whilst there's no questioning Pitcairn's beauty, the isolation makes it easy to see why so few people would want to live here. As much as I love visiting remote places, I have to be within walking distance of a store.
Going Down Rope is tricky and vertiginous but by no means the most diffuclt walk I've ever done. Despite its name you don't actually use ropes at any point to go down. 20 minutes after we began our descent we were on the beach below. Petroglyphs are inscribed on rock at Down Rope.
These show that Pitcairn was populated at one point long before Fletcher Christian arrived. What shocked me is the amount of rubbish washed up on shore. Fishing buoys, netting, and other detritus, mostly from the open sea fishing fleet, litter the beach.
Not all of it is illegally dumped as many ships legitimately lose buoys and other plastic debris. The issue is even worse on the eastern side of Henderson Island. A team recently travelled there and collected 18 tonnes of plastic. Kevin take bits of plastic debris from Down Rope and turns them into paintings and art. Small hermit crabs line the beach and I soon had an armada.
Going back up wasn't too difficult either. Unfortunately I couldn't get any good photos with Juliett because I couldn't fly her properly.
For dinner, Char made pasta with chips and some leftovers from last night. Some people have said they don’t care to read about what I had for dinner but when food is delicious I’ll write as much as I want to about it. I’m a bit sad to be leaving Pitcairn tomorrow but I’m ready for the next leg of my journey. In 11 days in Pitcairn Island I've seen and done a lot! When I return I’ll have a full 12 days to spend in French Polynesia. Finding a CouchSurfing host in Mo’orea has proven to be very difficult so I may have to stay at a backpacker hostel. After Wayne drove me home I caught up with Pawl and Sue for my final evening on Pitcairn. Though they're officially only open on Friday, they welcome people any day for a drink.
Lately I've been asking myself if I'm running out of remote places to visit but I need not worry because I have many more places to visit. For 2020 I'm thinking of Tristan da Cunha, which is the world's most remote inhabited island.
Tomorrow I'm leaving this beautiful island, so let's see what unfolds as I re-board the MV Silver Supporter.
