Cruising News Magazine Cruising News February 2019 | Page 18

Pitcairn Island Welcomes Aranui 5 for the First Time
More than 200 years after the Bounty
arrived, Aranui Cruises has made its
inaugural visit to Pitcairn with its mixed
cargo and passenger vessel Aranui 5
anchoring in Bounty Bay for the first time
on Tuesday 15 January 2019.
The ship’s guests disembarked from
tenders at the base of the ‘Hill of
Difficulty’ ahead of a day of sightseeing
around Pitcairn Island. Guided by
the ship’s crew and descendants of
Bounty mutineers Fletcher Christian
and John Adams, guests visited the
island’s Museum which houses the
Bounty Cannon, a Curio and Craft
market, the ‘half way trail’ to Christian’s
Cave and the Post Office which
opened especially for guests wanting
to purchase a rare Pitcairn stamp, with
many taking the opportunity to send
a postcard to show they really had
stepped foot on the remote island.
Among the guests was a big group of
Australians (70) and New Zealanders
(17) including a handful of Pitcairn
descendants from Norfolk Island.
Just as the Bounty arrived with a cargo
of breadfruit, the Wong family, who
own Aranui Cruises, gifted the Pitcairn
people a Tahitian breadfruit tree
to symbolise the strong connection
between their two homes. Aranui’s
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Regional Representative for Australia
and New Zealand Laurent Wong
helped Pitcairn Mayor Shawn Christian
plant the tree at a prominent site out
the front of the future Grand Plaza.
“To be here on the exact day that
the Bounty arrived 229 years ago is a
very special moment for all of us as we
forge a new seafaring link between
Polynesia and Pitcairn. It has been a
thrill to retrace the famous journey of
the Bounty, while also calling at some
stunning, new French Polynesian islands
along the way,” Mr Wong said. “An
overwhelming sense of excitement ran
through the ship when we first spotted
Pitcairn on the horizon. We arrived to
a beautiful, sunny day, and received
a warm welcome from the people of
Pitcairn. I think it’s fair to say that our
guests loved every minute of their visit
to Pitcairn and I know we’re all going
away from this trip with so much more
than just a coveted Pitcairn stamp in
our passport. To round out the perfect
day, we invited the Pitcairn community
to have dinner on Aranui 5 so our guests
could spend a little more time with
their new friends, and held an official
plaque ceremony on the pool deck.
As the sun was setting over Pitcairn,
Aranui’s Polynesian crew performed a
traditional dance and in return all the
Pitcairners sang a farewell song to wish
us a safe return home. It was a magical
moment that felt like distant relatives
meeting again after a long time, which
was the case for one of our guests who
had left Pitcairn at the age of two and
was thrilled to have the opportunity to
return home for a visit.”
The historic visit to one of the most
remote destinations in the world was
part of a new 13-day itinerary across
Tahiti’s southern archipelagoes which
also included calls to the palm-fringed
crystal-clear lagoons of Amanu and
Tahanea in the Tuamotus; Mangareva
and Aukena in the Gambiers, which
both offer pristine lagoons perfect for
black pearls; and Raivave and Rapa in
the Austral Islands.
After the inaugural cruise sold out
within two weeks, Aranui launched
an encore cruise which will depart
on 21 March 2019. A third Pitcairn
itinerary, announced as part of the 2020
program, has also sold out.
Offering guests a more modern way
to visit Pitcairn than their Bounty
predecessors, the 250-passenger Aranui
5 features a restaurant, two conference
rooms, lounges, a library, a boutique, a
swimming pool, a gym, a spa and four
bars including the popular Sky bar.