Getting the Mail to Pitcairn

by Mitchell Bunkin

This article is excerpted from the PISG Log, Sep-Nov 1994 issue. The Log comes with membership in the Pitcairn Island Study Group.

As far as I know, all postmarked mail is routed to Pitcairn through New Zealand, where the responsibility for getting it to Pitcairn falls squarely on the shoulders of the Commissioner for Pitcairn in the British Consulate General in Auckland. Roughly four times per year, the Commissioner is authorized to designate a supply ship (for both mail and merchandise). Most frequently in recent years, this has been the ships of the British-owned Blue Star Line plying the route between Australia, New Zealand, and Philadelphia in the USA. Other mail goes out only in the rare event that a ship's captain contacts the Consulate and agrees to do it.

In late September of 1993, the M. V. America Star was announced as the supply ship. She was scheduled to depart Auckland on November 16th, and stop for several hours off Pitcairn on November 23rd. Weeks in advance, Commissioner Garth Harraway was putting in long hours seeing to it that supply orders sent by individual islanders and by the Island government were being properly filled, packed, and delivered to the Ferguson Container Terminal. The endless amount of paperwork, personal visits to suppliers, and frequent trips to the three Pitcairn containers on the dock made me marvel at the stamina and patience of Garth and his able assistant, Ms. Shirley Dillon. Garth's wife, Lesley, who handles Pitcairn's philatelic business, was simultaneously involved in filling piles of orders and preparing a new issue for delivery.

While these preparations were under way, the International Section of the General Post Office in Auckland was putting waiting Pitcairn mail into sacks. Eventually these sacks would be delivered to the terminal. Departure day, November 16th, was chilly and rainy. By 10 a.m., Sue and I were at the dock, joined by six returning islanders (Len & Thelma Brown, and Susanne, Jason, Darrin and Charlene Warren) plus Royal Warren's daughter, Pearl, and granddaughter, Cherie, who were coming for a long visit. A large net containing 14 bulging mail sacks and a quantity of parcels was hoisted up. As we entered our cabin, Garth came in with last minute sacks of official mail which we kept in our closet.

After 8 days sailing 3,200 miles, we sighted Pitcairn, and soon saw two of the island's three boats battling their way toward us as we approached the south coast near Ginger Valley, using the Island as a windbreak against the sharp winds. The rope ladder was put over, and soon we were being hugged by our Pitcairn friends. Soon there was a knock on the cabin door, and Postmaster Dennis Christian, with a gentle smile and a warm handshake, came to claim the mail sacks stored in our closet.

Next, Dennis, Charles Christian, and Clarice Brown opened one of the containers and began to unload. While some of the mail was lowered over the side by small crane and net, a goodly number of parcels and sacks were lowered hand-over-hand by rope. When the open boat, known locally as "Tub" was filled, tarps were put over everything, and then we climbed down. The trip around St. Paul's Point and into Bounty Bay definitely improved my blood circulation! I advise any of you who send parcels to friends on Pitcairn to make sure the contents are enclosed in a waterproof plastic bag!

Supplies were unloaded from the open boats during a grueling eight hour spell of intense activity. When all the mail was off, Clarice brought up the bucket loader and put most of the mail in the trailer and the rest into the front bucket. Then she chugged up the Hill of Difficulty, past the Edge, and over to the Post Office in Adamstown. The mail is usually sorted immediately, and taken home quickly.