Souvenir Coconut

If you make it all the way to the remote Pitcairn Islands it would make sense to grab a souvenir to mark your effort. There is no direct access by air to the islands which are approximately 2170 kilometres east south-east of Tahiti. All visitors to must be ferried ashore from their ship in small longboats. The Pitcairn Islands tourism website spells out the situation clearly. “There is a minimum of 2-3 days sea travel to the nearest airport, providing there is a ship or boat around to take you back. There are no shopping malls, no ATM machines and medical assistance is strictly limited.”

However, despite the challenges, islanders do their best to cash in on any visitors drawn by the colourful history of the island which was most famously settled in 1790 by a handful of mutineers from the British vessel HMS Bounty. Just who the intrepid traveller was who collected this hollowed and painted “Pitcairn Souvenir” coconut, complete with hand painted floral decoration, is unknown, but it is just one of a mixed bag of tourist items in the Puke Ariki Heritage Collection.