Tristan da Cunha; the end of the world

by mygrations | Jan 8, 2018

“Welcome to the remotest place on earth, welcome to Tristan da Cunha” she says cheerfully and shakes my hand. We introduce ourselves and “Oh I know you, Milene!” she shouts and gives me a hug. Kelly is a young girl from England. A few years ago she fell in love with a Tristanian when she visited the island. She is now married, has a daughter and has lived on the island for a year. We spoke on Facebook before leaving.

Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited place in the world, to the delight of its inhabitants. But not for Kelly, she likes it when a boat full of tourists comes. Nine times a year a freight or expedition ship comes along and a little more often a private sailing ship, but (almost) never the RMS St. Helena comes along with so many tourists. The island is then flooded, and some like that too much.

Conrad Glass. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

Like the only police officer on the island: Conrad Glass. He is a descendant of the very first inhabitant of the island ‘William Glass’ and has his hands full with the hordes of tourists. Although there is only one road on the island, it does have a fairly sharp bend. He must also check and stamp all passports. Not only the police but also the post office are busy. Here you can buy nice souvenirs that are also made by the local population. From hand-knitted sweaters to postcards with seabirds on them and stamps of island traditions (sheep shearing, potato paws) to crocheted penguins. Whatever you spend your money on here, it goes straight back to the population.

The Albatross pub. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

There is no airport here. Not a deep harbor either. To get ashore we had to go via a rope ladder that was attached to the ship. Then we came ashore with the help of a boat with fishermen. From the boat we could already see that Tristan da Cunha is little more than a 2060 meter high volcano surrounded by the great emptiness of the Atlantic Ocean. Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, also known as ‘The Settlement’, consists mainly of low buildings with red and blue corrugated iron roofs. There are also three churches and a pub: The Albatross. Inside, the resemblance to an English pub is striking. The English flag hangs prominently above the bar, some fishermen are already having a drink and the British news is read aloud on the TV in the corner.

On the way to the potato fields

We decide not to waste all our time drinking in the pub and start a short walk. We follow the three kilometer long ribbon of coarse gravel that leads through the peaceful landscape with the mountain on one side and the ocean on the other. Soon we come across the Hottentot Shelter. The name of the bus stop, a small van drives up and down to the potato patches, refers to the African soldiers who camped here in 1816. They had to stop any French who wanted to liberate the exiled French Emperor Napoleon on Saint Helena via Tristan.

The island has some crazy names, and on the way to the potato fields we encounter Mile Stone and Red Body Hill, we also heard about Ridge-Where-the-Goat-Jump-Off. Places with interesting stories, Kelly tells us later. The road ends at the potato fields. These fields consist of a bunch of fields surrounded by stone walls. Small houses can be seen here and there, some built of volcanic stones. We climb a steep hill to have a nice overview of the potatoes. “These are the best potatoes in the world,” says Joe, who spent 9 months on the island as a vet. Each family has its own way of fertilizing the potatoes. One does it with remnants of the lobsters that are caught and the other does it with sheep’s wool.“For the Tristanians, potatoes are a kind of insurance,” says Joe. “If the money loses its value, they will always have their potatoes” . Not only Joe loves the Tristan potatoes, the Saints (Saint-Helena) also love them and like to import them.

On the way to the potato patches. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

Shed at potato patches. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

The potato patches. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

Dutch blood on Tristan da Cunha

Once back in the Settlement, I meet up with Kelly. Kelly belongs to the ‘Green’ family. Green is the largest family on the island and consists of 33 men and 33 women. In addition, the family has a link with the Netherlands. Peter Groen was born in Katwijk in 1808 and was shipwrecked off the coast of Tristan da Cunha in 1836. He stayed there for the rest of his life, got married and eventually became spokesman / governor of the island. Groen changed his name to Peter Green and made himself useful, among other things, by rescuing drowning people. In the ‘News of the Day’ in 1897 he was even referred to as the ‘uncrowned king of Tristan da Cunha’.

Not a day without wind on Tristan da Cunha. So the laundry dries quickly but the line needs some help. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

Tristan’s internet cafe. More often closed than not. Photo: Milene van Arendonk

“Living on Tristan is like living in a bubble,” says Kelly. Your wallet will not be stolen here. You don’t see everyone posting photos on Instagram here. You will not see the latest films here immediately after they come out. You celebrate birthdays together here, and for a whole week. Very different from, for example, England. But she does not regret her adventure. On the contrary. “Everyone here cares about everyone, everyone helps each other, that’s the great thing about living on an island with only 250 people” .

After a few hours I leave the island again. I wave to Kelly and tell her we can keep in touch via Facebook. People here today live less isolated from the rest of the world because of the use of the internet. A day on Tristan da Cunha is of course far too short, but another special island awaits.

Celebrating New Years Eve on the Atlantic Ocean

by mygrations | Dec 31, 2017

The water is very restless, causing the ship to sway back and forth. Naja rocking. Do you know that boat in Drievliet? Well that’s how this boat goes back and forth. It is dark below us. The captain said this morning that the water is about 4,874 meters deep. Not even David Attenborough has been there. When I think about what is going on there, I get goosebumps on my arms.

On deck it is about 16 degrees and there is a lot of wind. The water is 22 degrees, yet I took it out of my head to jump in. We haven’t seen any marine life yet, but I’m sure there are scary animals swimming under the boat. By the way, we see enough birds. They don’t seem to have lost sight of us since Cape Town.

Today we met Helena from Oslo and Aniket from Bristol. Helena has lived on St. Helena for two years. Her grandmother is from there and when she was on vacation she thought; this is where I have to live, this is where I belong. She celebrated Christmas in Norway, but she can’t wait to be back on St. Helena. Aniket has a completely different story. He was a vet at Tristan da Cunha for four months. So for him it is like coming home to Tristan. We hear from him that we are staying, if we can land, with the only police officer on the island. Unfortunately the weather is not looking good to land on Tristan so far. There is too much wind and this will not change in the coming days.

Fortunately it gets a bit quieter at the end of the day. The wind seems to have died down and the waves are happily participating. It is December 31st and at 6pm it is time for a cocktail party with the captain. With a beer, what do you mean cocktails ?, I get into a conversation with two officers. They tell me about life on board and how not to get seasick. A little too late for me, but thanks anyway. According to them, alcohol is the answer. Chah when not?

Everyone came to the cocktail party in their finest clothes. The one even neater than the other and some a bit raunchy. Of course we knew that we had to bring nice clothes, this is what we have been told before the trip. A generous amount of alcohol is served and that produces beautiful images when the boat laps over large waves. The tall men hold a drink with one hand and the ceiling with the other so as not to fall over. The women hold on to each other, chairs, the bar, etc.

After the party it is time to eat. We are of course back on the first shift and still have a great time with Brian and Brenda. When I look around us I see tables where people are not enjoying themselves. You just need to have a nice table partner. Brian and Brenda tell a lot about the islands. Brian knows an incredible amount about it. Every dinner we become wiser and every time my desire to visit the islands increases. Ok, this also has to do with the fact that after three days on the water I am already quite fed up with the sea and can not wait until solid ground under my feet.

The frograce starts at 10 pm. A race in which people pull strings to pull a frog over the line as quickly as possible. It looks hilarious and they are very fanatic.

And then it is time for the New Year’s Eve party. A large bell is driven into the ‘main lounge’. The oldest and youngest members of the crew can each ring the bell 8 times. Then the confetti cannon spurts into the air and there is toast and dancing. A typical Scottish dance is started where everyone puts their arms together and jumps back and forth. Nobody watches from the side, everyone participates. In the meantime, balloons are kicked and the boat makes sure that everyone moves.

The champagne tastes good and really where everyone is dancing. Well, almost everyone. Me, Yuri, Andrew and Mr. Foo are nice at the bar drinking a beer. On the New Year. And if it starts like this, this will be a great year.

For a moment I think about the world around us. The great sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the endless amount of water that surrounds us. And there, like a tiny dot on that great sea, we celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Day two on the Atlantic Ocean

by mygrations | Dec 29, 2017

Unfortunately, things quickly go wrong again after a good night’s sleep. My vestibular organ does not seem to be able to get used to the power of the Atlantic Ocean. The sea laps against the boat, causing the boat to go up and down considerably. Just like a wooden roller coaster, where the cart goes up and suddenly crashes down, turning your stomach upside down. So take a pill and lie in the sun on the Sunnydeck.

I haven’t eaten much yet, but the fruit will go in. The people on the boat are nice. We have already met several people and all with their own story. Today we had lunch with Andrew, a Birmingham lawyer. He has a number of court cases on St. Helena and told us that the only person who ever managed to escape from the island was a Dutchman. That happened about 20/30 years ago. This Dutchman smuggled drugs and when he was caught he could not much later escape by boat. He sailed to Brazil where he took a plane to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, different rules apply and he was not convicted.

A daily program is placed under the door of our cabin every day. Today it starts at half past three with a documentary about Tristan da Cunha. Almost everyone is present and listens and watches the interesting story about the way of life on Tristan da Cunha. I am curious if we can come ashore, but that is still the question.

The sea is calm today and it just keeps popping into my head what it’s like to jump in. I am terrified of deep water but somehow it looks attractive. The water is a beautiful dark blue, it doesn’t look cold but it will be solid. What will all be swimming underneath? We have not seen any animals except birds. Although I think I see a flying fish jump out of the water every now and then. Anyway, luckily we have a swimming pool on board.

The boat is one of two RMS ships in existence and the only one specially built for the Cape Town – Saint Helena – Ascension Island route. The ship was built in 1990 but, according to Brian, this ship was already written off after 20 years. The boat will now stop, not because it has been written off, but because St. Helena has an airport. Until recently, this airport was the most useless airport in the world . About 300 million euros had been earmarked for the airport to make more tourism possible. When the runway was ready, however, it turned out that large aircraft would not be able to land due to the treacherous wind shear. But in October 2017 the first plane landed. We will therefore also take the plane and not the boat on the way back.

By the way, we met Brian at lunch. A nice man from London who is now retired. He used to earn his money as a social worker. He travels as much as he can, does French folk dance and enjoys theater and going to the movies. Enough to talk about.

Many people on board think it is a pity that the ship stops with this route and are therefore now sailing along. According to Andrew it is a work vessel and therefore so different and unique compared to other cruise ships. The RMS – St. Helena can accommodate 150 guests, half of the ship is used to deliver mail and other goods to the islands.

The ship does not creak and rush through the waves too easily, yet I understand the grief. The ship has a certain atmosphere, it evokes a certain feeling. What will happen to this ship later? The island of St. Helena would like to buy it but does not have the money. According to Brian, that is an eternal sin. The ship is a piece of the island and it will soon be lost.