It is one of the most isolated island communities in the world. Besides, the unique communication with the “outside world” that the tiny island of Palmerston has in its waters Pacific Ocean, it is only every two years when the supply ship catches a port in it.
The long and dangerous journey to reach the island prevents everyone from attempting it, except the most intrepid visitors. Its remarkable features and the fact that most of its 60 inhabitants come from a man – an Englishman who settled on the island 150 years ago.
Nine days of continuous movement. Nine days in a boat, unable to stand. Nine days in fear of being hit by a tropical storm, thousands of miles away from any land. The Pacific Ocean is big. Much bigger than one would imagine. And this is the journey one must make to reach the island at the end of the earth.
Part of the Cook Islands, Palmerston is one of the few islands associated with a coral reef that surrounds the calm waters of a central lagoon. But throughout the region the reef sits high enough for the seaplanes to land, with the waters outside it in the ocean being very wild. The location of the island is also far enough from any land to be able to fly a helicopter here. Thus, the only access to the island is from the sea. Therefore, it is not very easy to get here.
However, whoever dares this adventurous journey and manages to reach the island, the wonderful waters of the Pacific, the incredible beaches, the areas with palm trees and native trees, the relaxed rhythms of everyday life and the hospitality of its inhabitants in what surely rewards and with the above any inconvenience of the trip.
The island was discovered in 1774 by Captain Cook, who found it uninhabited and named it after the politician Henry Temple, the 2nd Viscount Palmerston, one of the Admiralty Lord Commissioners. In 1863, William Marsters, a carpenter and barrel maker, arrived in Palmerston from Manuae with two Polynesian wives. He had another third wife and together they formed a large family of about 23 children, whose descendants now live in island. Thus, Palmerston is the only Cook Islands for which English is the mother tongue.
Palmerston was annexed by the British Empire on May 23, 1891, and in 1892 the British government granted William a 21-year lease that was extended until 1954, when in 1901 it came under New Zealand administration. In 1954 the family was given full ownership of the island, with three of the children – each of whom comes from one of William’s three wives – remaining on the island.
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