LIKE many British people, I have always been vaguely aware of the existence of a place called the Pitcairn Islands. I would have struggled to point to it on a map, let alone name which ocean it is in.

BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES: Sunnyvale resident Laura Lorman just got back from “an adventure to Pitcairn Island, one of the remotest places on earth and made famous by the mutiny on the HMS Bounty.

AFTER four nights at sea on a pitching and rolling ship, the announcement over the Tannoy is the sound of sweet relief. “Land ahoy!” I get dressed and lurch out onto the foredeck. If it really is ahoy ...