Palmerston: The island at the end of the earth
It is one of the most isolated island communities in the world. The tiny Pacific island of Palmerston is visited by a supply ship twice a year - at most - and the long and hazardous journey deters all but the most intrepid visitors. What's more, most of its 62 inhabitants are descended from one man - an Englishman who settled there 150 years ago.
Nine days of constant movement. Nine days in a boat, unable to stand. Nine days with the fear of being hit by a tropical storm, thousands of miles from rescue. The Pacific Ocean is big. Far bigger than one would imagine. This is the journey to the island at the end of the earth.
Part of the Cook Islands, Palmerston is one of a handful of islands connected by a coral reef which surrounds the calm waters of a central lagoon. But within this entire area the reef sits too high in the water for sea planes to land - and outside it the ocean is simply too rough. It is also too far from anywhere for a normal helicopter to fly to. The sea is the only access.
So getting there is not easy. After two days of flying - from London via Los Angeles - we set off by boat from Tahiti.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25430383
