“Dear Mr. Derbyshire—Thank you for the piece you posted on Tristan da
Cunha in The Corner. I traveled to that island in January 2002 and had a
great time. I am delighted to see that they now have their own web page.
For all their isolation, supposedly the most isolated settlement on earth,
they are nice, normal people and fun to get drunk with. If you really want
to get away from it all I recommend a trip to Tristan. It is 5 days out
from Cape Town on the RMS Helena (one of the last Royal Mail Ships) 4 days
in the islands and another 5 days back via Gough Island in the roaring 40s.
It will give you good standing among travel snobs and no one will ever tell
you that ‘you should have seen it before the tourists ruined it.’
“By the way, if you hadn’t given up your British citizenship you could have
applied for the position of British administrator. Not only is Tristan one
of the last colonies, I am sure it is the last colony that actually makes
money due to the rich lobster fishing.”
Darn it, I always fancied myself in one of those plumed helmets.