Line Islands
Southern Line Islands
Malden, Starbuck, Vostok, Caroline and Flint are uninhabited, low coral islands that share a similar history. They were discovered by various Europeans, rediscovered by more Europeans and renamed throughout the 19th century, then either mined for phosphate or planted with coconuts - some successfully, others unsuccessfully. All of them except Vostok bear scars of phosphate mining. Stone faced platforms and graves on Malden and Caroline indicate both islands were once inhabited by Polynesians, and British servicemen were stationed on Malden in the 50s and 60s during the British nuclear testing. The best way to get to the islands today is by private yacht, and they lie between 3521km (2183mi) and 4043km (2506mi) south-east of Tarawa
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Flint Island is located 685 nautical miles south of the equator. It is about 86 miles SSE from Vostok Island, 125 miles SW of Caroline Island. It is a narrow coral island, two and a half miles long, NNW and SSE, tapering toward both ends from a greatest width of half a mile. Its greatest land height is 22 feet. When visited by the brig 'Porpoise' of the US Exploring Expedition, February 5, 1841, it was reported to be thickly wooded. Since then, most of the forest has been replaced by coconut palms.
The island is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef, which extends nearly half a mile off the northern point. The surf breaks heavily on the east side, and also to some extent on the lee side. There is no safe anchorage. Landing is not easy, even at a spot on the northwest side where a break has been blasted through the fringing reef.
No information is available as to the first discovery of Flint Island, except that it was about 1801. It is said to have been named by Capt Keen in 1835. Various voyagers sighted the island during the first half of the 19th century, but not even the US Exploring Expedition landed. |
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Kiritimati (Christmas Island)
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Christmas Island is the largest coral atoll in the world with an area of 248 square miles of which 125 square miles is land and the remainder lagoon. It is 2,015 miles from Tarawa, capital of the Republic of Kiribati; 1,335 miles from Honolulu; 4,000 miles from Sydney, Australia and 3,250 miles from San Francisco. It lies between longitude 157 degrees 10' west and 157 degrees 34' west and latitudes 1 degree 42' north and 2 degrees 3' north. It is 145 miles north of the equator.
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Christmas Island is world-class, miles of coral sand, iridescent lagoons and coconut palms – what seems like one of the smallest places on earth is actually a geographical giant, the planet's largest coral atoll. Tossed up over millennia by the pounding surf, it rests just above the waves on an ancient reef, the reef which ages ago ringed the undersea volcano thrusting it three miles up from the ocean floor. A microcosm of terrestrial life, a world of sea and sky, it's a tropical oasis, a nesting place for millions of seabirds, dominated by the teeming empire from which it barely protrudes.
Rainfall is low, except during El Nino years, so fine weather is more or less guaranteed.
History
Christmas Island. The name seems out of place on a map of the tropics, sounding so unlike the "nearby" islands of Hawaii, 1300 miles to the north, or Tahiti, about as far to the south. In stark contrast to those mountainous Edens, this lowlying atoll was uninhabited at the time of Cook's Christmas Eve landing in 1777. It was dry and barren, apparently a period of drought; he found no evidence of earlier settlement, was pessimistic about its potential for commercial development.
Nevertheless, for much of the next two centuries, Englishmen, Australians and Americans made various and regular attempts to turn a profit here. They left their momentos, perhaps none so striking as the village names: London, Poland, Paris, Banana. But the 'industry' which seems to have triumphed is the one Cook didn't expect. Today, in the way of the tropical atoll, it is productive as a copra plantation, and as a fishing ground.
There have been periodic occupation on Christmas Island and this has been well established by the archaeological remains which have been found. Why they came and why they went is a parenthesis of stepping stones in the wider mystery of the great Polynesian triangle from New Zealand to the Marquesas and northward to Hawaii. One hypothesis which found favour with anthropologists some years ago suggest that these ancient voyages followed the migratory paths of land birds, knowing from observation year after year that, as they could not land on the sea, they must be flying to land somewhere.
Christmas Island has been almost continuously occupied only since 1882, when the first attempt was made to plant coconuts for copra production commercially. But even in that comparatively short period it has drawn its workers from Hawaii, Manihiki, Tahiti, Niue and, since 1941, from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (Kiribati and Tuvalu). |
Tabuaeran (Fanning Island)
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Tabuaeran Island (known as Fanning Island) has lately become popular as a New Cruise destination for cruise passengers. The island is 1,100 miles south of Hawaii. Passengers are welcomed with local dances and string band, which are staged at the wharf. Several local tours and activities such as Island tours, sightseeing and snorkelling in the lagoon are offered to passengers while staying on the island.
The island was uninhabited when Europeans first saw it, but archaeological evidence points to 'local' people - probably Tongans - paying a pre-European visit. The Fanning Island Plantations Ltd Company decided they would own the island during the 19th century, and began exploiting the coconuts growing there for copra. A small and laid back population of a little over 1300 lives there today, and you can snorkel, dive and swim around much of the coast. Tabuaeran is 3130km (1941mi) north-east of Tarawa, and getting there is difficult unless you have your own yacht or can hitch a ride on one.
Fanning Island, reputed to be the most beautiful in Kiribati. A favorite port of call for yachts travelling between Hawaii and Tahiti. Some infrastructure (nice houses) accumulated over the years as the island was a former base of the Cable and Wireless Company. Now being settled in large numbers by I-Kiribati as part of a population pressure relief program. There are approximately 2,500 residents of Fanning, who accepted the Kiribati government's recommendation to move to the atoll to ease overcrowding on Tarawa.
Though this may not be in the Port of Paradise category, it still is a rustic snapshot of Micronesian lifestyles. However, everything is changing. The impact of the Cruise line on the life is readily apparent as tourism provides a significant amount of income to the small community. In addition, the Norwegian Cruise Line helped build the school, which is now called the NCL Primary School.
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