W Retreat & Spa in Fesdu Island, Maldives

As a brand, the W chain of boutique hotels has practically claimed the concept of luxury to be its own; turning their properties into ‘must-do’ destinations for the hip, famous and wealthy. Just the mention of a new W property going under construction creates an immediate buzz that few other international brands could generate.

The latest W – and quite possibly the jewel in W’s empire - is the newly opened W Retreat & Spa in Fesdu Island, Maldives. Already critics and patrons seem to agree – it’s as close to paradise as you’ll find on earth; a luxury playground whose physical beauty is almost overwhelming, where guests are totally indulged on every level.

The W experience begins even before you even arrive. Malé airport boasts a chic W operated transfer lounge, where guests are greeted with all the modern conveniences of a big city airport - drinks, food, magazines, plasma TV and internet. It’s here that new arrivals are supplied with a W kit before boarding the seaplane to W’s private island.

From the moment of arrival its obvious that W is a master of branding. Stepping off the seaplane, I was greeted by a fleet of W golf buggies – with “W style” number plates - lining the pier waiting to take guests to their villa. Even the luggage trolleys were shaped into a W.

Forget the bi-level Beach Oasis villas, W Maldives is all about the water Ocean Oasis villas – they are truly exceptional, sexy even. It’s almost as if they’ve gone to every other island in the Maldives and taken the best their competitors had to offer and made it better, giving it the unique W twist that makes most W hotels standouts in their cities.
Ocean Oasis villas boast private plunge pools (or hop down the steps and dive into the turquoise lagoon if you’d prefer) and massive daybeds built for serious relaxation. Inside, the villas offer peep through glass sections of flooring in the living rooms so you can check out the marine life swimming below. Flip a switch to illuminate underwater lights for a night-time peek at the fauna. Stay connected while cast away witha 42” Samsung Plasma TVs, BOSE® gadgets and High-Speed Internet Access (but who comes here to use the internet?). Drift off in the signature W king bed.
Even the names of some of the places have been carefully chosen.

WAVE - Water sports facility

AWAY - Spa which even has a hair salon but only for blow-drying – yep its that kind of resort.

DOWN UNDER - Snorkeling gear provided

SWEAT - Fitness Center

Oh, and you have to just love the Whatever/Whenever Service. They will deliver whatever you want, whenever you want it, just dial whatever/whenever from your room.

All of the restaurants are excellent. The breakfast buffet from the Kitchen restaurant is brilliant (pic above), the Fish restaurant is extraordinary and the seafood BBQ buffet at FIRE was amazing – they’ve certainly got the food part right.
There’s a games space with table tennis, table soccer, billiard table, but not just any table billiard table – they have the coolest brands of everything.

Which brings me to the guests. This is the serious Jimmy Choo gang, Sex in the City by the beach. I spotted one woman who changed her bikini and outfit three times every day.

If it all sounds too relaxing, you can indulge in a bit of partying at '15 below', W’s subterranean nightclub which plays host to some of the world's top DJs. As for the spa, we’re sure it’d provide more than a few moments indulgence.

Everything about the W Maldives resort is perfect – its the perfect fantasy island. By Billy T.

BEST TIME TO GO

Now until May.

COOL FACTOR

By far the coolest thing on the island (apart from the underground nightclub, 15 Below, the see through Kayak's and the snorkeling) are these mobile kiosks which have fridges stocked with ice creams – drinks – sun tan lotion - all free to use whenever you feel like it.

FACILITES

Night club and wet pool bar – Infinity edge pool – Watersports including kite surfing, Hobie Cats, water-skiing, parasailing, windsurfing, canoes, jetskis, scuba diving, handline fishing, excellent snorkelling, table tennis, pool tables and table football, Yoga, Fitness centre

COST

Villas from US $735 per night

LOCATION

Cast away in the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, W Retreat & Spa - Maldives lies delicately in the pristine beauty of Fesdu Island. With perfect weather and endless sunshine, W Maldives is an idyllic retreat and water sports playground. Beneath the surface manta rays mingle with sea turtles and starfish pose for perfect pictures.

Where are we? Tucked away in the Maldivian atolls, W Retreat & Spa - Maldives is on Fesdu Island located in the middle of the North Ari Atoll, to the west of Malé, the capital of Maldives. Hop on a sea plane in Malé, soar over the turquoise Indian Ocean for 25 exhilarating minutes, and you're here.

CONTACT

W Retreat & Spa - Maldives
North Ari Atoll
Fesdu Island,
Maldives

Phone: (960) 666 - 2222
Fax: (960) 666 - 2200
Email

Quilálea Island, Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique

Situated in the southern sector of the Quirimbas Archipelago, Quilálea Island (South 12.30'.00 East 40.35'.00) is a unique island marine sanctuary, fringed with pristine beaches and surrounded by the tropical Indian Ocean. Just 35 hectares in extent, this Indian Ocean island offers the ultimate in seclusion and privacy, with the only residents being the hotel guests and staff.

The island has a deep channel on the landward side, allowing protected mooring all year long and at all points of the tide. In the 1500's when Portuguese and Arab traders arrived in Quissanga, "The place of Sands", on the mainland of Mozambique on their way to Quirimba, ships took refuge in Quilálea's mooring. From this safe haven derived the Swahili word to sleep or "Lala". Hence, Quilálea was considered a secret place of choice to rest. This haven has now been rediscovered, and offers its guests the opportunity for complete relaxation, tranquility and self discovery.

Unlike the rest of the Quirimbas Archipelago, Quilálea is malarie-free. All the water on the island is provided via a de-salination plant and stored in subterranean tanks, hence there is no open water on the island and nowhere for mosquitos to breed, which allows for a relaxed, stress-free vacation.

Sencar Island

Sencar, Quilalea's neighbouring island, remains untouched and uninhabited, although day excursions and picnics are encouraged. 75 hectares in extent, Sencar has a coral rag exterior and a mangrove swamp interior. Sencar offers only rudimentary beaches, but it is a bird lovers dream. A paradise for sea birds, the island has large areas of untouched coastal thicket. Samango monkeys have also made their homes here, though no one knows quite how they arrived there or how they survive in the absence of fresh water.

Quilálea Island resort welcomed it’s first official guests to the Island in November 2002. The island resort accommodates 18 guests in 9 luxury "island villas". Each villa is constructed entirely with indigenous materials and handcrafted timber, opening onto a private veranda with panoramic sea views. A comfortable 45 square metres in size, every villa is complete with an antique stylised shower, vanity and fittings. Large windows afford magnificent views and allow the sea breeze to waft through the entire villa. Natural rock walls, makuti thatch, and colonial ceiling fans keep you cool by day. The island-style furniture is crafted from indigenous teak and mahogany by local carpenters in the creole Muani style. A king-size bed draped in netting completes the romantic African/Arabian luxury. Every villa has the pleasure of overlooking the sparkling Indian Ocean.
The restaurant and lounge is no more than a two-minute walk from the most distant villa. Set on a peninsula at the north end of the island, the restaurant offers beautiful ocean views to both the west and the east. Indulge in the flavours and spices of Mozambican cuisine influenced by Portugal and Goa, prepared by our gourmet chef. Also enjoy five star dining on the beach. We will prepare a romantic meal right on the water’s edge for those special occasions.

Quilálea's professional multi-lingual staff will ensure your comfort, well being, and relaxation is absolute. Experience the ultimate in luxury island accommodation, without the worry of malaria as is the case in many extotic destinations. A stay on Quilálea is an experience not easily forgotten.

The nine villas are constructed entirely with indigenous materials and handcrafted timber, opening onto a private veranda with panoramic sea views. A king-size bed draped in netting completes the romantic African/Arabian luxury. The Island has its own marine pavilion a fully equipped fishing and PADI dive resort. There are 375 different species of fish within the sanctuary. Sport fishing and deep-sea angling are offered outside the sanctuary where game fish are plentiful. The reception area has wifi.

CONTACT

Marjolaine Hewlett
C.P. 323, Pemba, Cabo Delgado, Moçambique
Tel: +258 (272) 21808 Fax: +258 (272) 21808
Email: info@quilalea.com or quirimbas@plexusmoz.com
Web site: www.quilalea.com

Pemba Town Office
Phone/Fax +258 272 21808
E-mail: info@quilalea.com

Quilalea Island
Mobile +258 82 326 3900

Hayman Island, Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Spending vacations in a luxury resort that too on an island is truly an amazing experience. One such high-end island resort is Hayman Resort in the magnificent Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Hayman is one of the world’s top private island resorts, which has recently achieved hall of Fame status at the Australian Tourism Awards. The hotel also featured in the Conde Nast Traveler’s World’s Top 100 list.

The resort is nestled amid lush tropical surroundings and features 244 luxury rooms, suites, penthouses and a villa, all with private terraces or balconies. The resort offers health retreat, spa, meeting and conference facilites, kids club, shopping centre and other luxury amenities. The resort also provides chapel and limousine transfers for wedding purposes.

The spa at the resort offers comprehensive health and spa programs by learned professionals and features 13 private treatment rooms with enchanting garden views. The spa also includes two separate relaxation lounges, hydrotherapy room, saunas, steam room and state-of-the-art hair salon. So, if you don’t have an island of your own then Hayman island is a great option for you!!

Hayman Island - Great Barrier Reef, Australia
By Nancy Lyon travel writer - Travel Intelligence

It’s the eighth wonder of the world, visible by astronauts even from the moon. And here I am upside down in November in the land down under, paddling around in it happy as a duck.

I was half expecting great white Jaws and Jules Verne’s squids and giant gelatinous Men of War - a macho diver’s paradise with danger lurking around every bubble. But here I am in the Mother of all reefs, a work of art 25 million years in the making, playing footsies with some soft corals and gaudy sea anemones with my diving fin as sensitive as skin, and following “George,” a huge squat grouper with a pouting bulldog mug who thinks he’s a sheepdog, rounding up streams of teeny iridescent fish to be photographed.

Snorkeling in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is hallucinogenic. Shapes upon shapes in the luminous blue wet - long waving tendrils, giant brains, kidneys, spongy fingers, stag horns, mushrooms, daisies, organ pipes, and translucent lacey sea fans — shot with Snorkeling in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is hallucinogenic. Shapes upon shapes in the luminous blue wet - long waving tendrils, giant brains, kidneys, spongy fingers, stag horns, mushrooms, daisies, organ pipes, and translucent lacey sea fans - shot with flitting fireworks of oranges, greens, reds, fuchsias, and blues so mesmerizing you forget to breathe...
flitting fireworks of oranges, greens, reds, fuchsias, and blues so mesmerizing you forget to breathe.

To think it’s the largest living thing on the planet. It stretches for 2,500 km, forming a labyrinthine barrier between Australia’s tropical northeast coast and the deep South Pacific Ocean, from the Torres Strait (between the northern tip of Australia and Western Papua New Guinea) to just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, off the coast of Gladstone. This fragile 344,000 sq km marine park, declared a World Heritage Site in 1981, is studded with over 600 islands, islets, atolls, shoals, and coral cays teeming with 15,000 species of marine life — including 1,500 varieties of fish and 400 types of soft and hard corals. Administered by the Great Barrier Reef Park Authority, it is classified into zones for preservation, scientific research, marine national park and recreational and commercial use.

From the air you can see that the reef is not continuous. It’s really a swirl of 3,000 individual patch reefs, Favorite TI hotels in Great Barrier Reef

Hotels in Great Barrier Reef
ribbon reefs and fringing reefs of colorful live corals built over mountains and milleniums of dead corals — the calcium carbonate skeletons of zillions of marine polyps.

I had a DeHaviland Beaver’s eye view of it all the day before. I’d flown out from Hayman Island, the most northerly of the 74 Whitsunday Islands named by Captain James Cook as he sailed his Endeavor through the passage on Whit Sunday of June 1770. The paradise of pure silica-white-crystal beaches and swirling sand shoals, luminous blue water and eucalypt forests that Cook discovered, exists to this day, because most of the Whitsundays are inhabited and preserved as national parks.

You can’t get any closer to the outer reef than Hayman Island. This 960-acre hilly isle surrounded by fringing reef and covered with “bush” - native forests of eucalypts, cycads and hoop pine - is only a 15 minute boat ride from the outer reefs. When you’re staying at Hayman, one of the world’s most lavish five-star resorts - (priceless antiques, Italian white leather, lacquered Japanese tea tables, handmade pigskin chairs, fruitwood armoires, hand-woven durra grasses, 60 chefs, 10 restaurants and a 20,000 bottle wine cellar) - the 7,500 coral acres of Hardy Reef seem like your personal paradise.

As we flew out over the calm tourmaline of the Whitsunday Passage, Coral Air pilot Peter Bull from Airlie Beach pointed out some attractions below -giant loggerheads arranged like stepping stones in the deep, and Heart Reef, meticulously shaped like a valentine. With visibility clear to a depth of 200 feet, the turtles and the reef seemed to float on the surface.

After a 25-minute spin, Peter Bull’s refurbished seaplane, built in Toronto in 1960, splashed down to rendezvous with Peter’s waiting semi-submersible. From this mini-semi-submarine, my travelling companions and I gaped at the marine show through the underwater windows, then hopped overboard with disposable underwater cameras strapped to our wrists.

Click! it’s a giant clam! Click! it’s a giant sea cucumber! I was happy to be swimming in the reef because the afternoon before, the beach of Hayman’s Lagoon Bay had been wall-to-wall with mama, papa and baby sting rays half-submerged in the sand, their long tails ending in filaments as fine as wires. When I waded in they flapped their eerie cloaks and glided off in clouds of sand, and I wasn’t inspired to join them. Instead, I lapped around the gigantic saltwater pool — seven times Olympic size — that surrounds Hayman’s tiered West Wing guestrooms, marbled suites and opulent penthouses like a royal moat.

With its proximity to the reef, and its own PADI 5-star dive centre, Hayman attracts serious divers and passionate snorkelers. But one can stay under water just so long. As for other ways to get wet, there’s water-skiing, windsurfing, sailing and parasailing, three pools with more than enough water for everyone, and in the state-of-the-art fitness centre, a flotation tank and icy plunge pool. As for staying dry, there’s the usual tennis, squash, 18-hole putting green. But to feel yourself really landed in Australia -after exploring the resort’s 30 acres of magnificent themed gardens (formal, informal, rain forest and Oriental) and admiring the flora and fauna portrayed in the resort’s collection of Australian oils and watercolors, and savoring chef Mark Andrew Patten’s Kangaroo enchiladas - a bushwalk over the island’s marked trails in the relative cool of a tropical morning is de rigueur. Trails wind along the ridge of 250-meter high Mt. Carousel to Cook’s Lookout for a panoramic view of the Whitsunday Passage.

Wedge tail eagles... orange-blue-green Rainbow Lorikeets... yellow plumed Cockatoos... laughing Kookaburras... blue Kingfishers... Boocook owls... Pied Currawongs... Blue Tiger butterflies and bright fuschia Cressidas. Hayman’s winged show consists of 20 species of native sea and land birds and nine varieties of butterflies, flitting through the silvery eucalypt, cycad, black wattle and blood wood trees. Agile, wild Saanen goats, introduced in the last century as food for shipwrecked sailors, scamper along the ridges Would you like to comment on this article, or contribute an article or review of your own? Get in touch below
and cliffs.

Hayman has known waves of visitors since aborigines came in dugout canoes thousands of years ago, but the first “tourists” didn’t come until 1933, when Monty Embury brought people over on his Great Barrier Reef Expeditions. Visitors brought their own “cutlery, linen, lamp and dish” and for £1 a day got to stay in a pretty white tent. In 1936 American Wild West novelist Zane Grey came to Hayman to film his movie “White Death” (the ancestor of “Jaws”) and in 1947 Reginald Ansett of Ansett Airlines bought the island to build a showy international resort.

There are islands, and there are islands. Browsing through some of Australia’s history in Hayman’s elegant old world library, I thought how fortunate I was to land on Hayman, rather than Pinchgut, wherever Pinchgut was... The “Convicts Rum Song” in the New Oxford Book of
Australian Poetry, sings...

Cut yer name across me backbone,
Stretch me skin across a drum,
Iron me up on Pinchgut Island
From to-day till Kingdom Come!

CONTACT

Hayman Island Resort

Hayman Reservations

T (61-2) 8272 7000

Toll Free (in Australia) 1800 075 175

F (61-2) 8272 7099

Email

Yas Island Abu Dhabi

Scheduled to commence construction in two phases during 2007, Yas Island occupies a total land area of 2,500 hectares, of which 1,700 hectares will be claimed for development. The Island will feature attractions such as a world-class motor sports racetrack, signature hotels, the Ferrari theme park, water park, and the Abu Dhabi destination retail development of 300,000 sq m retail area, links and parkland golf courses, lagoon hotels, marinas, polo clubs, apartments, villas and numerous food & beverage outlets that will create a unique international tourist destination.

Abu Dhabi’s largest resort development yet, which is expected to transform the 2,500 hectare Yas Island, into a $40 billion world-class leisure destination, with mixed-use tourist attractions including beaches, entertainment, shopping, hotels, residences, golfing, equestrian facilities and motor racing, was unveiled by Aldar Properties recently.

“Yas Island will combine the many natural attractions of an island with the world’s most popular leisure activities,” said Aldar chairman Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh. “We have taken man’s passion for the sea, for racing cars, shopping, golfing, and luxurious living, and designed them all into a single unique setting. Yas Island will be the only destination in the world that combines our desert and maritime traditions with the fascinations of Florida and the elegance of Monte Carlo. It will be the world’s most complete leisure destination and also host the world’s first ‘Ferrari World’.”

CEO Ronald Barrott elaborated on Yas Island, and its many attractions: “Our intention is to bring together families, friends and individuals seeking options of entertainment, excitement, nature and peace in one location. Shopping will be one of the key attractions, with retail areas occupying a staggering 300,000 sq m. Ferrari World will be a major highlight, through Aldar’s rights to a Ferrari-themed park, museum and theatre. These attractions are linked to a top quality motor racetrack on which visitors can experience the thrill of the exclusive Ferrari Driving School (Pilota Ferrari), kart track and dune buggies. They can also test the limits of their own cars under professional instruction.

Located on the island will be two major marinas and yachting facilities; resort hotels, lagoon hotels and hotel apartments; a water park, three golf courses, a polo field and equestrian centre, restaurants and cafes, and mixed type residences. Plans are under way to adapt sensitive and beautiful parts of the island into conservation areas. A number of very individual homes will be made available on the island, at a later stage.

Yas Island, one of Abu Dhabi’s larger islands, is roughly one-third the size of the island of Abu Dhabi, and features a beach front shoreline of approximately 32 km. Infrastructure will be developed around the Yas Island project in advance and to the operational benefit of the capital city. A new 10-lane highway will connect Yas Island to the new Abu Dhabi International Airport, the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway, and the city of Abu Dhabi at Mina Port. Yas Island will also connect to Aldar’s signature Al Raha Beach development.

Say YAS for the fast life
By Maey El Shoush, Staff Reporter
The Gulf News 29.12/2006
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/12/29/10092952.html

Picture this: the elegance of Monte Carlo mixed with the lively buzz of Florida. Throw in some beautiful beaches, lagoon hotels, cafes, ample shopping facilities, a floating harbour, a nature reserve and state-of-the-art leisure facilities, including yachting and golfing. Heard it all before? We don't think so.

Because Al Dar Properties has begun construction on the $40billion YAS Island project off Abu Dhabi, that will include all the above, plus the first-ever 'Ferrari World', only about four months ago.

Retaining interest

This unique development promises to be a one-of-a-kind tourist destination that will attract the interest of visitors to such an extent, they may even want to buy a permanent home there.

With the rights to a Ferrari-themed park, Al Dar Properties will bring to the UAE, Ferrari retail outlets, a museum and a theatre, as well as the exclusive driving school, Pilota Ferrari. Residents and visitors will experience a Ferrari thrill like none before.

The theme park will offer 24 attractions the entire family will be able to enjoy, including a 70-metre G Force tower ride, a twin rollercoaster, go-karts, and dune buggies. For those who like to stay grounded, there will be plenty of other activities, including an 18-screen theatre complex, as well as food and beverage outlets.

Visitors will also be able to test their skills on a world-class racetrack that's been designed to wind its way around the villages, marina and dunes.

Furthermore, international visitors flying into Abu Dhabi will be able to spot the bright red Ferrari World rooftop from the air.

According to Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Chairman of Al Dar Properties, YAS Island, one of the largest natural islands off Abu Dhabi, will combine the natural attractions of an island with popular leisure activities.

"We have taken mankind's passion for the sea, racing cars, shopping, golfing and luxurious living and designed them into a single unique setting," said Al Sayegh.

With a blend of traditional and modern architecture, potential residents can choose from a wide variety of properties, including waterfront and lagoon apartments stretched across the 32km beach-front shoreline.

While the first phase of YAS Island is set to be completed by 2009, the final phase will be finished by 2014.

Covering an area of 2,500 hectares, the island is located only 10 minutes from Abu Dhabi airport and is just one of the many projects the capital is developing.

The largest mall in Abu Dhabi will be built on 300,000 square metres to be dedicated to shopping. The mall will be slightly larger than the Mall of the Emirates.

"We are not always looking to be bigger or better in terms of size, what you will see is something considerably different than anything else currently available," said Ronald Barrot, CEO of Al Dar Properties.

Entertainment

Enthusiasts can also take advantage of a central exhibition arena on the island that will be great for fashion shows, concerts and product launches. The retail centre will boast a fitness centre, video arcades, bowling centre and a spa for women.

"Our intention is to bring together families, friends, and individuals seeking options of entertainment, excitement, nature and peace in one location," said Barrot.

For those seeking tranquillity, two marinas and yachting facilities will be developed on YAS Island, including resort hotels, lagoon hotels and hotel apartments. The Aldar Signature Hotel, above one of the racetrack grandstands, is set to provide spectacular views of the marina, lagoon, golf and the beach resort hotels.

Sports fanatics can take advantage of the three golf courses, polo field and equestrian centre. The water park will, no doubt, appeal to all thrillseekers with the Master Blaster, three-metre hurricane rides, Giant Maelstrom and the Velkoma Water Bomber. Other activities here will include the 'lazy river', scuba diving, cable water skiing and exploration of the giant rain forest.

Al Dar Properties has already made plans to conserve natural parts of the island, where guests can spot dolphins and various species of birds, among many others.

"It's a very beautiful area that we plan to maintain in an ecological and natural way. We carried out the same environmental impact assessment that we did for Al Raha Beach," said Al Sayegh.

The chairman and his team have set an ambitious goal for YAS Island to become the world's most complete leisure destination.

Ferrari World

The $40 billion project on one of Abu Dhabi's largest islands is set to be a major worldwide tourist destination with leisure and living facilities that include the Ferrari World.

Theme Park
Racetrack
Driving school
Rally driving
Drag racing
Go-karts
Dune buggies
Rollercoasters

All for leisure

Once YAS Island is completed in 2014, tourists and residents will be able to enjoy a wide variety of relaxing and sporting activities such as:

Lagoon and beach resort hotels
300,000 sq metre retail centre
Italian piazza
Restaurants and cafes
Beaches and beach clubs
Water sports
Marina and floating harbour
An over 120-acre water park
Golf course, equestrian centre and polo fields
Nature reserve
Business park
Offices and residential units
Club houses

Yas Island Website

Bahamas offers a private, low-tax lifestyle for the rich & famous

By JESSICA ROBERTSON
The Associated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas — Actor Johnny Depp bought a rugged private island ringed with white sand off Exuma. Musician Lenny Kravitz snapped up a speck of land in the Eleuthera chain. Sean Connery is ensconced behind high walls on the western tip of New Providence.

The Bahamas, an archipelago of 700 islands strewn across the western Atlantic Ocean, is drawing celebrities seeking sun and a culture that discourages celebrity worship, allowing them to largely avoid autograph seekers while remaining within easy reach of the United States.

“People are happy to meet you, but they don’t want to exploit you or want anything from you,” actor Nicolas Cage, who owns a home near the capital, Nassau, and an island off Exuma, told The Associated Press. “It’s nice to be able to ... take a walk on the beach and not have to worry about having your picture taken.”

Offering favorable tax and residency laws, the government of the former British colony is encouraging the wealthy to come and take a look.

Any foreigner who purchases a home worth at least $500,000 can become eligible for permanent residency — an incentive for jet-setters seeking to come and go with minimum hassle. Another inducement is that the Bahamas has no tax on income, capital gains or inheritances.

Other stars who own Bahamas getaways include Shakira, Michael Jordan, John Travolta, David Copperfield, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Sean “Diddy” Combs and former tennis great Jim Courier.

The interest of celebrities has boosted already high real estate prices in a country where home prices are largely out of reach of locals and has prompted fears of overdevelopment.

The publicity that comes with being home to the famous can sometimes be a negative — as Bahamians learned last year when reality star and former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith took up residence in Nassau.

Smith says she came to seek privacy during her pregnancy, but the death of her 20-year-old son under mysterious circumstances at her hospital bedside sparked a political scandal and brought negative publicity.

Opposition lawmakers accused the government of showing favoritism to Smith by quickly scheduling an inquest into the death and expediting her application for permanent residency. She also got into a dispute over ownership of a seaside mansion.

Most celebrities, however, lead quiet lives here.

Depp discovered the idyllic islands while filming parts of “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy on the island chain. In 2004, he bought Little Hall’s Pond Cay, a deserted 36-acre spit of land with six beaches, listed at $3.5 million, where he planned to build a small home with minimal environmental impact, according to a local conservation group.

Kravitz, who has Bahamian roots from his mother, was a frequent visitor before he bought his own tiny island in the Eleuthera chain known for its barrier reefs and slow pace of development. And Connery, a longtime resident, lives in a single-story home overlooking a golf course on the most populated island in the country.

At the third annual Bahamas International Film Festival last month, Cage said he hopes to recruit more Hollywood figures to get involved with the event. If some decide to buy property in the islands, the government would be glad to accommodate them.

“It definitely increases our cachet when well-known celebrities choose the Bahamas as their home or to invest in,” said Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe. “They bring their friends down, they talk about what they’ve discovered — and what you find is others decide to check it out as well.”

Forbes Most Expensive Islands in the World - 2007

By by Matt Woolsey, Forbes Online 02/01/07

There’s good news for those tired of waiting for global warming to turn the country into an equatorial archipelago. Endless summers on private island paradises are no longer only for the shipwrecked or reclusive.

“Isolation has ceased to be a form of deprivation,” says Cheyenne Morrison of Coldwell Banker Morrison’s Private Islands. “In the modern world of mass travel, mobile phones, faxes and e-mail, isolation is the scarcest commodity.”

But it’ll cost you. Vatu Vara, the most expensive island on this year’s list, has an asking price of $75 million, and comes with miles of white-sand beaches, palm groves, an aquamarine lagoon, limestone cliffs and surrounding waters filled with sailfish and black marlin. To the extent neighbors exist on an island chain, Mel Gibson lives just down the way, 20 miles east on Mago Island.

But sometimes, just as with local housing markets, there are compelling reasons to rent.

“Man cannot live by one island alone,” says John Greer, president of Unusual Villa & Island Rentals. “Why have only one island, when you can have them all?”

Finnish fashion designer Peter Nygard’s private island in the Bahamas, called Nygard Cay, rents for $35,000 per day and has played host to Oprah Winfrey, Robert DeNiro and Sean Connery. The Mayan-inspired compound boasts an aquarium, three-screen movie theater, tennis court, volleyball court and 48-foot fishing boat.

Worried about the slow pace of island living? The legendary Atlantis casino on Paradise Island is only 20 minutes away.

Why Buy?

The benefits of a private island are obvious, especially for high rollers hounded by photographers. They offer complete privacy, beautiful scenery and weather, and pristine beaches free from others’ footprints.

But good islands are hard to find. In the best locations, such as the Caribbean or South Pacific, many are protected nature reserves or have been sold off to resort developers. To further limit supply, inhabitable islands don’t come on the market very often. Marlon Brando bought his Tetiaroa atoll in 1965 after filming Mutiny on the Bounty and held onto it until his death in 2004. Prices, as a result, are in the stratosphere.

This year, for example, Forbes.com’s list of the most expensive islands bottoms out at $25 million for Coakley Cay in the Bahamas. Though we spoke with brokers and scoured listings for the properties on our list, there are likely other properties that are being quietly sold at comparable rates or higher.

And, in most cases, the listing price doesn’t include necessities of island-living such as food, water and shelter, as most islands are completely untouched. No megamansions here. For example, clocking in at No. 2 is Ronde Island, a 2,000-acre tropical diver’s paradise off the coast of Grenada. For $70 million, one gets a completely undeveloped isle more than 2,000 miles away from the nearest Home Depot, a tough slog even for those with a Gulfstream V.

“A lot of people think it’s a thrilling thing to be on an island, which it is,” says Greer, “But people forget that at 11 at night, you can’t go down to the 7-Eleven and buy cigarettes.”

A starter island, likely a remote desert-isle fixer-upper, filled with mosquitoes and in need of utilities and a residence, might run about $200,000. And even though many islands on the market are larger than some of the world’s smallest countries, such as Monaco or Vatican City, buying an island does not make you president-for-life of your own nation. Rather, you’ll be a guest of the host nation.

Because all islands fall under the control of sovereign nations, a buyer would have to bribe a corrupt government to cede sovereignty and then be recognized by a few world powers. Not surprisingly, asking prices are generally cheaper in volatile countries, such as Sri Lanka or Indonesia, but there are obvious risks.

If you’re able to navigate through all the financial, logistical and political challenges of finding an island, make sure to study weather patterns. Beach erosion, tidal waves, hurricanes and monsoons can quickly leave newbie beachcombers marooned in a bad situation in a country they don’t know much about.

“You will no doubt be seduced by the surroundings,” says Morrison. “But you have to ensure you tread carefully because there are traps and pitfalls at every stage of the property buying game, facts that do not change just because you change country.”

Wilson Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

This tiny coral cay is both part of the Great Barrier Reef and surrounded by it with pristine reef and beach environments including rare turtle and bird breeding grounds.

Those that are drawn to the Wilson Island Experience will see the natural beauty of the island, its seclusion and the freedom from modern-day living as part of its appeal. Wilson Island offers comfortable designer-inspired tent accommodation for a maximum of just 12 guests.

Wilson Island is essentially natural - a divine sweep of caster sugar sands that is home to turtles and birds. This tiny coral cay is both part of the Great Barrier Reef and surrounded by it, its pristine waters host to an unimaginable variety of marine life including coral and fish.

The Wilson Island Experience allows a maximum of 12 guests to access pristine reef and beach environments including rare turtle and bird breeding grounds. Guests on Wilson Island are able to enjoy exceptional snorkelling, bird watching, island and reef walks or simply relaxing within the peaceful natural setting, enjoying the stunning views.

Accommodation on Wilson Island

Wilson Island offers comfortable designer-inspired tented accommodations on six permanent tent sites and is packaged with pre and post accommodation at Heron Island as a complete 5-night escape. The remote coral cay is located 8 nautical miles from Heron Island (Approximately 40 minutes by boat).

The 6 permanent tents, all with reef and ocean outlooks, are designed for ultimate comfort. Solar power allows for hot showers and other creature comforts to be enjoyed in the central amenities building. Each tent has its own designated private shower and dressing area. Toilets and vanities are also located in this building.
Children under 16 years are not catered for on Wilson Island.

Wilson Island is the Great Barrier Reef as nature intended.

Wilson Island Resort

Ph: +61 2 8296 8010
Toll free Australia: 1300 134 044
Toll free New Zealand: 0800 700 715
Fax: +61 2 9299 2103
Email: travel@voyages.com.au
Email (for agents): reservations@voyages.com.au
Postal Address: GPO Box 3589, Sydney NSW 2001

Sir Richard Branson's Private Island

In 1978 Richard Branson then 24 years old (and not Sir Richard yet) went appropriately to the Virgin islands for a holiday, hearing that if you wanted to buy an island you would be feted like royalty. He looked at islands saying he would use them to put up rock stars for his record label.
Upon arrival they were greeted like royalty, given a luxury villa and swanned around islands for sale by helicopter. The final island he saw was Necker island, and after climbing the hill and being stunned by the view and wildlife, fell in love with the island. But after making a lowball bid of £200,000 for the £3 million island his bags were packed and he was evicted from the villa. A while later the owner Lord Cobham in need of short term cash eventually settled for £180,000, but there was a snag. The Government declared that the new owner had to develop a resort within 5 years or the island would revert to the state. So Branson committed, determined to build a resort on his tropical dream isle.
However, when Branson bought the 74 acre island it was a forlorn little rock, albeit in a pretty spectacular part of the world. It took 3 years and approximately $10 million to turn it into a world class private island retreat.

“I was lucky enough to start Virgin Records when I was 18 years old, and I bought this island when I was 24 years old, and I didn’t have any money to build anything on it. So as Janet Jackson had a hit I would build a little piece of the island, and then as the Rolling Stones had another hit I would build another little piece of the island, and so in a sense as Virgin Records grew into a great record label this island grew as well.”

MTV Cribs interview.

Using local stone, Brazilian hardwoods, antiques, art pieces and fabrics and bamboo furniture from Bali the Architects and designers created a 10 bedroom Balinese-style villa crowning a hill above the beach. Each of the 10 bedrooms has open walls giving a 360-degree view and cooling winds from any direction in the house. Branson was lucky to get the island cheaply, and it is currently valued at around $106 million.
Necker Island now accommodates up to 28 guests in 14 rooms. This includes a Master Suite and 8 bedrooms in the Great House together with five individual Balinese style houses dotted over the Island. It includes two private beaches, private pools, tennis courts, breathtaking views, a personal chef, and enough water sports equipment to make even James Bond happy.

As a busy entrepreneur Branson’s spare time is limited, so what free time he does have he spends on the island with his family. To Branson it represents and epitomises the love he has for his family, a place where the whole family can be safe and at peace. Every Easter, Summer and Christmas holiday his entire extended family and senior employees come to the island. Branson spends quality time alone with his children, teaching them to swim, snorkel, sail and play tennis.
His favourite time of the day is early evening on the island when it is midnight in London, and there are no calls or faxes to divert his attention from the superb sunsets.

“In an hour or so the daylight changes from brilliant, almost white sunshine to dusk, with a deep orange blaze across the horizon. Sitting on the veranda, I can watch the last small flock of pelicans dive for fish and flack creakily away to roost. Within minutes the sky turns a velvet midnight blue, and the first handful of stars are out. The sea in front of me becomes inky black, and everything falls quiet.”
When Branson first visited the island he and his wife were newlyweds, and since then he has watched his family grow up on the island. He loves it so much that he added a codicil to his will stating that his ashes be interred on the summit where he and his wife first stood and dreamed of owning the island.
Richard Branson’s Purchase of Necker Island
Source: “Losing my Virginity, Richard Branson, The Autobiography”
Random House 1998/2002, pp. 180-183, 550-551

1978… On impulse, Joan and I decided to fly down to the Virgin Islands. We had nowhere to stay and not very much money, but I heard that if you expressed a serious interest in buying an island the local estate agent would put you up in a grand villa and fly you all around the Virgin Islands by helicopter. This sounded rather fun. I cheekily made a few phone calls, and sure enough, when I introduced myself and mentioned The Sex Pistols and Mike Oldfield and that Virgin Music was really expanding and we wanted to buy an island where our rock stars cold come and get away from it all, and perhaps put a recording studio there, the estate agent became very excited.

Joan and I flew down to the Virgin Islands, where we were greeted like royalty and ushered into a sumptuous villa. The next day we were flown by helicopter all over the Virgin Islands as the estate agent showed us the islands that were for sale. We pretended we quite liked the first two islands we saw, but we asked him whether there were any more.

“There’s one more which is a real little jewel,” he said.

“Its being sold by a British Lord who’s never been here. It’s called Necker Island, but I don’t think it’s a wise idea because it’s miles from anywhere.”

That did it.

“All right” I said “Please can we see it?”

As we flew to Necker Island, I looked down from the helicopter window and marveled at the clear pale-blue sea. We landed on a white sandy beach.

“There’s no water on the island,” said the estate agent.

“ The last known inhabitants were two journalists who came here on a survival course. They radioed for help before the week was out. It’s the most beautiful island in the whole archipelago, but it needs money spent on it”.

There was a hill above the beach. Joan and I set off for the top, to get a view over the whole island. There were no paths, so by the time we reached the top our legs were scratched and bleeding from squeezing through the cacti. But the view from the top was worth it: we saw the reef all around the island and noticed that the beach ran most of the way round the shoreline. The estate agent had told me that leather-backed turtles came up to lay their eggs on the beaches of Necker. The water was so clear that we spotted a giant ray flapping it’s way serenely along the sandy bottom inside the reef. There were thousands of nesting gulls and terns, and a small flock of pelicans fishing in formation. Higher up, a frigate bird came gliding past on an air current, its vast wings spread wide as it carved its way over the thermals. Looking inland, we saw two saltwater lakes and a small tropical forest. A flock of black parrots flew over the forest canopy. Looking across at the other islands, we could only see their green coastlines: there was not a single house in sight. We walked back down the hill to find the estate agent.
“How much does he want for it?” I asked.

“£3 million.”

Our visions of watching the sunset from the top of the hill faded away. “Nice thought,” Joan said, and we trudged back to the helicopter.

“How much were you thinking of spending?” the estate agent asked, suddenly smelling a rat.

“We could offer £150,000” I said brightly. “$200,000” I added, trying to make it sound more.

“I see.”

As we flew back to the villa, it was clear that we were no longer welcome. Talk of $200,000 wasn’t enough to secure us a night at the villa. Our bags were left at the door, and Joan and I hauled them across the village to a bed-and-breakfast. It was clear that there were going to be no more helicopter flights over the islands. Yet Joan and I were determined to buy Necker. We felt that it could be our secret hideaway island, somewhere we could always retreat to. So, although we were practically driven off the Virgin Islands as if we were cattle-rustlers, we vowed to return.

Back in London, I found out that the owner of Necker Island wanted to sell in a hurry. He wanted to construct a building somewhere in Scotland which would cost him around £200,000. I upped my offer to £175,000 and held on for 3 months. Finally I got a call.

“If you offer £180,000 it’s yours”

There was never a hint that £180,000 was only a fraction of the £3 million asking price. So I agreed on the spot. Even at such a low price, there was a snag: the Virgin Islands’ government had decreed that however bought Necker island would have to develop it within five years or it’s ownership would pass to them. It would cost a good deal to build a house and pipe the water across from the neighboring island, but I wanted to go back there with Joan. I was determined to make enough money to buy it.

2002… I spend much of my time traveling and so treasure the moments the family are together. In many ways we are closest when we are all on Necker. It has developed form being the jewel that symbolized the feelings Joan and I have for each other into being a place where the whole family feel at home and at peace. We try to go for Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. With my parents, my sisters and their families, our closest friends, and quite a few people from all the different Virgin companies it is like a melting pot where we all take stock of what is happening and get away from everything apart from the fax machine.

I’ve taught the children to play tennis there, and to swim, snorkel and sail. When we’re there we’re there for each other. It’s time to relax and reflect on what we’re all doing, because we know that when we’re back in London it’s back to work.

My favourite time of day there is the early evening. By then it’s midnight in London and it’s virtually impossible to speak to anyone in Europe. The fax and the telephone are silent, and the sun sets quickly. In an hour or so the daylight changes from brilliant, almost white sunshine to dusk, with a deep orange blaze across the horizon. Sitting on the veranda, I can watch the last small flock of pelicans dive for fish and flack creakily away to roost. Within minutes the sky turns a velvet midnight blue, and the first handful of stars are out. The sea in front of me becomes inky black, and everything falls quiet.

We generally have supper on the terrace. Everyone is suntanned and happy. It’s great to be together, and I wonder what the future holds for all the kids here…

At moments like these I am happy to forget about my notebook, with its constant burning list of things to do and people to call, and relax into being among people I love and care about.

An Interview with Richard Branson Owner Necker Island,
Virgin Atlantic Records, Virgin Airlines by Alfredo Merat
"One has a dream and is driven by an incredible commitment to perfection? avows Richard Branson, President of Virgin.

"From cola's to balloons, music to airplanes; one must find a way to come down to earth and rest, relax, look back and reflect in a tranquil and wonderful setting. Necker Island was conceived for that basic reason."

From his limousine, enroute to taking on yet another adventure against "the 'evil' British Airways empire," Branson (somewhat serenely) spoke to me on the telephone about his private hideaway on the British Virgin Island. Wendy and I had the fortunate experience of spending time on Necker Island, and then understood fully what Branson's commitment to impeccable taste and fine cuisine means to him. He can not emphasize enough how he is perpetually excited to visit Necker, his "purification center," with its four-star chef, quiet wind, 12 master bedrooms, colorful reef and turquoise waters.

The island awaits you. . . Come to this mystical isle and dive or sail, where only the best can be expected. Perhaps you'll be the lucky one to wave as Richard and his hot-air ballon pass by while he tries to conquer a new world.

The following interview is just a peek into the creative mind behind this wonderful island:

Q: Why did you purchase Necker Island, out of all the islands you've probably seen?
A: It was the brightest jewel I've ever found. . . it really had everything we could possibly dream of – sandy beaches, beautiful reefs, the view (you can't see another house from it in any direction), it is reasonably easy to access and is completely unspoiled. Despite all that, we basically just fell in love with it.

Q: Do you go personally?
A: Not more than 2-3 times a year. In the summer I spend quite a bit of time there.

Q: Do you do business while there, or try to keep it for relaxation?
A: I have to admit I do do a little bit. But, basically I'm there for relaxation.

Q: A question so often asked about many of our celebrity properties is: "Why do you rent it?" Why are you offering it to the public?
A: Basically it would be a complete waste to have it sitting empty when we're not there. It's important to share beautiful things like that, and I think it would be an indulgence not to, basically.

Q: On a more personal level, and correct me if I'm wrong, I know your past a little bit, starting with the Sex Pistols and record companies, and culminating with the ultimate in luxury. How did you get here?
A: I just love challenges, particularly new challenges, and can't resist opportunities where I feel that we can bring something to a company or to an island and make it special without spoiling it. It takes a very inquisitive type of individual. One thing leads to another, and we try to create the best in any field we go into. When we bought Necker Island, the key thing was to make sure we did not spoil it, but possibly enhance it.

Q: You are not going to do any expansion?
A: No, we're not going to do any more development on it at all. The great thing about having us there is we got rid of the goats, who were damaging the undergrowth. We planted a lot of trees which attracted wildlife, birds in particular.

Q: Is there one spot in the world you would recommend other that Necker Island?
A: I love Bali and Indonesia. I haven't been there for a number of years since we've had Necker Island, but white-water river rafting in Bali is something I wouldn't mind doing this very second.
Q: Now we have the idea of Virgin Ultimate, and our vision of the magazine is also along those lines, but some of our owners are asking is there a criterion to be a possible candidate to join Virgin Ultimate? Are you going to look into those options or just keep it very exclusive?
A: Basically, the person who runs Virgin Ultimate, Geraldine, has the most wonderful job because she's the one that goes around looking for the ultimate properties. What we found with Necker is that people would go there and they would then try to re-book and find it was booked. They'd then ask us for a recommendation. Or they'd come to Necker and then want a winter holiday or they'd want a yacht. We thought we'd put together a brochure, (it's quite usually for myself personally) where we could find the ultimate places.

Q: If Mr. Bill Gates asked you if there is one main feature he should or should not have in his new $30 million retreat, what would you tell him? long pause. . .
A: A computer, he definitely should not have. I believe in notebooks. He should have a notebook and no computer.

Busy man that he is, I had to sum up my interview with Richard Branson, so I asked him about any future adventurous trips. . . to which he replied: "This December we're attempting to sail around the world in a hot air balloon." This no doubt is just another one of the challenges that Richard presents himself with to keep him on his toes. . . And who knows what new and exciting places he may find? Luckily for us he will share them, opening the door to some of the most beautiful places in the world. – AM

TO RENT THE ISLAND

Limited Edition by Virgin
http://www.neckerisland.com/

United Kingdom

Freephone 0800 716 919
Phone: +44 (0)208 600 0430
Fax +44 (0)20 8600 0431
Email: neckerisland@virginlimitededition.com

Location: 18°31'36" North, 64°21'26" West

Ile de Cavallo Corsica - the Hideaway of Kings

Island home - OVERSEAS
By Marion von Adlerstein Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, 05/01/2003

Privacy isn't such a big problem when the whole island is yours. For this lucky (and style-wise) couple, home is an exclusive enclave in the Mediterranean that tourism forgot.

Given its name and proximity to the coast of Tuscany, it'd be reasonable to assume the rocky Mediterranean island of Cavallo is part of Italy. After all, it used to be, but not any more.

Tiny Cavallo lies just north of the maritime border between southern Corsica, which is French, and the luxurious Costa Smeralda on the northern coast of Sardinia, which is Italian.

Technically, Cavallo is French territory, though, over thousands of years the passing parades of invaders have left the island an earthy fusion of Tuscany, Naples, Sardinia and the south of France.

Cavallo is a private island with limited access to anyone other than the few people fortunate enough to own a property there. Among them are Milan-based fashion designer Antonio Fusco and his film director wife Patrizia.

Aided by architect Giovanni Pacciani and project designer Carlo Anziollotti, they have turned their rustic villa, the kind you might find on a Tuscan farm, into a summer beach house that embodies their Milan sophistication.

Sited on an isolated beach with stunning views towards Corsica, the house is now a temple of light. It was not always so, though. It used to have sturdy stone walls, but they came down in the renovation and were not replaced.

From the beach, the house appears low-slung, with a semi-circular front stretching along its seaside to take advantage of the location. Red cedar decking now forms the outdoor area, while the ancient tiles indoors - faded like sun-drenched Cavallo - have been kept in good condition.

Guests to the Fuscos' villa are usually invited to spend afternoons relaxing in the cool loggia, followed by candle-lit dinners on the deck. The roof of the loggia is supported by imposing white columns, a reference to Palladio. These work because they are practical and yet unpretentiously plain.

Antonio's approach to creating his houses is consistent with his attitude to fashion. According to Elsa Klensch, reporting on one of his Milan collections: "For Fusco, simple is chic and basic is better." She may as well have been describing this hideaway.

Everywhere you look the lines are clean and the colour is white-on-white to emphasise the dramatic blue of the sea and sky. White, which Antonio also favours in his designs, lightens and softens the look of the house, unlike the island's more traditional homes.

White is also used lavishly throughout the interior: on sofas beds, chairs, cushions, ottomans and lamps. Then there are the drifts of muslin acting as shifting screens between the different spaces and monitoring the direction of the sea breeze.

In the main bedroom fabric is casually hung from the rafters to offset the crisp bedclothes and walls. The original tiles are a reminder of Cavallo's Tuscan heritage. During the day the villa is filled with natural light, but after the sun goes down candles and lanterns make the island home a beacon to passing crafts.

Each view is framed like a painting and nature provides all the air-conditioning the residents need. Everything is pleasing to the eye, even though there is little decoration throughout.

Life on Cavallo is in marked contrast to the formality of the Fuscos' apartment in Milan. And the island has so few inhabitants that there's no social life outside what they make for themselves.

What's more, in contrast to the formality of the Fuscos' Milan apartment, their Cavallo house is light and airy, largely due to the scarcity of walls and the huge amount of white muslin draped between the rooms.

Fortunately for their friends, Antonio is an enthusiastic host and formidable cook. When he and his family are at home, the atmosphere is lively and informal. There's no pressure to do anything more than enjoy time-off from the fast pace of Milan. Nothing seems contrived, although every detail has been intelligently considered.

Copyright 2003 / The Sunday Telegraph

Iles Cavallo

Cavallo is a French island, very close to the southern tip of Corsica. It is privately owned, so access is limited. You may enter the small port of Cavallo and visit the island by foot. There is a little commercial centre, with shops and restaurants and quite a few private luxury villas, including the Summer residence of H.H. Victor Emmanual, the king of Italy in exile.

For most people the Ile de Cavallo is no more than a tiny speck of land on the map of Europe somewhere between Corsica and Sardinia. Aficionados know better. Embraced by the clear waters of the Mediterranean, the unspoilt rocky islet off Bonifacio is a golfing and sailing paradise.

Johnny Depp Retreats to Private Island

In the long tradition of Hollywood Celebrities who bought island retreats to escape to (Marlon Brando, Mel Gibson etc) actor Johnny Depp plans to retire from acting and escape to his own private island.

It's time to reteat to my real-life island
Corrine Barraclough, News of the World; 28/05/2006
Section: Features, Interview, pg. 16 - Sunday Magazine

Johnny Depp reveals he's giving up acting so long-term girlfriend Vanessa
Paradis can concentrate on her career

He earned over Pounds 20m last year and he's bought his own private island in
the sun -so there's no wonder Johnny Depp, 42, is about to put his feet up.

Sunday can reveal he's planning to put his career on hold to raise his kids so his partner, French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, 33, can concentrate on
her career. Johnny reckons life is so perfect he doesn't have to worry about
work any more -so it's time for the missus to have her turn in the spotlight!

He reveals: "I've told Vanessa I've decided to make her work my priority. I want her to do some great music or film projects and whatever she would like to do. She's been too good to me -now it's my turn to focus on her.

"I don't mind looking after the kids so she can work on her career. I would do anything to make her happy.

"She's incredibly talented, but she started pretty young and was already a big star as a teenager so she hasn't felt any urgency to get back into that life again."

Of course, being a multi-millionaire film star helps when it comes to wanting to take a back seat. Johnny admits: "The only thing that money means to me is the freedom it buys me. The first time I really put money to good use was when I bought a house for me, Vanessa and our daughter in the South of France. That was the first place I was ever able to call home.

"It was a great moment in my life because it meant Vanessa and I were building something with our lives. It gave a sense of permanence to everything.

"But I'd be happy with a few hundred dollars in my pocket as long as I could pay the rent and take care of my family."

Johnny's lavish lifestyle is very different to his troubled childhood. "It wasn't easy," he sighs. "I was close to my brother and sisters, but my parents fought a lot. I try not to think about those times too much because it's sad and twisted and there's nothing you can do to change things.

"My parents weren't bad people, but they couldn't get along and they really did their best raising four kids under difficult conditions. I respect them for that and when they got divorced it was probably the best decision they could make."

There are no such problems in Johnny and Vanessa's marriage and he adores being a dad, but he sometimes finds it hard to talk to Lily-Rose, seven, and Jack, four.

"I have the world's worst French accent, but I'm working on it. At least I know the language well enough to understand my kids when they speak French.

They don't have to think their daddy is an idiot!

"But Lily-Rose makes allowances for my pronunciation. She says things like, 'Ohhh, c'est tr s bon, papa ...' (That's very good, dad.) I love hearing that."

Johnny and Vanessa plan to raise their kids in the paradise setting of their
own private Caribbean island -a mile-long hideaway south of Nassau he bought
for Pounds 1.9m. This is close to where Johnny filmed his role as Captain Jack
in the sequel to Pirates Of The Caribbean, to be released in July.

"It'll be our home base, but we'll still spend time in France and in the
States so our children will grow up in both cultures.

"We've been staying in the Caribbean for a long time now while I've been shooting the Pirates films. It's just so beautiful there. Living in the islands is beyond heaven.

"I almost feel guilty about being so happy. You start to think that there's something terrible waiting for you around the corner, and then you take a peek and all you see are palm trees and your family.

"I'm still cynical about things, but I don't have a dark vision of the world any more. Captain Jack lets me pour a lot of childlike wonder into the character and bring out that side of me.

"I just have a very good feeling about things. It's almost scary because you sometimes panic and wonder what's going to go wrong because everything is just too good to be true.

"I have to work hard at not worrying, but right now everything's very, very good."

Copyright (C) News of the World, 2006


Hello Magazine 7/7/2004

Johnny Depp has reportedly spent £1.9million on a private, Little Halls Pond Cay, a mile-long island in the Bahamas for his long-time love Vanessa Paradis and their two children Lily Rose Melody and Jack.

The tropical island is 60 miles south of Nassau and had six secluded white beaches, a central lagoon surrounded by palm trees and a private harbour.

Depp joins British tycoon Sir Richard Branson and the late Marlon Brando, who bought nearby islands.

Pirates Of The Caribbean star Johnny Depp now has his own private paradise in the Bahamas, after splashing out $3.6 million on his very own island.

The Oscar-nominated actor, who already shares homes in France and LA with partner Vanessa Paradis and their two children, Lily Rose and Jack, will be able to escape from the limelight on Little Halls Pond Cay, about 60 miles south of Nassau.

And it looks like the island, with its handful of cottages, is the perfect spot for the privacy-seeking star and his family. The Caribbean hideaway lies in the protected Exuma Land And Sea Park and is accessible only by seaplane, boat or helicopter. In addition to some of the world's most beautiful reefs, the island also boasts six white sand beaches, a private harbour and a palm-tree-fringed lagoon.

Johnny is the latest in a long list of famous names to buy their own sun-drenched hideaway. Celebrities such as Brooke Shields, Tony Curtis, Richard Branson and Nicolas Cage have all invested in private islands in the past.

Chances are you'll be seeing expat actor Johnny Depp, star of Pirates of the Caribbean shopping and walking around the streets of Nassau. He hasn't move there, but he's purchased Little Halls Pond Cay, 60 miles south of Nassau, for $3.6 million. Nassau will be his refueling stop. The private island for this reclusive star is hardly open for tours and is accessible only by helicopter, seaplane or private boat. When not in the Bahamas, and when not on location, Depp spends most of his time in Paris with singer/actress Vanessa Paradis.

Brando Advised Depp On Island Buying Protocol

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN star JOHNNY DEPP turned to his pal MARLON BRANDO when he was considering purchasing his own private island in the Bahamas.

Brando fell in love with Tahiti while filming MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and took out a 99-year-lease on part of an atoll island in the South Pacific country called Tetiaroa.

The two actors starred in DON JUAN DE MARCO together and remained close friends for the last 10 years of Brando's life, and the legendary actor offered up advice on the proper way to go about purchasing a private island.

Depp explains he wanted to buy an island because "I'd always kind of had that in the back of my mind - that idea of living on a desert island, as we all do probably.

"This thing showed up and I snatched it. It's about 45 acres (18 hectares), nice size. A few beaches and stuff.

"I was very lucky, my old pal, bless him, Marlon Brando when I told him I think I'm going to buy this island, he immediately sort of broke into this whole thing about, 'What's the elevation, what's the highest elevation, what's this, what's that, what about water makers, solar power?'...all these questions that I couldn't answer.

"He asked me to get all this stuff together for him and he advised me. He was terrific about it!'

Michael Jackson to buy Private Island in Ireland

InishWackllane
By Michael Doyle
The Sun, Ireland 29/06/2006

FALLEN king of pop Michael Jackson wants to move to Ireland - and has his eye
on Charlie Haughey's beloved Inishvickillane.

The singer is considering a bid for the rugged 171-acre private island off the
coast of Co Kerry.

Wacko Jacko is hoping a move to Ireland will resurrect his flagging pop career - and has identified the remote spot as an ideal base.

His spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, yesterday hinted that the star - who is
currently in Ireland with his three children - is here to stay.

She said: "He is in Ireland on personal business and proceeding with plans to
relocate. He is now looking for a home in Europe.

"He will maintain a house in Bahrain but has decided to move to Europe for
access to music industry figures.

"He's just decided that with all of the projects he's going to be involved
with and all of the people he's beginning to work with in the music industry,
it's easier.

"He'll be going back and forth to Bahrain but Europe will be his principal
residence."

Former Taoiseach Haughey, left, bought the uninhabited island in 1973 for
IRPounds 20,000 and then built a luxury holiday home there.

But Jackson, right, will be looking at an asking price of at least Euro
2million if he wants to snap up the family's prized asset.

The 47-year-old last week axed his management team as he began to hunt for a
secluded property in the south of Ireland that he can use as a European base.

He will also hold on to his notorious Neverland VAlley Ranch in

California as well as his luxury Bahrain pad.

The Thriller singer has been living in the Middle Eastern kingdom since
fleeing the United States last year after he was acquitted of child sex abuse
charges.

The embattled star suddenly fired his business managers last week before
hiring a New York firm to oversee his business affairs.

Miss Bain added: "He is very serious about his music. When you are a creative
person and the creative juices are flowing again and you're about to embark on
new projects, you want to make sure your organisation is running smoothly."

The cash-strapped entertainer earlier this year closed up Neverland and laid
off most of the staff.

Bain said the former child star is now planning public appearances and will
begin performing again.

She added: "He is reviewing numerous offers to tour musically, which he plans
to embark upon within the next several months.

"Mr Jackson has previously announced plans to record an album, which he
predicts will be released in 2007."

The man who was once the world's wealthiest entertainer is also rumoured to be
on the verge of bankruptcy.

But Bain said he had no plans to sell Neverland.

She revealed: "I'm sure at some point in time he'll move back to Neverland.

"It's not in the immediate future but it's not far-fetched."

Copyright (C) The Sun, 2006


Haughey family sell Charlie's island
Irish Independant
Sunday July 16th 2006

ACCORDING to a source in Kinsealy, the Haughey family intends to sell CJH's iconic Inishvickillane island. The late Taoiseach bought his private Xanadu on the Blaskets in 1974 for £25,000, helicoptering materials to make a state-of-the-art holiday home fit for a Napoleonic statesman.

Spread over 171 acres, with its very own Christian monastic site and seabird colonies, Inishvickillane soon had introduced grey eagles, a herd of red deer and a herd of brown-nosing journalists like Vincent Browne.

It was Charlie's personal island retreat away from choppy political waters. Now, according to a close friend of the Haughey family, still grieving the loss of the former Taoiseach, it is soon to be put up for sale.

Inishvickillane, also spelled Inishvickillaun or Inishvickillaune, (Inis Mhic Uileáin in Irish) is one of the Blasket Islands, County Kerry, Ireland. The island holds important seabird colonies, as well as extensive ruins of ancient stone buildings, and a house built in the 1970s.

The Rania Experience, Private Island and 86 foot Luxury Yacht

The recently opened The Rania Experience', combines Asia’s first private island sanctuary with her own luxury yacht is situated in the middle of one of the largest lagoons in Faafu Atoll in the Maldives. The Rania Experience offers guests the freedom to explore the Maldives via a fully crewed, exclusive-use pleasure yacht, then retreat to the welcome seclusion of their own private island. The yacht, the spa, varied food and beverage, choice of water sports and diving makes 'The Rania Experience' a complete private island destination.
The Rania – an 86ft (26m) Gulf Craft Majesty speed yacht, carries guests smoothly through the waters of the Maldives to the 7-acre Water Garden Island. stylishly appointed and outfitted with the most advanced operational and satellite navigational systems it has two twin rooms and two double rooms equipped with king-sized beds and ensuite bathrooms. The rooms all feature satellite plasma TVs and the ship is equipped with an open-air barbecue, jacuzzi and both indoor and outdoor lounging areas. Both are en-suite with L’Occitane amenities. The vessel, formerly owned by a member of Dubai’s ruling family is named after the Queen of Jordan. The yacht-island combo can only be booked by one party of up to 15 guests at a time.

The private island in Faafu Atoll is a picture postcard paradise of white sands and turquoise blue waters surrounded by a myriad of desert island atolls. The seven-acre Water Garden Island Spa features a beach and lagoon, a three-bedroom villa with swimming pool, a sauna and spa bath. Spa treatments are available in the 196sq ft (18sq m) spa room, as well as on the beach, by the pool, in the guest rooms and onboard the yacht.

Designed with barefoot luxury in mind, the island encompasses a lavish air-conditioned three bedroom Rania Suite overlooking a plunge pool and three individual beach villas in traditional Maldivian open-air style with thatched roofs. The villa’s entertainment pavilion features a home theatre system including PlayStations, iPods and laptops, as well as a billiards table.
Exclusive use of the island and yacht for a maximum of nine guests includes dining and drinks, up to three hours of sailing a day, snorkelling and dive instruction, big game fishing and water sports. Private staff include a personal butler, chef, PADI instructor and spa therapist. Also included are bottle of Dom Perignon on arrival, wines and spirits, unlimited scuba diving and snorkelling, non-motorised water sports, 24-hour wireless-fidelity connection, excursions and seaplane transfers from Male, the Maldives capital.

This romantic private island sanctuary is a haven of relaxation, peace and tranquillity surrounded by clear blue waters and covered with tropical plants and coconut palms. The natural beauty of the island and lagoon, which is one of its kind, has been carefully preserved and integrated with the tastefully appointed accommodation and facilities to give the entire experience a stylish yet residential private island lifestyle feel.
Guests can enjoy unlimited pampering at The Rania Spa, offering Ayurvedic and Thai treatments. Massages can also be taken anywhere else, from the beach at sunset to the privacy of their villa or aboard the yacht at the time preferred by the guests.

Gourmet dining is cooked and served at anytime and anywhere, either on the island or aboard ‘The Rania’. Honeymooners and guests celebrating wedding anniversaries or birthdays additionally receive a complimentary bottle of premium Champagne.

Blessed with some of the world's most spectacular sunsets, a variety of cultural shows can also be arranged on request and at an additional charge, from a lively traditional Bodu Beru (big drum) dance to a laid-back local Maldivian band.

Additional amenities on the island include a small personal gym, state of the art karaoke system, billiards, volleyball, satellite TV, a selection of films and a host of board games.

Offered for a minimum of three nights, the ‘Rania Experience’ also includes all seaplane transfers to the island from Malé International Airport with unlimited scuba-diving, non-motorised water sports, snorkeling, fishing, excursions, local island visits and seaplane transfers. The island is approximately 120km south of the capital Male and can be reached by a 35-minute seaplane journey. Rates start at $9,500 per night for one couple, with an additional $500 per guest. In the high season, the base rate is $12,500 with a charge of $750 for each additional guest.

The 'Rania Experience' is unique and limited to one exclusive booking at any one time.

Contact

The Rania Experience
email

Location:

http://maps.google.com/ insert (3 14 39.17 N, 72 58 37.55 E) and select Satellite

Malacca’s turtle island up for sale

The Star Malaysia 11/9/2006

MALACCA: Pulau Upeh, where endangered Hawksbill turtles come to lay their eggs, is up for sale.

And the Fisheries Department wants to buy the island where 30% of all the Hawksbill turtle eggs collected in the state are found.

Pulau Upeh is just a 20-minute boat ride from the jetty at Malacca River. The department was in talks with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), which bought the island from the state government in 2003, Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Junaidi Che Ayub said.

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam will write to TNB asking that the company sell the island at the same price it bought it three years.

Villagers looking on as a total of 108 Hawksbill hatchlings were released to the sea at Kuala Sungai Baru on Tuesday night. It was reported that the island was sold to TNB for RM10.306mil according to a memorandum signed between Yayasan Melaka and TNB on Jan 29, 2003.

Junaidi said the department was planning to turn the island into a research and management centre for the turtles as part of its turtle conservation programme.

He said this to reporters after releasing 108 Hawksbill hatchlings at a beach in Kuala Sungai Baru on Tuesday night.

Mohd Ali was also there to launch the Malacca Hawksbills Satellite Telemetry website at the West Malacca Fishermen Association.

“We will construct a training centre for our staff along with a hatching centre and chalets,” Junaidi said.

Despite a landmass of just 2.8ha, the island produced up to one third of the state’s total 42,424 eggs collected from 355 landings recorded between January and September this year. Malacca is also the largest landing site for Hawksbills in the peninsula.

Mohd Ali said the satellite telemetry website would offer data gathered from tracking the migratory patterns of turtles fixed with transmitters.

This would enable scientists and researchers worldwide to formulate better conservation programmes.

Three hawksbills were each fixed with a satellite transmitter on June 16, Aug 26 and Aug 29 by the Fisheries Department, in cooperation with South-East Asian Development Centre-Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (SEAFDEC-MFRDMD) from Chendering, Terengganu and WWF-Malaysia.

However, the migratory routes of only two Hawksbills’ can be seen on the website: www.wwfmalaysiaorg/turtles

The Joys of Tuvalu, the Smallest Commonwealth Country

With the population of about 12,000, Tuvalu rated as the world’s second smallest country after Vatican and also it is the world’s smallest Commonwealth country. It has multi purpose playing field where one can enjoy play like Soccer, Rugby, Cricket, Volleyball, Tuvaluan Volleyball and Hopscotch.

Tuvalu’s has few islands but because of the rising sea and green house effect the country is on the verge of disappearing status. But it still has coral Island like Nanumea, which has a fresh water pond and a large church.

Like wise there are more to watch about this small place which gives a complete view of pacific island culture.

This place can be travel around by using a taxi, boats or on hired motorcycle.

Hotel Vaiaku Lagi , Filamona House and Hideaway Guesthouse are the best places to stay, which are in sync with restaurants . One can also relishing variety drinks at Vailiki nightclub and Matagigali Bar. The month May through October is the best time to visit Tuvalu.

Tuvalu Islands Home Page
The Official Travel Website of Tuvalu

Michael Jackson's Private Island Retreat

Islands Business Magazine

The deeply physically modified frame of one Michael Jackson, whose exhibitions of tenderness for small boys have enveloped him in unpleasantness, at least for a while, had a Pacific Islands bolt hole to escape to if he had felt a need for one.

Lawyers for Marlon Brando reported that in June 2004, one month before his death, the actor was preparing to transfer half-an-acre of land on Tetiaroa, a small island he had near French Polynesia, to Jackson for use for as long as he wanted to have it.

Brando's motive was “gratitude and affection” for Jackson for hosting a birthday party for Brando's daughter, Nina, now aged 15. Whether Jackson still has access to Tetiroa, about 40 kilometres north of French Polynesia, isn't clear, but developers have announced that a small eco-resort will be built on one motu there and the rest of the island kept as a private reservation.

Marlon Brando's attorney told me...

"Regarding Jackson he has no legal right to any property owned by the Estate of Marlon Brando. Several years ago Marlon offered Mr. Jackson access to Onehati....however, Mr. Jackson never accepted the offer and has now has no legal right to any property in French Polynesia."

Brando and Jackson had several unsuccessful projects planned, including a dual interview at the actor's private island near Tahiti, and a DVD on acting.

Brando's son Miko Brando, a long time bodyguard and assistant to Jackson stated "The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time... was with Michael Jackson."

"He loved it... [He] had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service."

Life on a tiny remote island in the Orkneys

By Dawn Judge
Smallholder

Little change - life in Orkney is much the same as it was a couple of hundred years ago
Dawn Judge took the plunge and swapped a Central London home for a 24-acre smallholding.

When I think back to how I used to sit in my office dreaming of the day I would "escape" from so-called civilisation and begin a life where the quirks of Mother Nature and her unpredictable daughter Weather would be the most pressing challenges for me to face, I doubt that it occurred to me just how very quirky the old girl would prove to be.

Perhaps , had we not chosen the vast contrast of a move from Central London to a tiny island in the Orkneys, with five years in the Cairngorm Mountains as a kind of ice-breaker (quite literally, most of the time!), the schizophrenic character of the elements would not have been so apparent. From the mild-mannered, mostly polite but , let's face it, rather boring mutterings of the weather in the southern half of the UK, we find ourselves wearing metaphorical earplugs in an attempt to stifle the wild rant which she only seems to feel free to give full voice to in the remotest parts of the world.

We arrived here on the island of Sanday in 2004, having bought a traditional small farm of 24 acres which hasn't been worked for the best part of 40 years. We were full of plans, energy and enthusiasm, but little real experience. Until we took over, the land here was tenanted by our nearest neighbour, an Orcadian with a fount of farming wisdom and seemingly endless patience. I think that we may have gone some way towards repaying his hours of advice and practical help by providing him with some hilarious sights as we attempted to tackle many a task that was new to us, but in the typical Orkney way, Ian would merely raise one eyebrow ever so slightly and tactfully utter "Aye, weel ah've no seen it done that way afore" or "put me in an office and ye'd likely have a rare laugh at me too."

Ferry-loupers The native islanders here are truly good people, very unassuming and tolerant towards us "ferry-loupers" (a term which encompasses anyone settling on the island from anywhere). There is a long history of invasion and settlement throughout Orkney and I think this goes some way towards explaining the acceptance that we have met with since we arrived here. One of the most satisfying aspects of our life here is the feeling that we are continuing a way of life on this homestead that hasn't changed much for a couple of hundred years, and this land has been occupied by farming and fishing people for thousands of years. Our house and land are situated on a Treb dyke, which is a bronze age settlement boundary, and the sense of history is almost palpable as you work outside. The islands themselves abound with ancient archaeological sites, with most farms sited upon mounds - not hills, but the accumulation of debris from many former habitations, with the new farm simply being built upon the remains of the last.

Here on Sanday, we are generally about a month or two behind the rest of the country in most farming and gardening matters, and by May our ewes will have presented us with the last of their lambs and hopefully the weather will be mild enough for them all to get outside. We hope to avoid the mistakes we made during last year's lambing - particularly overfeeding the ewes which caused them to have enormous lambs requiring lots of assistance at lambing. Also we have not put our geriatric ewe to the ram this year because, although she was the best mum of the whole flock, her poor old udder has given in to gravity's pull and , when full of milk, trails along the ground. We did come up with some quite marvellous contraptions to support her udder and enable her lambs to feed, but I think it's time she retired and spent her twilight years babysitting for the others.

This month, I may be lucky enough to find the soil temperature is warm enough to plant out my vegetable seedlings, and hope to have most things in the ground by the end of the month. The soil here is amazingly fertile and plants do grow extremely well, so long as you can get them good and sturdy before they go out. It is very tempting to be too hasty during good early spring weather, but it is seldom that it remains good enough for long enough to get anything to survive. May should also see the bees beginning to emerge and head for the fuchsia hedges that border the garden and grow so well among these islands. Last year was a complete disaster as far as honey production went, with such strong winds and low temperatures that the poor bees struggled to make much at all. We are lucky in Orkney to be free of the Varoa mite, and no bees at all are brought in from outside the County. Orkney is also TB-free, and with the stringent testing procedures in place for cattle bought in from outside, should remain so.

As I write this , the wind is screaming around the house and the rain hammering down. It is 3.30pm and already dark. Rosie the Guernsey cow and her calf Frog are settled snugly into their byre, as are the goats and the horse. The ewes are hunkered down against a stone dyke and the chickens, ducks and geese went to bed ages ago. The bees have barely poked their wee noses out of the hives since late last summer and the dogs and cats are competing for space in front of the fire. We humans are having a brief respite before the next round of checking, feeding and milking. Despite the almost constant battle with the elements, this is a remarkable and unique place to live. With the summer just around the corner (hopefully), we are feeling freshly invigorated and looking forward to the long days ahead when the sun doesn't set until the early hours of the morning - really the land of the midnight sun.

We CAN make a life here So, here we are nearly two years later looking ten years older but fairly pleased with what we've achieved so far. We've re-built dykes and put up fences, laid hedges, ploughed and re-seeded, cut hay successfully during the worst summer since 1968 (according to our "Man From The Ministry"), bought and lambed our first flock of sheep, accumulated an awful lot of very old and very rusty machinery, all of which has proved surprisingly serviceable; we have, by some miracle, been able to grow enough in the vegetable plot to supply us with most of our needs and the best thing of all, as far as I'm concerned, got hold of the finest milking goat and the most beautiful and biddable Guernsey house cow you could hope for, enabling me to fulfil my long-standing ambition to make our own cheese and butter.

Although Orkney can be a harsh and inhospitable place to settle, and despite the fact that we haven't seen any prolonged good weather since approximately last June, we are optimistic that we can make a life and modest living here - very modest - but our needs are simple and the most valuable aspect of life here is that I feel really alive and in touch with nature, at her best and worst, in a way that just wasn't possible living and working in the city.

Links

Wikipedia Page

The Travails of Nauru, Tiniest Island Nation in the World

When I was young one of my uncles worked in the mines on Nauru, and I visited him a few times when I was a child. All I remember is the tropical beaches, friendly people and the warmth.

When I was young the Nauruans were incredibly rich, and Nauru House was one of the first skyscrapers in Melbourne.

These are sad examples of what has happened to the island over the last few years.

Cheyenne


No Island Is An Island
This American Life
WBEZ Chicago

Nauru is a tiny island, population 12,000, a third of the size of Manhattan, far from anywhere, yet at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events. Jack Hitt tells the untold story of this dot in the middle of the Pacific and its involvement in the bankrupting of the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and the late 80's theatrical flop of a London musical based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci, called Leonardo, A Portrait of Love.

This is a great radio podcast telling the story of Nauru, 30 minutes with a 3 minute prelude about trash in the ocean.

PODCAST

Nauru loses contact with the world
BBC News Friday, 21 February, 2003

The tiny Pacific island of Nauru has spent weeks completely cut off from the outside world after its telecommunications network collapsed.

Its isolation is so complete that no one is even sure who the country's president is any more.

Nauru, an isolated speck in the southwest Pacific with a population of 12,000, is in a "critical situation", according to the last message received by the outside world.

That came via an address given three weeks ago by the man last believed to be running the country, President Bernard Dowiyogo, details of which were given on Friday by Radio Australia.

The president said that many people had not been paid since last year and that the eight square mile (21 square kilometre) island was effectively broke.

"You are all aware and conscious of our critical situation," Dowiyogo said in the address.

Nauru's telephone system collapsed on 8 January amid political chaos, and since then the island has only been contactable when ships equipped with satellite telephones made stops there, the AFP news agency reported.

Nauru's diplomats in New Zealand confirmed to the agency that apart from these few calls, they had been unable to contact home for weeks.

Riches to chaos

The situation is compounded by the fact that when contact was last made, a battle was raging for power between President Dowiyogo and the man he unseated in January, Rene Harris. No one is quite sure who runs the island now.

Additionally, whoever is in charge is thought to have no budget with which to rule, while the official presidential residence was reported to have burned down last month.

Nauru has taken asylum seekers for Australia

It is a sad demise for an island which not long ago boasted one of the world's highest per capita incomes through lucrative phosphate mining.

But with the phosphate reserves nearly gone - and most of the island reduced to a barren moonscape as a result - Nauru has gradually slumped into chaos.

In an attempt to find a new source of income, Nauru has recently become a major centre for offshore banking and is accused of allowing rampant money laundering.

The problem is so bad that more than 400 banks were registered to one mailbox alone, international investigators say.

The island has also begun interning asylum seekers while their applications to live in Australia are processed, in return for aid from Canberra.

However this appears to have gone badly wrong.

Late last year, Australian immigration officials admitted that the asylum seekers, mainly Iraqis, had been running their own detention centre since officials abandoned the site following a riot.

"Effectively you could call it a self-managed centre," a senior Australian immigration official told an inquiry.

Tiny island illustrates universal drive for independence

By John Zarrella CNN Miami Bureau Chief
CNN.com August 14, 1998

MIAMI (CNN) -- The feelings run as deep as the blue waters that surround the tiny, 36-square-mile Caribbean island of Nevis.

No matter whom you asked during our CNN crew's recent trip there, the answer was almost always the same: "At least Nevis would be speaking for itself, rather than having other people speaking for Nevis."

A desire for self-determination was the driving force behind this week's failed vote to make Nevis an independent nation, free from the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Most of those who went to the polls -- 62 percent -- felt that desire. But it wasn't quite the two-thirds majority needed to pass the referendum.

Perhaps the idea was, as opponents contended, impractical. But the little island's election can be seen as a kind of microcosm of the drive for independence found worldwide.

A stereotypical paradise

For Nevis, St. Kitts is the island next door. At their closest point, the two volcanic pearls in the West Indies are only two miles apart. Their nation is the smallest in the Western Hemisphere.

By boat, the island-to-island trip takes about 30 minutes. As you approach Nevis, the first site is the beach dotted with pale, oiled-down bodies sprinkled like soon-to-be prunes on lounge chairs. Like tall, stately models, rows of palm trees fill in the background.

This is, of course, the way most people from elsewhere see the islands of the Caribbean. They are places to go when you really don't want to go anywhere or do anything.

Most people, if they were frank, have probably never given a thought to whether the islands are independent, or still colonies.

An island itch

Among the Caribbean islands, many of which were for so long under the thumb of Britain, France and Spain, independence is cherished. And its pursuit is a present-tense concern.

Look at Puerto Rico, with its ongoing internal debate about its dependent status as a U.S. commonwealth. Just this week, its government approved plans for a non-binding referendum in December on whether to remain a commonwealth or seek statehood or independence.

Nevis, meantime, came under some criticism even within the region for its independence notions.

But many Nevisians found such criticism hypocritical. From their view, they were using the democratic process to determine their independence, while some other island governments were rolling out the red carpet for Cuba's Fidel Castro.

That hand-me-down feeling

The irony involving Nevis is that the island already is independent, sort of.

Nevis and St. Kitts won independence from Britain in 1983, and the two islands hitched together as a federation. But the arranged marriage, with its roots in the colonial era, never sat well with many Nevisians.

Nevis, in both size and population, is by far the smaller of the two islands. Nevis has a local island government and its own premier. But the national seat of power is on St. Kitts.

You can ask most any Nevisian -- even those who didn't support independence -- and they'll tell you Nevis is treated like the little brother, getting St. Kitts hand-me-downs.

"It goes beyond the pride issue," Nevis Premier Vance Amory told me on our recent visit, as we sat on his porch on a hillside overlooking the palm tree-lined coastline.

"The history of the relationship has not been good," Amory continued, "primarily because the central government did not take ... interest in the people of Nevis in terms of development of infrastructure, in terms of development of services."

Mark Brantley, who chaired the Constitutional Reform Committee, put it another way.

"We have matured," Brantley said. "We are past the stage where we want anyone to take care of us. We want to take care of ourselves."

Nevis depends almost entirely on tourism
A one-hotel economy

The pivotal question, of course, was whether so tiny an island -- with a population of some 10,000 people and limited natural and financial resources -- could actually make it work.

Nevis is, as the saying goes, a one-horse town. The economy is driven by a few offshore businesses, but nearly all the revenue comes from one high-end resort that caters to the wealthiest of tourists.

Nevis is an economy based not on one industry, but on one hotel.

In this climate, opponents of independence worried out loud that the island would be infiltrated by powerful drug cartels that might see Nevis as an ideal place to set up shop.

In fact, we went to St. Kitts and Nevis for an unrelated story, and worked in the secession issue while we were there.

We had been sent to cover the story of a suspected drug dealer living on St. Kitts. The U.S. State Department had said he threatened to kill U.S. veterinary school students there if the United States tried to extradite him.

Drugs are a real regional concern. This story, though, seemed unlikely to be connected directly to the secession story. But locally, it was.

On St. Kitts, it was openly speculated that the story of the suspected drug dealer's alleged threat was a total fabrication, intended to make St. Kitts look bad. St. Kitts residents thought it would be viewed on Nevis as another reason to separate.

Despite the potential pitfalls, Nevis came close this week to choosing independence. Even many people on Nevis who opposed independence agreed with the premise that their island was not an equal partner with St. Kitts.

And that is a feeling that can be understood around the globe.

Gas cooker nearly destroys a tiny island

This was the staggering scene after a faulty gas cooker exploded in a timber-framed shack – and devastated a tiny Caribbean island.

The blast caused an inferno that leapt from hut to hut, taking less than ten minutes to sweep across Soledad Miria.

Many of the 1,014 inhabitants dived into the sea or took to fishing boats to escape. More than a third – 348 – were injured but, amazingly, no one died.

Soledad Miria is a small Caribbean island of Panama with 1,014 inhabitants, lying at 9°26′42″N, 78°53′59.63″W. The island is only 700 metres long but is densely populated. At approximately 9:30 pm on December 26, 2006, a fire started by the explosion of a gas cooker destroyed 39 buildings within 10 minutes, approximately half of those on the island. 348 people were injured, but none died. The island was left with no potable water.

Many of the inhabitants of the small island took to the sea in fishing boats to avoid the flames.

The blast caused an inferno that leapt from hut to hut, taking less than ten minutes to sweep across half the shanty town-style community.

As gas cylinders in more wooden homes exploded, many of Soledad Miria's 1,014 inhabitants dived into the sea or took to fishing boats to escape.

By the time firefighting helicopters had put out the blaze on the 800-yard-wide island off Panama's northern coast, around 50 huts, a school and a community centre had been flattened.

Officials said a faulty connection between the cooker and a gas canister led to a build-up of fumes which exploded when a resident switched the appliance on to cook a meal.

Nicaragua, Honduras argue over tiny island

GLENN GARVIN
The Miami Herald February 22, 2000

MANAGUA -- A Lilliputian flyspeck of land in the Caribbean, so tiny that it doesn't show up on most maps, is threatening to unravel negotiations between Nicaragua and Honduras aimed at easing tensions stemming from a dispute over territorial waters.

Cayo Sur seems like an unlikely spot for an international dispute. It is barely bigger than two soccer fields and its only strategic resources are a couple of palm trees and a fisherman's shack. International observers have been taken to the island, and at least one -- a U.S. military attaché -- found no evidence of a military presence. But that has not stopped Nicaragua from accusing Honduras of putting troops on the island.

That would violate agreements reached between the two countries during negotiations over the past two months on the rights to some 12,000 square miles of the Caribbean Sea. The fact that Honduran diplomats can't make up their minds whether they have troops on Cayo Sur has only served to fuel the smoldering dispute. One of the diplomats said Honduras had only a handful of people there, using the Spanish phrase cuatro gatos -- literally, four cats. Another said there were soldiers on the island, and what of it?

"If those are cats, let's hear them say `meow,' '' Nicaraguan military chief Joaquin Cuadra said Wednesday. ``Neither country should have a military presence on that island . . . They've got to get out of there. And if they don't, Nicaragua has to be prepared to take measures.''

TENSIONS RENEW

Although this latest twist in the feud has its comic opera aspects, neutral diplomats who have been trying to work out a peaceful solution to the dispute since it flared up in late November 1999 consider the fracas over Cayo Sur an exasperating development.

Tensions between the two countries have ebbed and flowed since Nov. 30, when Honduras ratified a treaty with Colombia in which the two countries carved up about 12,000 square miles of the Caribbean claimed by Nicaragua, an area rich in fish and -- perhaps -- oil and natural gas. Some of the waters are within 100 miles of Nicaragua, though 300 miles from the Colombian coast.

The saber rattling began to subside after negotiations in Miami at the end of the year and in El Salvador this month, in which the two sides agreed to keep military forces out of the disputed waters and let the World Court settle the dispute. But last week, Cuadra said Nicaraguan military intelligence had spotted Honduras moving troops onto Cayo Sur, about 70 miles off the Central American coast, in the heart of the disputed area. The troops had to leave, he warned, adding that if they didn't, Nicaraguan soldiers ``know how to fight, they have fought, and they have the means to fight.'' Honduran Defense Minister Edgardo Dumas replied sarcastically: ``There's no question that we have now and have always had four cats, but there's no army.''

TROOPS PRESENT?

Honduran Foreign Minister Roberto Flores, though, let the cats out of the bag, confirming that there were troops on Cayo Sur, though he said they had no ``belligerent goals.''

"It's just that we've always had them there,'' he explained.

Honduran officials took military attachés from five countries for an inspection of Cayo Sur. One of them was U.S. Army Maj. Frank Grimm, an assistant attaché, who ``said he saw no Honduran military presence, equipment or evidence of military operations,'' according to a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tegucigalpa.

Nicaragua's Cuadra was not convinced, however. ``They've already admitted they had troops there,'' he said. ``The fact that one of the countries is occupying an island in the area is an important asset for their arguments in the World Court. They're going to say, `It's ours -- it's ours because we've already been there.' ''

The latest incident came over the weekend, in the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific side, when Nicaragua and Honduran patrol boats exchanged gunfire, each claiming the other fired first. No injuries were reported.

Russia & Ukraine tussle over tiny island

A tiny island in the news: the dispute over Tuzla
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 11, 2004, No. 2, Vol. LXXII

The events surrounding Tuzla Island beginning in September had to change the way Ukraine, and especially the presidential administration of Leonid Kuchma viewed the politics of Russia.

While the political leaders, including the presidents of both countries, had always publicly enjoyed a cozy political relationship, suddenly a small lightly inhabited island in the Kerch Strait, which is the waterway that separates the two countries, became a central point of intense friction in a political dispute in which neither side was ready to give an inch and which easily could have led to conflict had Russia not backed down.

It was one of the first times, as well, that Ukraine showed that it meant it when it told its big northerly neighbor, "no!"

The Tuzla crisis began near the end of September, when trucks carrying sand, stone and mortar began to reinforce the northern shore of Russia's Taman Peninsula and build a dike-like extension into the Kerch Strait.

When the Moscow press discovered a very silent but intense construction operation going on at the tip of the Taman Peninsula, which included scores of heavy, earth-moving equipment and hundreds of workers, the reaction from Kyiv was surprise, especially because the building of the dike - what the Russian and Ukrainian press referred to as a dam - was heading directly for the Ukrainian territory of Tuzla, a 7-kilometer-long stretch of land located about 5.5 kilometers from where the Russian project had begun.

The situation worsened after Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry sent three diplomatic notes to Moscow, none of which was answered. Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry maintained an official line which had that the construction project was not supported by Moscow, but initiated as a result of an oversight by officials in Russia's Krasnodar region, to which the Taman Peninsula is attached.

After receiving an unconvincing explanation about Russia's intentions from Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry dispatched Assistant Foreign Minister Oleksander Motsyk to find out what was going on. He returned empty-handed on October 3 to Kyiv, where he told journalists that evidence suggested that the construction of the dam was an attempt by Moscow to obtain a strategic advantage in stalled negotiations on how to divide the Kerch Strait.

The Ukrainian diplomat explained that the waters off Tuzla were considered Ukrainian territory, and Russia had no right to penetrate a 1-kilometer zone around the island, which was situated 5.5 kilometers (about 3 miles) northwest of the Taman Peninsula. Mr. Motsyk also noted that a Russian-Ukrainian accord from 1994 declared that if any construction or development took place in the Kerch region the other side was to receive advance notification - an agreement that Moscow seemed to have violated with its action.

The island, considered part of Russia before being turned over to the Ukrainian SSR in the early 1950s, had little economic, commercial or social significance. The concern was that if the land mass was connected to the Russian-owned Taman Peninsula, which juts into the Kerch Strait, Russia could assert that it had simply reattached what was a historic piece of Russian property. If successful it could have received strategic advantage in its ongoing negotiations over where and even whether there should be a line of delineation between Russia and Ukraine in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait that connects it to the Black Sea. Russia would like to see both bodies of water jointly owned by the two countries, which would allow Russia control over access to them. It would also give Russia access to the Ukrainian side, where fish are more abundant and oil might be as well.

The Russian effort to connect Tuzla with the Taman Peninsula, if completed, effectively would have recreated what had existed in nature until 1925, when a series of violent storms swept away a sand and stone spit that had kept the island and the peninsula joined.

President Leonid Kuchma tried to downplay the severity of the situation during comments on October 6 from Yalta, where he was preparing for a summit with leaders of the European Union. When asked by journalists whether he believed the incident could lead to a border conflict, Mr. Kuchma responded, "I do not accept such a statement. I will never believe that is possible."

Nonetheless, the Ukrainian president voiced his displeasure with Russia's behavior, describing his reaction to the unexpected construction as "negative." He added: "You know, it is somewhat funny, I look at the map of Russia, but it turns out they still want more."

When Ukraine indicated that it reserved the right to use all action it deemed appropriate, including turning to the United Nations Security Council, Moscow's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov finally met with his counterpart Kostyantyn Gryshchenko and assured Ukrainian diplomats that there was no intention to violate Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine sent border troops into the Kerch Strait on October 10 after Russia continued construction of the dike, to reinforce normal border patrols with additional troops. Mykola Lytvyn, director of Ukraine's State Border Services, visited the island on October 13, and announced that a detachment of an unspecified number of border guards had arrived the previous Friday in response to the Russian actions. Mr. Lytvyn said the troops had full authority, short of the use of firepower, to enforce the border. The border guards were equipped with spotlights, radar, engineering equipment and communications systems to make certain that the Russian construction effort does not violate Ukrainian territory and to keep Kyiv officials abreast of the latest developments.

On October 15, Novyi Kanal, a prominent Ukrainian television network, reported that Russia's minister of foreign affairs had said that the current dispute would quickly be resolved if Ukraine would agree not to delimit the Sea of Azov, as Russia and its neighbors have already agreed to do in the Caspian Sea, ostensibly because Tuzla Island would then be jointly owned.

That same day Ukraine's Minister of Defense Yevhen Marchuk offered that a better idea would be for Ukraine and Russia to address the United Nations Security Council to present both sides of the disagreement and then allow that body to decide the best solution. Mr. Marchuk, who is a former general in the Soviet KGB and an ex-prime minister of Ukraine, acknowledged that Ukraine would take that step only if Russia should violate the Ukrainian border.

After a hearing on October 15, the Verkhovna Rada approved a resolution, with 250 lawmakers in support, demanding that Russia halt construction of the dam. It called on Russia's upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, "to intervene to halt any unilateral actions that contradict the principles of good neighborly relations and the strategic partnership between the two states." The Ukrainian Parliament declared that should Moscow refuse to comply with Ukrainian demands it reserved the right "to initiate all measures provided by international legal norms to guarantee the sovereignty of the state," including turning to the United Nations Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Parliament also noted that the barrier being constructed was of itself an ecological hazard, as it would change the currents in the strait with unforeseen consequences likely.

The diplomatic tussle escalated to full-blown crisis beginning on October 20 when Moscow questioned Ukraine's sovereignty over the tiny island and demanded proof of it's right to it. The same day, Kyiv supplanted a border guard detachment that had been carrying out border defense exercises since October 10 with 14 gunboats and aircraft to patrol the area around the Ukrainian-Russian border, which is found 150 meters southeast of the shore of Tuzla.

Two days later, with construction moving to within 200 meters of Tuzla Island, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma curtailed a state visit to Latin America to return to Kyiv to keep rein over an increasingly vitriolic dialogue between the diplomats of the two states. Upon arrival, Mr. Kuchma immediately flew to the island to meet with Ukrainian officials monitoring the construction of the dike, which the Ukrainian and Russian press refer to as a dam.

As the Ukrainian president returned from Brazil, Ukrainian border troops moved pontoon boats into place to block any attempt to extend the dike into Ukrainian territory. Meanwhile Ukraine's armed forces conducted unexpected military training exercises at Chauda, located 70 kilometers (50 miles) south of Tuzla at the southern tip of the Kerch Peninsula. The one-day training, which Ukrainian military officials said was planned in advance, included live-fire exercises and the use of MiG 29 and SU-27 jet aircraft.

With authorities on both sides of the confrontation increasingly warning that the situation could escalate out of control, Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych called for calm and the use of diplomacy to defuse the situation. "We cannot allow this to turn into armed conflict," warned Mr. Yanukovych on October 21. "We must resolve this at the negotiating table."

On October 22 the prime minister's office announced that Mr. Yanukovych had canceled a trip to Estonia and would fly instead to Moscow on October 24 to meet with his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Kasyanov, to address the Tuzla issue. The agreement to meet came only after Mr. Yanukovych made a personal phone call to Mr. Kasyanov's office. Earlier in the day Russian officials said the Tuzla matter would be discussed only at a previously scheduled meeting of foreign ministers set for October 30.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who until that point had remained uncharacteristically quiet as the crisis evolved, ordered Krasnodar Krai officials to halt construction of the dike on October 22. The Ukrainian press reported that construction was suspended for an hour near midnight, but resumed early in the morning of October 23. Ukrainian government television stated on October 23 that Presidents Putin and Kuchma had held their first telephone conversation on the matter that day, but did not give details.

Later on October 23 Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, in an uncharacteristic show of unity, passed a resolution condemning the Russian actions as "an unfriendly act that will force Ukraine to revise its current relations with the Russian Federation," with 369 of the 450 members of the Parliament supporting the declaration.

At a press briefing on October 21 Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivskyi stated that Ukraine categorically could not accept the possibility that Russia might link the dike to the island. "I would like to emphasize that Ukraine will not allow for this in any circumstance," explained Mr. Lubkivskyi, adding that Tuzla "is Ukrainian, just as Lviv is part of Ukraine, or Kyiv."

Meanwhile the chief of staff to Russia's president set a confrontational and dangerous tone in an off the cuff statement he later called a joke, which he made to a Ukrainian delegation of journalists on October 21. "If need be we will do all that is possible and impossible to maintain our position. If need be we can drop a bomb there," said Aleksander Voloshin, according to various press accounts.

While underscoring its "deep concern" over the Russian demand for documentation of Ukraine's right to Tuzla, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry responded by enumerating a series of treaties and documents, beginning with a 1954 agreement that included Tuzla as part of the Crimean Peninsula territory that was moved from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR under the Soviet Union through to the 1997 agreement of friendship, cooperation and partnership between the now-independent states of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which the Russian State Duma ratified in 1998. It noted that all official cartographic drawings and maps showed Tuzla Island as part of Ukrainian territory.

Russian lawmakers, members of the Russian Parliament's upper house, who were in Kyiv for an inter-parliamentary conference on October 21-22, for the most part also disagreed with Ukraine's official diplomatic stance. "The construction of the dam is taking place on Russian territory, so it is strange to hear that we need to prove the reason why we are doing it," explained Serhii Mironov, the head of the Federation Council. Mr. Mironov explained that the point of the project was to develop an "exclusively hydro-technical construction," to prevent the further erosion of the Taman Peninsula coastline, which has already caused agricultural damage.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, who was on a farewell visit to Kyiv on October 20, said after a meeting with Mr. Kuchma that NATO did not expect to get involved in the Tuzla dispute and that the Ukrainian president had not asked for NATO assistance. He said that at this point the issue remained for Kyiv and Russia to resolve. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst agreed with that assessment in a separate statement he made after a conference of the Ukraine-NATO Civic League. Responding to a question on whether the United States was ready to support Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as it had agreed to do when Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1994, Mr. Herbst stated: "The United States supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The U.S. is also friendly with both Russia and Ukraine, and hopes that they will be able to work out this problem."

On October 27 President Kuchma signaled that Ukraine could turn onto a more direct path towards Europe. Noting his displeasure with the re-emergence of Russian imperialistic ambition, he said, "The recent events will force us to reconsider our foreign policy once again." Mr. Kuchma added that Ukraine would abandon the Single Economic Space agreement should the Russian dike ever cross the Ukrainian border.

One positive result of the crisis some said was that negotiations to delimit the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov would restart with more vigorous energy. And that did in fact happen.

However, just to be sure that the island was not encroached upon again, Ukraine announced on December 8 that it would dig a channel in the Kerch Strait between Tuzla and the Taman Peninsula. Ukraine's Minister of Transportation Heorhii Kirpa made the announcement and said the project was developed to save the island from erosion caused by the Russian dike, which had caused a major change of currents in the area. Mr. Kirpa also said that the channel would open a second shipping lane for shallow-hulled ships and relieve some of the congestion in the strait as well.

Jet pilot leaves drunken passenger on tiny island

CBC News December 30, 2005

An inebriated passenger on a jet that took off from England has been dumped on a tiny volcanic island in the Atlantic after he launched a foul-mouthed tirade at the crew.

The unwilling Robinson Crusoe can only leave Porto Santo, a tiny patch of land off the North African coast, if he books a 2.5-hour ferry trip to Madeira. He will then have to book a flight to his original destination, Tenerife, or return to England.

British-based Monarch Airlines has yet to decide whether to sue the man for the cost of the unscheduled diversion, estimated at "many thousands of pounds."

The confrontation began Tuesday evening when the man began abusing the cabin crew of flight ZB558 from Manchester. He refused to calm down and then turned his attention to the other 210 passengers.

The pilot finally decided that he posed a risk to safety and should be removed from the plane.

Rather than continue for 45 minutes to Tenerife, the pilot diverted his Airbus A321 to Porto Santo. Moments after the jet landed, the passenger was escorted to the terminal.

On Thursday evening, he remained a castaway on the tiny Portuguese-controlled island of 4,000, which is 16 kilometres long by five kilometres wide and has a number of hotels.

Porto Santo's cultural claim to fame is as the place where explorer Christopher Columbus met his wife, Felipa Perestrello Moniz, the daughter of the island's governor.

Monarch spokeswoman Jo Robertson refused to name the drunken passenger. She said he was asked to sign a form admitting his disruptive behaviour, but he refused.

It's unclear how or when the man would return to Britain.

"He certainly won't be flying back with us," said Robertson.

Tiny Island, Tiny Dictator

David Pryce-Jones
July 4th, 2005, issue of National Review.

Elba has something to teach us about tyrants and how they finish.

Elba is a pinprick of an island off the coast of Tuscany, and very beautiful it is. The journey by ferry from Piombino on the mainland to the island’s little capital of Portoferraio takes an hour. In the season, huge numbers of tourists, including bus travelers, backpackers, campers, and bicyclists, flood over the beaches or clog the roads and trails twisting up to picturesque villages in the hills, where the yellow gorse spreads far and wide.

And yet today’s escapist retreat was once an epicenter for the high politics of continental Europe. Between May 1814 and March 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was in exile here. The first dictator of the modern age, he had shattered the settled order of nations and was responsible for death on a scale not previously experienced in Europe (at least by hand of man). An Allied coalition of the British, the Russians, the Austrians, and the Prussians contained him in a policy that the British prime minister of the day, Lord Liverpool, described as “hitting one’s enemy as hard as one can, and in the most vulnerable place.” Cornered at last in his Fontainebleau palace, Napoleon tried to commit suicide by swallowing a mixture of opium, belladonna, and hellebore, but the poison only made him retch. Col. Sir Neil Campbell, the Allied commissioner detailed to arrest Napoleon, found “a short active-looking man . . . pacing the length of his apartment like some wild animal in his cell . . . unshaven, uncombed.” Calls for him to be shot out of hand were rejected as illegal and uncivilized.

Campbell escorted Napoleon through France down to Marseilles, where they boarded a British warship, the Undaunted. Contrary winds slowed the voyage. Local officials and a huge and enthusiastic crowd greeted Napoleon at the Portoferraio harbor. The Allies had granted him the title of Emperor of Elba, which was to be a sovereign state under his jurisdiction. Accompanying him were his loyal generals Bertrand and Drouot, a few displaced aristocrats, and the Italian accountant who audited the subsidies that the Allies generously paid in gold coins. For the sake of security, he was also allowed a regiment of Chasseurs, or light horsemen, and very unruly and drunken they proved too.

Bonaparte set about tidying up Elba with the formidable energy and single-mindedness of purpose previously directed at reorganizing the whole of Europe. There were to be roads, courts of law, a theater. In the old citadel of Portoferraio he transformed a building into the Palazzina dei Mulini, a miniature palace in the Empire style he had popularized, complete with a salon whose frescoes reminded him happily of the 1798 campaign in Egypt, when he had first erupted into the world. A few miles away in the countryside, at San Martino, he purchased a farmhouse, and remodeled it into what today would be called a bijou, or jewel, residence.

That August, Letizia, his forbidding mother, always known as Madame Mère, moved in with him. He implored his wife, Marie Louise — daughter of the Habsburg emperor — to arrive with their small son, but in fact he never saw them again. Frustrated in his ambitions, cramped, he began to brood and to plot. Visiting British radicals, including Lord John Russell, a future prime minister, flattered his ego. Nothing prevented him from outwitting the Allied coalition. “Fulfill your destiny,” Madame Mère told him, “you were not made to die on this island.” Duly escaping to France for a period that entered history as the Hundred Days, Napoleon mobilized for the Battle of Waterloo, the final great test of strength, and he very nearly won it. The victorious Allies then exiled him once again, this time to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he was to die. . . .

Tiny island talks tough on tax havens

BBC News 17 August 2001

Nauru, a Pacific island state with a population of just 12,000, has challenged international finance officials trying to enforce a crackdown on tax evasion to stop interfering with its sovereign rights.

Its president, Rene Harris, accused rich countries of pursuing the probe into harmful tax competition so as to stop smaller rivals from taking a slice of the global offshore finance industry.
Nauru and several other Pacific states stand accused of encouraging tax evasion by refusing to share information with other jurisdictions, offering preferential tax rates to foreigners and failing to oversee their banking systems adequately.

Nauru, Russian and US officials say, is heavily implicated both in tax evasion and in money laundering. Up to $70bn of Russian mafia money allegedly flowed through the 400 banks registered to a single government postbox in 1998 alone.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development of 29 developed nations is threatening 35 countries which it put on a blacklist last year with "defensive measures" - sanctions by any other name - if they do not sign up to a list of corrective policies.

The deadline is 30 November, and only half a dozen countries have signed up so far.

Originally the cut-off point was 31 July. But pressure from US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill - following a concerted campaign by US right-wingers who favour swingeing tax cuts and see the small states as a stalking horse for their aims - forced a delay and some concessions.

Aside from Nauru, the Cook Islands, Niue and the Marshall Islands also stand accused of being conduits for financial crime.

During the opening session of the Pacific Islands Forum, which groups 14 mostly small states in the Pacific along with OECD members Australia and New Zealand, Mr Harris acknowledged the risks posed by international financial crime.

OECD list of tax havens

Andorra
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Belize
British Virgin Islands
Cook Islands
Dominica
Gibraltar
Grenada
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Monaco
Montserrat
Nauru
Dutch Antilles
Niue
Panama
Samoa
Seychelles
St Lucia
St Kitts & Nevis
St Vincent & the Grenadines
Tonga
Turks & Caicos
US Virgin Islands
Vanuatu

"Such activities affect the islands' economic and financial stability," he told his fellow leaders. "Weaknesses in our financial systems allow international criminals to exploit them and undermine our national credibility."

Nauru has promised the OECD to reform its banking system, but has failed to do so since Mr Harris' election in March.

The president said it will do so on its own terms, rather than terms imposed from outside, and the OECD initiative in particular went too far.

Fear of competition

"The small islands of this world do not have much in terms of natural resources and industry," he said.

"It is alarming that now we have identified a viable, legitimate and competitive economic opportunity, the rich states of the world have labelled it harmful competition simply because they choose not to compete.

"Instead of assisting small islands to harness our competitive advantage and economic opportunity, the developed states want to shut it down."

Much of Nauru is taken up with worked-out phosphate mining operations, and the island is almost bereft of other economic goods.

Introducing offshore finance is a tactic followed by many countries in the same position. Indeed, many - such as Barbados, the de facto leader of the blacklisted countries - point out that the policy has been encouraged by donor countries.

Analysts say that the resistance from blacklisted countries might be less severe had the OECD not indicated earlier this year that talks between members and non-members would not lead to any substantive changes.

They also say that promises of technical assistance to reform banking and oversight systems have yet to be fleshed out.

Tiny island that's ready to stop Europe in its tracks

By David Rennie in Mariehamn
The Telegraph UK, 17/02/2006

In the decade since they voted to join the European Union the islanders of the Aland archipelago in the Baltic Sea have been outvoted and overruled by Brussels, time and again.

Now Aland, a unique, autonomous region of Finland, is about to teach Brussels a lesson in democracy it may never forget.

Thanks to a quirk of early 20th-century history, Aland's 26,000 people are essentially sovereign co-rulers of their home nation of Finland. As such, they can veto any international treaty that Finland wants to enter, including EU treaties.

And the islanders are threatening to do just that when the European Commission attempts to revive the moribund EU constitution later this year.

But last week the archipelago's head of EU affairs, Britt Lundberg, travelled to Brussels - a day-long trek - to deliver a warning that dismally low public opinion on Europe could mean Alanders prevent Finland from ratifying the constitution.


The islanders' revolt has been brewing for some time. First, this community of Swedish-speaking Finns lost the right to fish at sea with traditional nets.

Then Alanders saw their beloved spring duck hunting virtually abolished. To the Alanders' final outrage, local laws on consuming "snus" or Swedish chewing tobacco, are about to be quashed by the European Court of Justice.

Finland, which takes over the rotating EU presidency later this year, is committed to reviving the constitution after No votes in France and Holland last year.

Parliament in Helsinki is poised to adopt a positive "position" on the treaty, as part of a plan co-ordinated with powers that include Germany and Austria.

So Mrs Lundberg's warning made the Commission take notice.

Brussels is trapped in a "Catch 22" situation of the EU's own making. Snus, a form of chewing tobacco, has been outlawed by EU fiat in every nation except Sweden, which secured a -special opt-out as a condition of its joining the EU, and in every region - except Aland.

advertisementThe Commission recently took Finland to court to quash Aland's snus law. But Finland has no power to change that law. Finland does not control laws covering health in Aland; Aland does.

Aland is not allowed to defend its law before the justices in Luxembourg because the court recognises only nations. So the court is set to convict and fine Aland, without allowing the island's government to plead its case.

A ban on snus threatens serious financial harm to the capital, Mariehamn.

Mrs Lundberg said: "Every Alander is very, very upset. It's the principle of the thing that we can be judged, made to pay a fine, but have no chance to tell the court in Luxembourg why we made our law, and that we have the sole right to make this law."

The head of the Aland government, Roger Norlund, admitted that he did not even like snus. To him, the row is philosophical. "Aland finds small-scale solutions to its problems. But the EU model is one of large-scale solutions, and harmonisation."

Tomas Grunér, a navigator on the big boats, uses snus "24 hours a day". "It keeps me relaxed," he said. "I thought the EU was a good idea, but now I think it sucks."

On a tiny island, catchy Web name sparks a battle

By Christopher Rhoads, The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The arrival of the Internet brought a rare bit of good fortune to Niue, a tiny, impoverished island in the South Pacific.

Its national Internet suffix, dot-nu, has become a big hit in Sweden, as "nu" means "now" in Swedish. An entrepreneur in Medfield, Mass., named Bill Semich, who acquired the rights to operate and sell the dot-nu domain name in the late 1990s, has plowed some of the profits from Sweden into making Niue (pronounced New-Ay) the world's first nation with free wireless Internet for all of its citizens, about 1,200 people.

But that success has thrown the island, which is about 1 1/2 times the area of Washington, D.C., into turmoil. Some officials charge they were cheated out of what they now see as an important and profitable national asset. "This is a huge issue of national development for us," says Richard Hipa, the managing director of Telecom Niue. "This is something that we should have run, and we were robbed of that."

The island's government has locked horns with the 62-year-old Mr. Semich, whose company is called .NU Domain Ltd., demanding a bigger slice of profits and more control over the domain name. The fight prompted a nearly three-year independent investigation launched by the government and became the dominant issue in the island's elections last year.

"The fact that we are making this extremely large and voluntary commitment to Internet service on Niue is unprecedented," says Mr. Semich from his spartan Medfield office. A small painting of a Niuean landscape adorns one wall. He argues that what he provides is worth more than cash. "To take that and turn it on its head and say, 'You should pay more,' misses the whole point."

As Internet use explodes, governments around the world, particularly in developing nations, are discovering the power of their once-obscure country-code domain names. They have begun to see the names as a source of revenue, a way to increase their presence in cyberspace and as part of their national sovereignty -- like the highway system or phone company -- to be managed as they see fit.

More than a dozen governments or quasigovernment organizations have gained control of their country-code domain names in recent years. Usually the names have been wrested from individuals managing them since the 1990s -- often before the governments were aware of the Internet.

In 2004, France passed a law to legitimize its control over domain names of its overseas territories, such as Mayotte (dot-yt) and St. Pierre and Miquelon (dot-pm). A couple of years ago, the Cayman Islands obtained control of its domain name, dot-ky, from a U.S. entrepreneur marketing the name in Kentucky. He had sold bluegrass.ky and horsecapitaloftheworld.ky, among others. Kazakhstan and South Africa have also battled to win back control of their domain names.

The body that makes such decisions, an arm of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann, in recent years has recognized each nation's "sovereign control" of its domain name, according to a policy statement. Previously, the organization, based in Marina del Rey, Calif., would transfer control of a domain-name suffix only if it were "in the best interests of the Internet community" and if both parties agreed to the change, according to its statements.

After slowing in the wake of the Internet bust six years ago, domain-name registrations have soared. The global total jumped by nearly half to 94 million in the two years that ended last Dec. 31, according to Zooknic, an Internet research firm based in Louisville, Ky. Much of the growth is coming in developing nations. The number of domain names using China's dot-cn and India's dot-in each more than doubled last year, according to Zooknic, well ahead of the 40 percent increase of names using dot-com.

Country-code domain names were conceived in the early 1980s by Jon Postel, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California, as a way to help organize addressing of the Internet.

Each computer connected to the Internet is given an identifying series of numbers, called an Internet protocol address. To make an IP address more user-friendly, each one has a corresponding domain name. Just as dot-com was set up for commercial entities, country-code domain names were to identify users by country.

Reflecting the collegial and informal nature of the fledgling Internet community at the time, Mr. Postel assigned operation of the domain names to trusted friends or people he knew. They were mostly like-minded academics and computer engineers who performed the work on a volunteer basis.

The administrative contacts for each country code had to reside in the given country and understand they were "performing a public service on behalf of the Internet community," Mr. Postel wrote in a 1994 memorandum codifying the domain-name structure. Typically, he decided who would manage country codes for distant nations on a first-come, first-served basis.
In the early and mid-1990s, this was happening below the radar of many governments, some of which viewed the Internet as a passing fad.

Still, Mr. Postel understood the political ramifications of country-code domain names. To avoid having to determine what constitutes a country and make up domain names for them, he used the two-letter codes from a list, called ISO 3166, compiled for mail and other purposes by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization. Any territorial entity on the list would get a domain name.

Many of those listed weren't countries. Some were homes only to penguins. The Indian Ocean made the list, dot-io. Specks of land belonging to other countries were included, such as the United Kingdom's Pitcairn Island, a South Pacific island whose population consists of 50 descendants of the mutineers of the HMS Bounty and their Tahitian wives. (Niue governs itself in "free association" with New Zealand.)

Mr. Postel, who died in 1998, viewed the domain names as merely an administrative convenience. But others, such as Mr. Semich, the head of the company at odds with Niue's government, saw a business opportunity.

"It never occurred to Postel that the value of the revenue generated by domain names could be greater than the value of the Internet service itself," Mr. Semich says.

As an editor for a computer trade magazine in the 1990s, Mr. Semich followed the Internet's early development closely, taking note of the skyrocketing demand for new Internet domain names. He also plunged into the Internet policy debates at the time that included the creation in 1998 of Icann, which took over the duties handled by Mr. Postel.

That same year, Mr. Semich quit his magazine job and got into the business full time. He started a small software company offering clients the ability to have domain names in languages that don't use the Roman alphabet. And he trolled about for available domain names that seemed marketable. He settled on dot-nu, thinking it would be a catchy domain name for U.S. companies looking for a cheaper alternative to dot-com. At the time, a new dot-com address cost $100 to register for two years. After lining up the necessary servers, contacts on the ground in Niue and approval from Icann -- a process that took several months in all -- Mr. Semich was up and running.

Icann required only information that he had the technical capabilities to manage a domain name. There was no fee. But Mr. Semich did spend about $100,000 on servers and other equipment to get the business started.

The expression of interest from an American entrepreneur was at first warmly welcomed by Niue, which hasn't had many breaks over the years.

With its closest neighbor, Tonga, more than 350 miles away, Niue ranks among the most remote places on Earth. British explorer Captain James Cook got a bad taste of the island when he visited in 1774. After shouting natives chased him and his crew away, he dubbed the place "Savage Island." Subsequent settlers were surprised to find vegetation on the chunk of coral rising from the sea, calling the place Niue, which in the local language means, "Look, there's a coconut." When Niue finally built an airport in 1971, thousands of Niueans used the opportunity to emigrate.

Along with selling local stamps and fishing rights, the biggest source of revenue for islanders is foreign aid. The government is by far the largest employer. In January 2004, a mammoth cyclone devastated much of Niue, prompting even more to emigrate.

When Mr. Semich arrived on the scene, he says Telecom Niue wasn't interested in the domain name or in offering Internet service, because it feared the Internet would sap its revenue from faxes. Mr. Hipa of Telecom Niue says the government was just beginning to formulate an Internet policy but believed the domain name was just "like an international dialing code prefix."
Mr. Semich hired two expatriates on the island: Richard St. Clair, a former Peace Corps volunteer from San Jose, Calif., and a New Zealander named Stafford Guest, who runs a hotel and bar. Their chief task has been to erect Internet service on the island.

Mr. Semich's initial plan to market dot-nu to U.S. customers mostly flopped. Dot-com's big lead over other domain-name suffixes made dot-com even more appealing for new users. But before long, Mr. Semich found that some Europeans, in particular Swedes, took a liking to dot-nu.
At the time, Sweden's country-code domain name, dot-se, was reserved only for companies incorporated in Sweden, steering the country's burgeoning online population to alternatives, like dot-nu.

Today, more than 80 percent of Mr. Semich's business is in Sweden, prompting him to open a sales and marketing office in Stockholm. A Swedish parachutist club has registered the Swedish equivalent of "getupandjump.now," and an advertisement site for Vicks Vaporub uses the equivalent of "wakeup.now." Some Swedes believe the domain name is Swedish. Mr. Semich charges $30 a year for a domain name, with a minimum two-year commitment. There are about 110,000 domain names using the dot-nu suffix, he says.

Mr. Semich says his private company has annual revenue in the low single-digit millions. He donates 15 percent to 30 percent of that to a charitable arm of his operation geared toward developing the Internet on Niue. The money has gone toward an Internet cafe, tower construction, a building designed to protect Internet equipment from cyclones and a $6,000 monthly fee for a telecom link to New Zealand, among other expenses. Between the charity and the business, Mr. Semich employs 12.

Mr. Semich says the venture hasn't made him wealthy. He lives in the same house he did before he started. His visions of turning his non-Roman alphabet domain-name software into a big business vanished with the Internet bust, which forced him to lay off about a dozen full- and part-time employees at the time. Still, managing dot-nu has proved to be a sustainable business, he says.

By June 2003, the company was able to offer Niueans free wireless Internet, via a series of towers on the island. For many, it not only opened them to the outside world but also enabled an inexpensive way to keep in regular contact with friends and relatives who had left the island years before. The company also got involved in civic affairs on the island, sponsoring the rugby team and Niue's contestant in a regional beauty pageant.

Nevertheless, four months later, a new telecom minister on the island claimed the operators lacked a proper license. He shut down the service for workers in the government -- the largest group of users. The minister, Toke Talagi, requested Icann transfer management of the domain name to the government, charging Mr. Semich and his team with "neo-colonialism" and ignoring the rights of the government.

The government hired an American adviser to help lobby Icann for the change. The adviser charged Mr. Semich with reneging on a promise to give 25 percent of his profits to the government and, worse, with knowingly registering pornography Web sites. Mr. Semich denies the accusation. The government launched an independent investigation into the allegations.
Mr. Semich says there was never such an agreement. His company had voluntarily agreed to provide free Internet access to the island, which it was doing, he says. He points out that the operators of other domains don't pay a slice of their proceeds back to governments.
"We agreed to provide free wireless Internet to the government," he says. "There has never been any other agreement."

Nevertheless, on strongly Christian Niue, the charges that the country code was being used for pornography sites created a firestorm. Mr. Guest, one of Mr. Semich's local hires, says the bad publicity hurt business in his motel, the Coral Gardens, forcing him to shut down its restaurant. "They felt we were taking advantage of the nation," says Mr. Guest, whose wife is from Niue. "We were devastated by some of the things being said of us."

But soon citizens began to miss the free Internet access. The matter dominated the election for premier in March of last year, where Mr. Talagi, the telecom minister, was considered the favorite. Just days before the vote, the incumbent premier overruled Mr. Talagi by ordering that Mr. Semich's company could use government-owned towers to extend the Internet to several villages. Mr. Talagi was narrowly defeated.

"The people stood up and said, 'We want our Wi-Fi,' " says Mr. St. Clair, who came to Niue with the Peace Corps in 1994 as a bulldozer mechanic and stayed on to head the construction of the wireless Internet service, called Wi-Fi.

The winner of the election, Mititaiagimene Young Vivian, has taken a more accommodating approach toward Mr. Semich's company. The independent investigation, which ended late last year, found nothing improper about Mr. Semich's business or about how he became manager of the domain name in the first place. No evidence exists to support the pornography charge
Still, Premier Young Vivian says he wants to meet with Mr. Semich soon to discuss the domain name. "The key issue is that reasonable benefits should come to Niue," he says. "That is the goal of any leader."

The King of Tory Island

All Images © Ian Middleton

Tory Island, nine miles north of the coast of Donegal, is by common consent "the most isolated, the most desolate, the most windswept of any of the Irish islands". It is an island drenched by the sea, drenched by the elements, and drenched with history and folklore

But despite all that Tory Island still has its own King. Patsy Dan Rodgers, whose title Rí Thoraí (King of Tory) goes back to the 6th century. According to the legends of Tory, when Colmcille arrived on the Island he was met by the King and refused access to the island. The saint said that all he wanted was space the size of his cloak to build a church upon, so the King agreed. Colmcille lay down his cloak and it miraculously grew and engulfed the entire island. The king was furious and set his hound upon the saint. Colmcille stood high upon a rock and made the sign of the cross and the hound dropped dead. Awed by his powers, the king then allowed Colmcille to come onto his island and build his church. The tradition of a king goes back far beyond Colmcille. In ancient Ireland there were three levels of kingship, the High King, the Provincial King and the Petty King. A petty king ruled over small settlements, and especially small islands like Tory. These kings were always elected by the people, and Tory is the only place in Ireland that still retains this tradition.

So this is one of the oldest monarchies in Western Europe. The King has no formal power, but is chosen by consensus of the islanders to represent the community. The title is not inherited but rather bestowed on the bearer by the islanders.

Unlike some monarchs in neighbouring sovereignties the King of Tory is there by general consensus of his fellow islanders. Patsy Dan revels in his position as a representative of Tory Island and carries out his ambassadorial duties with great aplomb. He greets each passenger ferry that lands and welcomes visitors 'Fáilte romhat,' Likewise, those departing the island are bade a personal 'Slán go foill'.

Tory Island and its King
© Ian Middleton 2006

Ian Middleton is a freelance travel writer and photographer from the UK. He is the author of three travel narrative books and one travel guide to ancient Ireland, Mysterious World: Ireland.

Visit his websites for more info.

http://www.ian-middleton.co.uk
http://www.ianmiddletonphotography.co.uk
http://ireland.mysteriousworld.com/

Tory Island is a remote, treeless place lying nine miles off the county’s northern coast.

Our little boat was being thrown about on the ocean like a piece of flotsam. We stood at the front getting the soaking of our lives. Despite its size, the ferry negotiated these monstrous waves with considerable ease, and an hour after leaving we were pulling into the half-built pier on the remote and wind-beaten Tory Island. We had both read in a book about a man who lives here who is known to all as the King of Tory, and figured it would be fun to travel to a remote island off the coast of Northern Donegal and meet a King. Although, as we stood on the pier soaking wet, the sky darkening with thick clouds and the rain slowly getting heavier, we began to have serious doubts about all this; especially as guesthouse after guesthouse was full with the workmen building the pier.

Three years later I found myself sailing into that same pier on that same boat. The only difference was the weather. The sun was blazing in the sky and illuminating Tory and its nice new pier. The crossing had been perfect, and this time I wasn’t wet.

My travelling companion this time around was Nika, a very lovely girl from Slovenia who I met while travelling Spain the year before. At the ferry terminal in Magheroarty the lady behind the counter had told us that the King greets us at the pier, and kisses the girls. Nika had never been kissed by a King before, so she was quite excited at the prospect.

Tory Island is a remote, treeless place lying nine miles off the county’s northern coast. It is three miles long and half a mile wide.

Its situation in the Tory Sound, a treacherous section of ocean, makes it extremely vulnerable to bad weather. Overall, it is described as a bleak and inhospitable place. Nevertheless, it has a population of 170 living in four towns, imaginatively titled East Town, West Town, Middletown and Newtown. The island is famous for its school of painters whose work has been displayed throughout Europe and even in New York. The most famous painter is Patsy Dan Rodgers, alias the King of Tory.

Getting to Tory Island is a lot easier nowadays due to modern boats; although the crossing may still be rough enough to upset the stomach of even the hardiest traveller. The service operates from Bunbeg and Magheroarty on a daily basis. Magheroarty is the shortest crossing and also runs more often. The first time around, we hitched, bussed and walked our way there. Bus Eireann doesn’t operate a service this far north, but there are a few local bus services such as Lough Swilly. This time around I had a camper van, which made life easier.

Much to our disappointment the King wasn’t there to greet us on arrival. We made our way to the Radharc Na Mara hostel, which is a simple little house with no signs or anything to indicate that it’s a hostel. Katherine runs the place and gave us a room with two beds, sofa, chair and fire for 12 Euro each. This hostel had been full last time I came and, after being sent from house to house, we ended up staying with a nice old lady called Mary Meehan who, for £16 per night, provided us with bed and breakfast, and even dried our clothes by the fire.

Intending to take advantage of the nice sunny evening, we hiked our way to the eastern side of the island, which is characterised by high cliffs that drop off at frighteningly steep angles. The rough sea pounds the island’s jagged edges far below and a vast array of birdlife inhabits the cliffs, including puffins. An abandoned caravan that had sat alone in the middle of this expanse of wilderness three years ago was now lying in the same spot, flipped over and broken into pieces; an example of the stormy weather this island experiences during the winter.

Back in West Town we ate a cheap meal at the café, accompanied with homemade bread, and then went to the island’s only pub (other than the hotel bar) Club Soisialta (Social Club) for a drink. It was my hope that the King would pop in (after all, he is a very down to earth King and not above drinking with the peasants). And sure enough, he did and came over to welcome us to his island. He shook my hand, and took a while to recognise me. Nika had been looking forward to her royal kiss so much that when the moment came she reciprocated so enthusiastically that I feared she would give the poor old man a heart attack.

Tory has a long history of having its own King, whose job it is to govern the island. The title is not totally hereditary, and some Kings have been elected purely on their skills and personal qualities. When Tory first opened up to tourism the islanders wanted to appoint a representative who could help attract visitors. The King was given the task. Patsy Dan has worked extremely hard ever since, using worldwide exhibitions of his famous paintings to promote the island.

Tory is steeped in history (it’s been inhabited for 4000 years) and the islanders have fought hard to retain their way of life. Even today the islanders can be cut off for months in the winter. The government had managed to coerce inhabitants off other nearby islands, but Tory’s inhabitants refused to leave. Fishing and farming had long been a way of life, although both have waned over the years. The locals now rely a lot on summer tourism.

In the morning the rain was back. In a sense I was quite glad. This is how I remember the island: cold, bleak and ravaged by the elements. It’s also a reminder that good warm, waterproof clothing is needed. Three years ago I’d set out for a walk along the cliffs without my raincoat. By the time I got back I was too wet to do anything except sit by the fire.

One road runs the length of the island, at the end of which, I was amused to see, was a small dirt roundabout. We set out for the western side, which is flat but contains dangerous offshore rocks. It also contains the island’s lighthouse, which was built in 1828 and fully automated in 1990. The sea around this little isle is littered with ships that have fallen foul of its deadly storms; the most famous of which is the British gunboat, the Wasp, which sank in 1884 while on a mission to collect taxes from the islanders.

Not having seen him all day, we wandered up to join the King at his palace. He came out front and greeted us with his usual warm welcome.

‘I was just off to the gallery to put in a couple of new paintings,’ he said, putting them down and suddenly realising that he was also carrying the remote control for the television. ‘Oh, I’ll be back in a minute,’ he said, and rushed off inside.

It seems even Kings suffer from absent-mindedness.

He returned shortly after and gave us a couple of posters of the island. We then chatted as we strolled off towards the gallery. Halfway, he got into a conversation in Gaelic with some locals, and said he would meet us there.

Tory Island, like a lot of Northern Donegal, is predominantly an Irish-speaking area. All signs are in Gaelic.

We continued on to the gallery, but not before popping in to see Mary, whose comfortable home and open fire had saved us from having to huddle in that abandoned caravan and possibly die of hypothermia three years ago.

The small gallery houses an impressive display of the islander’s paintings. James Dixon is Tory’s most celebrated painter and died in 1970. Work is underway to build a gallery for his work alone. We chatted to the owner who expressed his concern at the downfall in visitors to the island in recent years.

‘Not so long ago the island would be dotted with tents in the summer. Now you don’t see any,’ he said.

It was a shame. Tourism in Ireland was down, and Tory was suffering the most.

As we set sail back to the mainland and watched as the King waved enthusiastically until he was just a dot on the pier, we headed out into what was possibly the roughest crossing yet. The way the skipper swept the boat in and out of these gigantic waves was testament to his skill and to the safety of this boat. I stood at the back as the waves crashed over the edge and the boat rolled from side to side. As I stood there enjoying the ride, I remembered something Mary had said to me: ‘Don’t leave it three years before you come back to see us again.’
I hoped I wouldn’t.

Tips for tourists

Travel to and from Tory

- For ferry times, contact Turasa Teo, tel 00 353 (0) 75 31320. Boats to Tory set sail from Bunbeg Harbour of Magheroaty

- Aer Arran, tel 00 353 1890 462726 (www.skyroad.com) has flights daily from Dublin to Carrickfinn Airport.

Accommodation:

- Caisleain Oir, Annagry, tel: 00 353 (0) 74 954 8133 is the nearest hotel to the airport, and comfortable and friendly

- Bunbeg House (tel. 00 353 (0) 7531305 is equally to be recommended. Situated at Bunbeg Harbour, it’s the nearest accommodation to the harbour, with a magnificent scenic location over the Sound.

- Ostán Thoraigh (tel 00 353 (0) 74 35920 offers various midweek specials and weekend break deals.

- Mrs Grace Duffy, East Town, (tel 00 353 (0) 74 35136) offers very comfortable B&B

Directions: 12 km off the coast of Donegal. Access by Ferry from An Bun Beag and Machaire Uí Rabhartaigh.

Population: Over 130. A Gaeltacht island.

Size: Approx 3 km long and 1 km wide.

Official Tory Island Website

Gardiner Family’s Private Island Kingdom in New York

Gardiner’s Island New York
Photos

Short a short drive from downtown Manhattan and its 21st century hustle and bustle, at the northern end of Long Island lies a 3,000 acre private island that has been the private kingdom of the Gardiner family for nearly 400 years. Located between the two Forks in Gardiners Bay is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and has 27 miles of pristine shoreline it is the largest privately-owned island in North America. A wood shed on the property is the oldest remaining structure in New York State.

Gardiner’s Island has been owned by the Gardiner family since the English settler Lion Gardiner, bought it from the Montaukett Indians in 1639 for "one large dog, one gun, some powder and shot, some rum and several blankets, worth in all about Five Pounds sterling."

An old family Bible in possession of the Gardiner family on Gardiner's Island, written in Lion Gardiner's own handwriting, is the following "then I went to an Island of my own, which I had bought and purchased of the Indians, called by them Monachohack, by us, Isle of Wight".

In 1980, the island was said to be worth an estimated $125 million, and since real estate prices have tripled since 1980, one can conservatively estimate it’s price at over $375 million. However, taking into account it’s unique history, location and historical value it’s value is really incalculable.

There are no stores, restaurants or lodging facilities on the island. The island is privately owned and the owners do not allow visitors. There are no telephone or electrical lines. All electric on the island is produced by the island's huge generators.

Note! The only guests to Gardiner's Island are those invited from the family or from those that work on the island.

Gardiners Island: What Next?
Questions of ownership and land use hang over the paradise between the forks
By Steve Wick, Staff Writer www.newsday.com

For 358 years it has been their island. The family's ownership has survived Indian wars, pillaging pirates, the Revolution, the Civil War and two World Wars. It has survived the income tax, the inheritance tax, the Depression and bitter feuds.

And the island is not cheap to maintain -- nearly $2 million a year in upkeep and property taxes. Costs go up every year, too.

Today, Gardiners Island is the oldest family-owned estate of its kind in America, dating to the reign of Charles I of England. The 3,000-acre island holds a vast wealth of history. It has the largest stand of white oak in the Northeast, as well as rare birds, Indian artifacts, and one of the oldest wood-frame structures in New York State.

Its fields and forests, its manor house and barns, the carpenter's shed built in 1639, a stone wall built by slaves -- all hold the collective memory of Long Island history.

Since the spring of 1639 it has been in the Gardiner family -- but will the Gardiners have it much longer?

Robert David Lion Gardiner, the current lord of the manor, as each generation of Gardiners who have looked after the island have called themselves, is pessimistic. He is 86 years old, and has no children. On top of the issue of having no heirs, there's the thorny tax question.

``If you know anything about inheritance taxes in this country, how high they are, you will very quickly realize that it is all but impossible to keep this island in my family,'' Gardiner said as he toured the island last summer. Gardiner is worth millions of dollars, but said his own wealth, after taxes, will not be enough to keep the island going after his death.

``It's a miracle it has been in our family this long,'' Gardiner said.

Then there's the family situation. Gardiner shares the use of the island with his niece, Alexandra Goelet, to whom he does not speak. They have sued each other and warred for years over their sharing of the island and the question of its future. Gardiner has accused his niece of harboring a secret desire to cover the island with houses; for her part, Goelet has said in the past she has no such plan. She would not be interviewed for this story.

In the 1980s, Gardiner refused to pay his share of the taxes and upkeep, so the Goelets now carry that burden. But a court decision allowed Gardiner to continue using the island.

According to the legal agreements that tie the Gardiner family to their island, if Gardiner were to die today the ownership of the island would pass to his niece. Gardiner has said he does not want that to happen, and last summer, while touring the island and showing off its history and natural beauty, he said he was working on a plan to keep the island away from her.

``I am working on a plan to create the Robert David Lion Foundation which would own the island and make it available for small study groups,'' Gardiner said while sipping French champagne under the shade of a huge tree in front of the island's manor house. He is clearly an aristocrat in a country that doesn't have any.

Jack Raymond, a spokesman for the Goelets, said Gardiner does not have the legal right to convey the island. ``He can't unilaterally do anything with the island,'' Raymond said.

Beyond the issue of the trust, Gardiner said he would not oppose government ownership of the island, or ownership by a private group such as The Nature Conservancy. In the past, federal, state and local governments have said acquisition of the island would be beyond reach. In 1989, the island was said to be worth more than $125 million. The Nature Conservancy has described the Peconic Bay system, and its islands, as one of the ``last great places on Earth.''

So determined to keep the island out of his niece's hands, Gardiner has even gone hunting for a suitable heir. In 1989, he found a 48-year-old Mississippi businessman named George Green and made plans to legally adopt him as his ``son.'' What made this Green different from a lot of other Greens was his middle name -- Gardiner. The plan, however, fell through.

The family has nearly lost the island in the past.

In the mid-1660s, David Gardiner -- the first Lion Gardiner's son -- nearly lost the island through his own financial mismanagement. His mother, Mary, had to sell holdings in Connecticut and Smithtown to bail out the family and keep the island.

Centuries later, in 1937, the island was put up for sale by its owner. A few weeks before an auction of the island was to be held, another Gardiner -- Sarah Diodati Gardiner -- stepped in and bought the island. Upon her death in 1953, it passed to her nephew, Robert David Lion Gardiner, and his sister, Alexandra Creel. When Creel died, her rights passed to her daughter, Alexandra Goelet, and a son, who subsequently died.

Asked how the island managed to stay in the family, Robert David Lion Gardiner said last summer: ``We have always married into wealth. We've covered all our bets. We were on both sides of the Revolution, and both sides of the Civil War. The Gardiner family always came out on top.''
Copyright © 2007, Newsday, Inc.


Robert David Lion Gardiner, heir of Gardiner's Island, dies at 93
By Robert F. Worth, August 30, 2004

Robert David Lion Gardiner, the last heir to bear the name of the family that has owned Gardiner's Island, off the coast of Long Island, for nearly four centuries, died Aug. 23 at his home in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 93.

Mr. Gardiner's death was announced by Jeanne Toomey, a friend and former press representative.

Mr. Gardiner called himself "the 16th Lord of the Manor" and saw himself as a custodian of his family's history on what is said to be the largest privately owned island in the world. Although Mr. Gardiner's wealth and social position was overshadowed by that of the tycoons and Hollywood celebrities who colonized Long Island over the past century, he delighted in reminding them of who had arrived first.

"The Fords, the du Ponts, the Rockefellers, they are nouveaux riches," Mr. Gardiner told an interviewer in the mid-1990s.

Mr. Gardiner lived in East Hampton, in an opulent family house with its own long history, but his heart was rooted in Gardiner's Island, in the bay off Long Island's south fork. The island's 3,350 acres includes 27 miles of coastline, forests and streams, and buildings dating from the 17th century.

It has been in the family since his ancestor, the English settler Lion Gardiner, bought it from the Montaukett Indians in 1639 for "one large dog, one gun, some powder and shot, some rum and several blankets, worth in all about Five Pounds sterling."

He also obtained a charter from King Charles I of England. Captain Kidd once buried treasure there, and the family withstood several attacks by pirates. Someone accused of being a witch once lived on the island, as did Julia Gardiner, who became the wife of President John Tyler and was known in her youth as "the rose of Long Island."

Although the island is strictly off limits to the public, Mr. Gardiner took occasional groups of visitors there in his boat, the Laughing Lady, often surprising them by talking about Colonial-era events as though they had happened the day before.

For the past three decades, Mr. Gardiner feuded with his niece, Alexandra Gardiner Creel Goelet, who owned the island jointly with him. He often accused Goelet and her husband, Robert G. Goelet, of plotting to sell or develop the island after his death, a charge they vehemently denied.

Mr. Gardiner, who married in 1961 but had no children, tried unsuccessfully during the 1980s to adopt a distant relative as his heir, to whom he could bequeath his share of the island.

Mr. Gardiner was born Feb. 25, 1911, in New York, and attended St. George's School in Newport, R.I. He graduated from Columbia University in 1934 and attended New York University Law School. In World War II, he served as a Navy lieutenant and saw action in the South Pacific.

After the war, he worked on Wall Street at the Empire Trust Co. His father died when he was young, and he lived in Manhattan with his mother until he was in his late 40s. In 1961, he married Eunice Bailey Oakes, a British former model many years his junior, at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Eighteen ushers in top hats and tails took part in the ceremony. His wife survives him.

Mr. Gardiner once estimated his personal wealth at $135 million; his assets included a 42-acre shopping center. He served for many years on the Suffolk County Planning Board, and ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for the state Senate in 1960.

Mr. Gardiner and his sister Alexandra Gardiner Creel inherited the island from their aunt, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, on her death in 1953. It had nearly passed out of family hands two decades earlier, after a spendthrift cousin was unable to maintain it. Sarah Gardiner bought it in 1937 for $400,000, just before it was to be put up for sale at public auction.

Mr. Gardiner's aunt left a trust fund to pay for the island's upkeep, but by the late 1970s it had run out of money. Mr. Gardiner already had quarreled with his sister and her daughter over the island, and when his niece's husband, Robert Goelet, began paying the rising costs, Mr. Gardiner refused to pay half.

He said at the time that he was trying to force the island into receivership by New York state, which he hoped would take care of it as a historic site. His relatives went to court, and in 1980, Judge Marie Lambert of state Surrogate Court barred Mr. Gardiner from visiting the island.

Mr. Gardiner appealed the decision, and in 1992, a state appeals court ruled that as an heir he could not be denied the use of the island. He began visiting it regularly again, always avoiding the Goelets, with whom he continued to feud, and still refusing to help pay the estimated $1.8 million yearly costs for the island's upkeep.

His sister died in 1990. Mr. Gardiner's feud with his niece was far from the family's only quarrel over the island, which Alexandra Goelet's father had called "the sandbar of sorrow." Over the years, there had been several legal confrontations over its ownership, said Joseph Attinito, Mr. Gardiner's lawyer.

Now Alexandra Goelet is expected to become the owner of the island. She has two children.

Although Mr. Gardiner had hoped to be buried on the island in a tomb like his grandfather's, a replica of that of the Roman emperor Sextus Africanus, Attinito said he would be buried near his parents in an East Hampton cemetery.

New Island Appears in Greenland

A penisula long thought to be part of Greenland's mainland turned out to be an island when a glacier retreated.

By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF
The New York Times, January 16, 2007

LIVERPOOL LAND, Greenland — Flying over snow-capped peaks and into a thick fog, the helicopter set down on a barren strip of rocks between two glaciers. A dozen bags of supplies, a rifle and a can of cooking gas were tossed out onto the cold ground. Then, with engines whining, the helicopter lifted off, snow and fog swirling in the rotor wash.

Dennis Schmitt, a 60-year-old explorer, discovered an island in Greenland that had been bound to the mainland.
When it had disappeared over the horizon, no sound remained but the howling of the Arctic wind.

“It feels a little like the days of the old explorers, doesn’t it?” Dennis Schmitt said.

Mr. Schmitt, a 60-year-old explorer from Berkeley, Calif., had just landed on a newly revealed island 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle in eastern Greenland. It was a moment of triumph: he had discovered the island on an ocean voyage in September 2005. Now, a year later, he and a small expedition team had returned to spend a week climbing peaks, crossing treacherous glaciers and documenting animal and plant life.

Despite its remote location, the island would almost certainly have been discovered, named and mapped almost a century ago when explorers like Jean-Baptiste Charcot and Philippe, Duke of Orléans, charted these coastlines. Would have been discovered had it not been bound to the coast by glacial ice.

Maps of the region show a mountainous peninsula covered with glaciers. The island’s distinct shape — like a hand with three bony fingers pointing north — looks like the end of the peninsula.

Now, where the maps showed only ice, a band of fast-flowing seawater ran between a newly exposed shoreline and the aquamarine-blue walls of a retreating ice shelf. The water was littered with dozens of icebergs, some as large as half an acre; every hour or so, several more tons of ice fractured off the shelf with a thunderous crack and an earth-shaking rumble.

All over Greenland and the Arctic, rising temperatures are not simply melting ice; they are changing the very geography of coastlines. Nunataks — “lonely mountains” in Inuit — that were encased in the margins of Greenland’s ice sheet are being freed of their age-old bonds, exposing a new chain of islands, and a new opportunity for Arctic explorers to write their names on the landscape.

“We are already in a new era of geography,” said the Arctic explorer Will Steger. “This phenomenon — of an island all of a sudden appearing out of nowhere and the ice melting around it — is a real common phenomenon now.”

In August, Mr. Steger discovered his own new island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, high in the polar basin. Glaciers that had surrounded it when his ship passed through only two years earlier were gone this year, leaving only a small island alone in the open ocean.

“We saw it ourselves up there, just how fast the ice is going,” he said.

With 27,555 miles of coastline and thousands of fjords, inlets, bays and straits, Greenland has always been hard to map. Now its geography is becoming obsolete almost as soon as new maps are created.

Hans Jepsen is a cartographer at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, which produces topographical maps for mining and oil companies. (Greenland is a largely self-governing region of Denmark.) Last summer, he spotted several new islands in an area where a massive ice shelf had broken up. Mr. Jepsen was unaware of Mr. Schmitt’s discovery, and an old aerial photograph in his files showed the peninsula intact.

“Clearly, the new island was detached from the mainland when the connecting glacier-bridge retreated southward,” Mr. Jepsen said, adding that future maps would take note of the change.

The sudden appearance of the islands is a symptom of an ice sheet going into retreat, scientists say. Greenland is covered by 630,000 cubic miles of ice, enough water to raise global sea levels by 23 feet.

Carl Egede Boggild, a professor of snow-and-ice physics at the University Center of Svalbard, said Greenland could be losing more than 80 cubic miles of ice per year.

“That corresponds to three times the volume of all the glaciers in the Alps,” Dr. Boggild said. “If you lose that much volume you’d definitely see new islands appear.”

He discovered an island himself a year ago while flying over northwestern Greenland. “Suddenly I saw an island with glacial ice on it,” he said. “I looked at the map and it should have been a nunatak, but the present ice margin was about 10 kilometers away. So I can say that within the last five years the ice margin had retreated at least 10 kilometers.”

The abrupt acceleration of melting in Greenland has taken climate scientists by surprise. Tidewater glaciers, which discharge ice into the oceans as they break up in the process called calving, have doubled and tripled in speed all over Greenland. Ice shelves are breaking up, and summertime “glacial earthquakes” have been detected within the ice sheet.

“The general thinking until very recently was that ice sheets don’t react very quickly to climate,” said Martin Truffer, a glaciologist at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. “But that thinking is changing right now, because we’re seeing things that people have thought are impossible.”

A study in The Journal of Climate last June observed that Greenland had become the single largest contributor to global sea-level rise.

Until recently, the consensus of climate scientists was that the impact of melting polar ice sheets would be negligible over the next 100 years. Ice sheets were thought to be extremely slow in reacting to atmospheric warming. The 2001 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, widely considered to be an authoritative scientific statement on the potential impacts of global warming, based its conclusions about sea-level rise on a computer model that predicted a slow onset of melting in Greenland.

“When you look at the ice sheet, the models didn’t work, which puts us on shaky ground,” said Richard Alley, a geosciences professor at Pennsylvania State University.

There is no consensus on how much Greenland’s ice will melt in the near future, Dr. Alley said, and no computer model that can accurately predict the future of the ice sheet. Yet given the acceleration of tidewater-glacier melting, a sea-level rise of a foot or two in the coming decades is entirely possible, he said. That bodes ill for island nations and those who live near the coast.

“Even a foot rise is a pretty horrible scenario,” said Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University in Miami.

On low-lying and gently sloping land like coastal river deltas, a sea-level rise of just one foot would send water thousands of feet inland. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide make their homes in such deltas; virtually all of coastal Bangladesh lies in the delta of the Ganges River. Over the long term, much larger sea-level rises would render the world’s coastlines unrecognizable, creating a whole new series of islands.

“Here in Miami,” Dr. Leatherman said, “we’re going to have an ocean on both sides of us.”

Such ominous implications are not lost on Mr. Schmitt, who says he hopes that the island he discovered in Greenland in September will become an international symbol of the effects of climate change. Mr. Schmitt, who speaks Inuit, has provisionally named it Uunartoq Qeqertoq: the warming island.

Global warming has profoundly altered the nature of polar exploration, said Mr. Schmitt, who in 40 years has logged more than 100 Arctic expeditions. Routes once pioneered on a dogsled are routinely paddled in a kayak now; many features, like the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf in Greenland’s northwest, have disappeared for good.

“There is a dark side to this,” he said about the new island. “We felt the exhilaration of discovery. We were exploring something new. But of course, there was also something scary about what we did there. We were looking in the face of these changes, and all of us were thinking of the dire consequences.”

Fiji’s Amazing Freebooters’ Freehold

It’s historical, it’s new, it’s stunning — and 9% won’t last long

Asia Pacific Tropical Homes Magazine

A good portion of newly titled freehold land lies on small offshore islands and along Pristine beachfronts that were of little use, at the time, to the locals.

When German-American adventurer Steiner fired his muskets against a Fijian chief’s enemies in the early 1800s, he was rewarded with two beautiful Pacific gems: the islands of Mavuva and Nukubati.

Such quick and easy passage of tropical lands from native to foreign ownership for muskets, trade goods or tipping the balance in local feuds was quite the norm, back in the buccaneer days of these remote Pacific islands — until 1874, that is, when the islands came under imperial rule. The British government’s quick move to protect native lands was to have far reaching effects for both native descendents and the modern, tropical villa hunter.

With land transfers from island chiefs to privateers outlawed, a colonial commission was set up in 1876 to examine all prior transfers of land to foreigners. Of 1,683 “alienated” title claims by foreigners, only 517 — representing almost 9% of the land mass of Fiji’s 322 major islands — were upheld and converted to freehold title. Luckily for Western dreamers of the modern world, however, a good portion of that newly titled freehold land was on legitimate, productive coconut plantations — land on small offshore islands and along pristine beachfronts of little use, at the time, to the locals.

Unlike in Hawaii, where the natives lost most of their traditional lands, Fijian ownership of 88% of their traditional land was guaranteed in perpetuity in communal trust. In 1940, the Native Lands Trust Board was established to manage that land. Owned communally, native land could not be sold, but leases of up to 99 years were legitimized. Here lies a second sector of clearly defined security for the new army of cashed-up investors eager for tropical villas by coral sands.

Today that 9% of freehold land, which can also be purchased by non-Fijians, has sparked a modern gold rush of proportions remote islands chiefs could have never have imagined. Jet-setting thousands have replaced the occasional adventurer crossing the horizon under sail; they come from Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles in the course of an extended nap. No longer dreaming of riches from coconut oil, today’s escapee to the Pacific instead sips coconut juice, tossing away the once-prized, oil-rich coconut flesh. Even the shade of the palm is more valued today, cooling the Pacific’s real “gold” in this fast-paced, globalized economy — the seductive coral-sand beaches and warm waters.

Billions of dollars migrate from cold climates to hot each year, with an ever-greater share reaching tropical Asia-Pacific. In less than a generation, the tropical dream has sparked a stunning transformation of beach landscapes across this magazine’s territorial map, from Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia, northern Australia, and now Fiji.

When we published our first edition in 2003, Fiji was on Asia-Pacific TROPICAL HOMES’ map as potential territory for the tropical villa craze. In 2003, villa-community developments had begun to swathe the hills of Phuket and Samui, while in Bali the very first, Karma Jimbaran, was only in the planning stages. A 2003 Internet search raised just two similar offerings on Fiji: Taveuni Developments and Taunovo Bay, the former selling build-yourself land plots, the latter future dreams (but they also became the first to open finished luxury villas in 2006).

Today, just three years later, about 15 villa community projects have already been announced across Fiji, with new ones appearing on the market almost monthly. Most multi-villa freehold projects are planned as additions to existing resorts eager to race up-market by building with investors’ money. Thanks to our freebooting forbearers, a great number of those villas will have front-door access to spectacular beaches. Having 9% of freehold land hosting so many of the new projects should help Fiji to enjoy an edge over its rivals in the regional market.

Both Fiji tourism and the tropical villa boom are in an embryonic stage, but buyers aren’t hard to find. Unsurprisingly, Australian and New Zealand accents already pervade the islands. Fiji lies just a three-hour hop north of New Zealand, and is fast becoming that nation’s hot neighbourhood beach retreat. The Australian presence is ubiquitous, and parts of the main island resembles a run-down province of that near neighbour. Following the introduction of direct Los Angeles – Nadi flights, American accents have also become everyday.

In tiny Savusavu Airport, on the second island of Vanua Levu, a large sun-burnt American was boarding the tiny eight-seater craft for the one-hour hop to Nandi’s international airport. He was going to connect to a non-stop flight to LA. A builder from California, he had just returned from inspecting progress on his own emerging tropical villa. “After the tsunami I decided to build high,” he said in a booming drawl that threatened to add some sway to the palms. “So we are on a headland overlooking the beach.” His private villa will be just a 15-minute drive east of the local airport. “Fiji is incredible in many ways,” he said, “but it’s the friendly people that really make it.

And the prices. They’re like Hawaii 30 years ago. So I just catch the Nandi flight and sleep right past Hawaii.” He predicted a new wave of fellow Americans when word of Fiji’s charms, land prices and direct access got out. (Fiji’s total land mass of 18,333sqm is 10% larger than that of Hawaii.)

The numbers show an unprecedented wave of tourists and long-stay visitors invading Fiji’s shores. And don’t expect the islands’ messy political situation to slow the trend for longer than a blink. Global tourists show increasing resilience to local political feuds, even to localized wars. In Sri Lanka, Europeans have filled hotels along the southwest coastal beaches year after year even as war ravaged the northeast. Thailand’s 2006 coup put only the tiniest dip in tourist numbers. In Bali, the traditionally crowded tourist hotspots are being avoided big-time, but
a little farther afield on the island, many low-key villa retreats are doing better than ever. The region’s lessons from political upheavals, SARS, the tsunami, 9/11 and bird flu show that tourists soon forget and return. But in paradise land prices will never retreat — especially on Fiji’s historical, amazing 9%.

As of this writing, most villas in Fiji exist mainly on paper. But the artists’ impressions of these homes and the beaches they will rest on indicate that the coming wave of construction will produce some of the finest tropical villas in the region. At the same time, there’s going to be a wide choice, and buyers should be prepared to reflect on their specific preferences.

Viti Levu

The main island of Viti Levu constitutes 58 percent of the total land mass (10,390 sq. km.), and appears more “mainland” than island. Many of its shores are fringed by mangrove swamps rather than beaches. Denarau, Fiji’s biggest resort and housing complex, is built largely on reclaimed land on the northeast shore near Nadi’s international airport.

Denarau offers five world-class resorts and canalside residential communities. But there are no beautiful beaches to speak of. (A new Hilton-managed apartment resort has gone so far as to import white sand to cover the natural mix of hard soil-sand.) This highly successful development presents plenty of other attractions, of course. It’s close to “civilization”, for one thing, including employment and the international airport, and it acts as the jumping-off point to the outer islands, where you still encounter the classic tropical paradise.

The canal-side housing is a mirror image of Australia’s Gold Coast, with a large percentage of residents coming from there and from New Zealand. Given the nearby airport, these people can slip in for the weekend. Coral Coast

The “Coral Coast”, the southern shore of Viti Levu, hosts most of the main island’s resorts. Some of these are planning villas, but other options are available. Maui Bay, a vast Taveuni Developments project, has subdivided an old estate into over 300 land parcels. You can buy the land on easy terms and build your own villa. The beachfront plots sold out quickly, and a number of homes have already been completed. Along Coral Coast towards the capital city of Suva, we pass the kilometres-long, high-end Taunovo Bay project, Fiji’s first gated villa community, with luxurious South Seas-style beachfront villas. Setting up residence here runs US$3 million or more, but buyers can expect a luxurious, beautifully designed home.

Vanua Levu

The second largest island, Vanua Levu, holds 30 percent of Fiji’s land area (5,538 sq. km). Resort and villa development hotspots — again, with freehold titles — are sited on former coconut plantations. From arrival at the quaint little airport at Savusavu, this location ranks high on both the “tropical” and “exotic” scales, and continues to score points as one follows the lush coastline to remote resorts scattered along beaches and offshore islands.

Smaller islands

For villas set in the classic Fiji paradise, head out to the smaller islands. A whole chain of small islands washed by deep, clear seas runs off to the northwest, and here dozens of resorts have established themselves over the past two decades, making this Fiji’s most popular tourist destination. A few of the top-end resorts here are planning
villas. Other projects have been announced on the smattering of small islands off the west coast.

On Vomo Island, halfway up this island chain, meticulous preparations are underway for a topend private villa community to complement the existing Sofitel Vomo Island Resort. Options off the southern coast may be few, but these represent a very special few. It’s here we find what some consider one of the most beautiful islands in the archipelago, Vatulele, with The Point resort (our cover photo) and plans for villas privileged with beach settings to match the wildest fantasies of a South Pacific paradise.

Lau Islands

Last we come to what are, in terms of availability, also least. Far to the east, well on the way to Tonga, lie Fiji’s outermost Lau Islands. So captivating is their tropical beauty that they gave birth to many of the swashbuckling legends of the South Pacific. Modern legends are still being born, often involving the names of famous come-and-go owners of the few freehold beauties here. Malcolm Forbes and Dietrich Mateschitz have bought Laucala Island; Mel Gibson acquired Mago Island for a cool US$14.5 million; Richard Evanson owns Turtle Island; and Raymond Burr has Naitoumba Island.

Some of the 15 properties under development

Denarau Beach Resort

Nadi, Viti Levu
125 apartments for sale or holiday rental
600 acres (243 hectares); reclaimed mangrove
20 minutes drive east of Nadi International Airport
55-berth marina

Fiji’s signature integrated resort development continues to thrive since its inception in 1969, with many luxury homes now occupied or on the market for resale. In response to the success of eight other residential estates, Tabua Investments Ltd opened the Denarau Beach Resort. Owners enter a management arrangement with the option to have their apartment managed during their absence.

Hilton Fiji Resort Villas at the Fiji Beach Resort & Spa

Nadi, Viti Levu
One-, two- and three-bedroom villas
1.5km of beachfront
Prices: NZ$425,000, $745,000, $1,265,000

Nadi, Viti Levu
One-, two- and three-bedroom villas
1.5km of beachfront
Prices: NZ$425,000, $745,000, $1,265,000

Determined to be part of the Denarau success story, Hilton International recently emerged on site with plans to develop the Fiji Beach Resort & Spa and a series of villas. Villas come with all the luxuries that one has come to associate with the brand.

Momi Bay Development

Nadi, Viti Levu
400 hectares of ocean frontage
382 residential lots
villas, condominiums and over-water bures
prices start at F$240,000.
18-hole, Peter Thomson-designed golf course

This is the largest and perhaps the most impressive residential resort development to hit Fiji. Residential lot owners will have exclusive use of the JW Marriott amenities, private beach and resort management services. Bayleys Real Estate has been appointed to market lots around the waterways and golf course.

Taunovo Bay Resort and Spa
info@taunovobay.com

Taunovo Bay, Viti Levu
300 hectares of freehold land
Three- or four-bedroom villas thatched, over the water bures
private island and 226 hectares of protected tropical rainforest
Lots from US$170,000-$900,000; villas from US$1.1-$1.25mill.

This ambitious community resort estate melds the luxuries of the Western world with the virtues of Fijian culture and tradition. Community centrepiece includes park, spa, seafood grill, pool, tennis courts and private health club. Beachfront Estate villas are nearing completion with a model home open for viewing.

The Chedi

Nananu-I-Ra: 350-hectare island located off the northern tip of Viti Levu
23 villas; almost sold out
over 15,000sqm of freehold land per villa
80-berth marina
Phase II, located above marina will have villas averaging NZ$3.5 million

Recognizing the potential of this tropical playground, and following the success of The Talei Nananu-I-Ra, The Chedi is planned as an up-market villa resort and marina. Fractional ownership of these villas, with 12 shares at NZ$290,000 each, is an unusual feature. Each owner will get three weeks’ usage of the villa per year, leaving a short period for rentals.

Savusavu Marina Village

130 2-3 bedroom villas along 1.5 kilometers of absolute water frontage
Villa price average is US $285,000.00
Each villa comes with private mooring
86 berth marina for yachts from 30 to 80 feet long
Villa owners may keep their vessels in Savusavu free of the current 27% import duty

Wavi Island Resort Villa Estate
www.waviisland.com

250 metres off the mainland of Vanua Levu
23 fully serviced oceanfront bure villa estate freehold
Lots range from 0.5-1 acres (0.2-0.4 hectares)
US$400,000-$700,000

Linked to Vanua Levu by a 0.5km bridge, 27-acre (11-hectare) Wavi Island ensures absolute privacy. Villas are made of a series of detached rooms linked by covered walkways. Great care has been taken by the developer, architects and landscapers to disturb as little of the natural environment as possible during construction. Owners will have use of the resort’s spa, fitness centre, tennis courts and marina.

Vatulele Island Resort
www.vatulele.com
info@vatulele.com

Vatulele Island
52 headland and beachfront lots
Rental management
Refundable buyer option fee NZ$20,000

Since opening in 1990, Vatulele Island Resort has developed an enviable reputation, with the beauty of its site and a unique architectural style of thick Santa Fe-style rendered walls and lofty thatched roofs making it a favourite among architecture and interior design magazines. The resort is recognized as one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Sofitel Vomo Island Resort

90-hectare Vomo Island
residential “strata” type real-estate development
absolute beachfront bures
NZ$550,000
5-star luxury resort managed by Sofitel

Uncrowded bliss is one way to describe the rugged, remote Vomo Island. Bure owners will have exclusive use of their villa for four weeks each year while enjoying the resort. When owners aren’t in residence, Sofitel will manage the villa and generate income for the owner.

Addendum: Islands For Sale

I have the following private islands for sale in fiji.

Vatu Vara “Hat” Island
Location: Lau Group, Fiji Islands
Area: app. 1,000 acres
Description: The Most Beautiful & Expensive Private Island in the World
Price: $75 Million USD

Kanacea Island
Location: Lau Group, Fiji Islands
Area: 3500 acres
Description: Very large island immediately adjacent to Mel Gibson’s Mago Island
Price: $44 million USD

Kaimbu Island Resort
Location: Lau Group, Fiji Islands
Area: 800 acres
Description: 5 star Private Island Resort
Price: $38M USD

Blue Lagoon Island Resort
Location: Fiji
Area: 230 acres
Description: The most beautiful island in Fiji, 80% complete resort, 3400 ft runway.
Price: €25 million

Natewa Bay Island
Location: Natewa Bay, Savusavu, Fiji Island
Area: 46 acres
Description: Stunning Private Fiji Island, ideal for Private Retreat or Boutique Resort
Price: $15 million USD

Surfer’s Island Resort
Location: Fiji
Area: 33.75 acre - 13.68 hectares
Description: Right besides one of the best surf breaks in Fiji. Great fishing and diving.
Price: $6.5 million

Bora Bora Private Island - A Love Story

By Teva V. writing from Tahiti Nui

I have grown up all my life on an island.

My father was a French polar explorer and circumnavigated the world often from France to Australia on his way to Antarctica. Often he would stop over in Tahiti and stay a while. My mom, on her behalf was an air hostess, and was one of the first ones to do the air link from France to Tahiti. Both loved French Polynesia.

My father wrote in 1958, when landing on the Bora Bora airport: “Never before had I seen waters the colour the rainbow or like fireworks, springing right out of some maddened imagination, or from Gauguin’s own palette. Waters the colour of bronze, of copper, gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, pearl, jade, emerald, moonlight or the aurora borealis. The stars themselves seem to have fallen into the sea, scintillating brilliantly on the lagoon’s surface, in bright sunlight… Who could find the words, what poet the images, what painter ever the colours, to describe this scene? I give up.”

After a while being together in Paris, my parents decided to move to Tahiti. My mom sold her house boat in Paris and bought with it an island in Bora Bora. I grew up on this island. At 5am every morning I would get ready, and my father would take me swimming in the lagoon. Then after breakfast, my mom would take me by boat to the main island where I took the local bus to go to school in Faanui. The best thing though was coming back from school, because I could cross over to the island on my water skis.

I had friends on the main island, but my best friends were my 2 dogs, my 2 cats, all my birds and rabbits. I would play extensively with them, and spend timeless hours in the water swimming with fish. At 6 I had my own outrigger boat, and I would row around exploring a bit further, or visit the next island neighbour’s kids and play around.

Needless to say that I drove a boat before knowing how to drive a car.

At all times I knew where I could find my dad: he was in his own fare (house) working on a new book, or drawing a new painting. As for my mom, it was quite different: when I would shout her name, I would get “I’m here” as an answer… “Here” being anywhere from the middle of the island where she would be burning leafs, or on the east of the island where she was planting vegetables, to any where !

Then at the age of 11, we decided that I would go to boarding school in the US, and so I spent the next 10 years abroad, coming back three times a year to see my parents and the island.

One year, as I was coming back home, I met my future wife. My dad died of old age on the island that year, and my life’s perspectives changed. I decided to stay a while.

My dad had three other kids from a first marriage, and when my mom and he moved to Tahiti, he decided to make a donation to them and I, while he was alive. This way we could benefit from it right away. I was too young of course, but later on, my part of the money was used to buy my own island, nearby to the island I grew up on.

During a couple of years, Vanessa and I were staying at her parent’s place or on my mom’s island. But that could last only a time, time had come to settle together, and so my island became more than just a weekend retreat.

I took a carpenter friend of mine to help me construct the main of the house: the stilts, the walls, the roof, and the floor. It took us 5 months because we had no electricity, just good will and his know-how. Then, it was Vanessa and I who did all the inside.

All in all it took us 1 year to build, clean up the island, and finally sleep in the house.

We started out just with oil lanterns, and well water. We would bring up the water from the well with a bucket on a rope, dunk it in a watering can that we would hang on a branch, and tilt to shower.

One year later, I had bought and installed a generator, and plugged it in for New Year’s Eve. We had some friends over; what magnificence it was indeed for us that night to see the light ! The year ended by a midnight lagoon jump!

In 2000 my mom sold her island, and we were able to build a second house on the rear of our island. We decided to rent it on a daily basis for visitors who wanted to share a bit of our out-of-the-ordinary lifestyle. It wasn’t as much to gain money, as it was to share experiences.

Step by step we created everything on the island to make it what it is today: a small piece of paradise.

When we decided to have a baby, we didn’t want to go in a hospital. My greatest dream was to give birth to my child on Bora Bora, but that was not possible right away. We went to France, and we gave birth at Vanessa’s parent’s house; with the help of a midwife. “Lea” was born in December 2003, and two months later came back with us to Bora Bora. We knew that we wanted to have a second child quickly after and now that we had the experience, we wanted him or her to be born on our island !! It was a big dream, but was a great challenge and preparation… We passed a deal with our midwife in France: We would pay her airfare, she would stay at our guest house for a month, and she would in return help us make our dream possible. Of course the main of the work was before her arrival. We had to be in touch with the baby, and be attentive to Vanessa’s body and mind, so that all could go well. It was either : it went well, or we could loose the child and/or the mom; and we knew it . But all the love that we share, all the love that the island also gave us during these few months of preparation, made it possible !

“Mana” opened his eyes for the first time on January 1st 2005 on our island.

After that, we soon realised that we had lived all our dreams with this island, and now we had more dreams but elsewhere.

It is like a great love story: We have many extraordinary memories together, we have faced many challenges and shared emotions, and for sure it would be easier to lie to ourselves and stay put, trying to prolong the memories.

But we both (the island and us) evolved, and our paths our now apart.

However painful it might be, it is better to separate now with only the good memories. It would be deceiving for me to keep the island, even though she is not part of my life anymore. It would be selfish.

Our island now needs someone that has new dreams to share with her, and I am glad to let her free so she can live a new life… Farewell dear Motu


The Island For Sale

The island Teva loved so much, and one of the most beautiful and picturesque in the world is now for sale, and you too can live the island dream like Teva did.

Magic Island, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
www.luxuryrealestate.com/114129
Price: €15 million

Leonardo di Caprio Buys A Private Island

Hello Magazine 29 June 2005

The staunch environmentalist is planning to turn Blackadore Caye, off the coast of Belize, into an ecofriendly resort. Leo's hideaway, which will feature just a few exclusive villas, will respect the island's wildlife and tropical surroundings.

The Beach star Leonardo Di Caprio has snapped up his very own piece of paradise, splashing out on a Caribbean island.

British newspaper The Sun reports that the staunch environmentalist is planning to turn the isle, 104-acre Blackadore Caye off the coast of Belize, into an eco-friendly resort.

The narrow island, which is just over two miles long, is lined with white sand beaches and dotted with coconut palms and rocky outcrops. It lies just a 25-minute boat ride from the Belize Barrier Reef, a World Heritage Site.

The 30-year-old actor is said to already be working on plans for the environmentally-conscious retreat, which is costing him millions of dollars to create. The luxury layout will apparently include just a few exclusive villas, all with private pools and terraces as well as direct access to the beach. Most importantly, however, the design of the hideaway – including the use of renewable energy sources – will respect the island's wildlife and tropical surroundings.

Belize's largest island, Ambergris Caye, is located north of Leo's private getaway. Twenty-five miles long and used as a trading post during the Mayan period, Ambergris is the area's most developed islands, featuring a number of resorts as well as water sports, fishing, snorkelling and scuba diving.

Pumpkin Island: The undiscovered jewel of the Capricorn Coast

The perils and pleasures of island living, along with the perks and pitfalls of being completely surrounded by water are part of the parcel for the three permanent residents of Pumpkin Island.

Quinton, Lynn and Jonty (the Jack Russell) have for the past three years called Pumpkin Island their home. As the island managers the trio have played host to visitors of many nationalities, their stories, experiences and enduring ability to make a life of island living has been a labour of love.

“Initially it took quite a while to get used to living on the island. The reality of no electricity, no shops, no car, or socialising with friends meant we had to totally rethink the way we lived,” said Quinton and Lynn.

Adapting to a life reliant totally on solar power meant the task of renovating became even more challenging than normal. Imagine the reality of getting material and other supplies to and from the island when you are surrounded by a massive expanse of water, a logistical nightmare.

“We have learnt to be creative in all we do, especially in the kitchen, baking our own bread – the old fashioned way and making our own ice cream, yoghurt and beer are new found skills we have had to learn,” said the pair.

Quinton and Lynn went on to say, “You can’t just go to the pub when you feel like it, instead we pack an esky and head to the beach for an evening out. There is no pizza because we don’t feel like cooking, its fresh calamari instead, not a bad option really.”

Many of us take for granted the luxuries of a washing machine, fresh water and the convenience of grocery shopping daily. Long term habitation on an island means you need to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best, as not everything goes to plan.

Located in the isles of Keppel Bay, Pumpkin Island is situated 40 minutes off the coast of Yeppoon. For Quinton and Lynn the decision to take up the position of managers on this privately owned 6.1 ha island was a chance to experience a unique lifestyle change.

Responsible for the ongoing maintenance on the island Quinton and Lynn also maintain the five self contained cabins and camping facilities, which are open to the public for holiday letting. This includes handling all bookings and enquiries.

Since arriving on Pumpkin, Quinton and Lynn have enjoyed sunny days when the seas are calm and the water warm, however by no means has it all been plain sailing.

“The joy we get watching the tension and stress slowly subside from the parents faces, while hearing their children excitedly shout in the background as they spot their first turtle is what living on Pumpkin is all about,” said Quinton and Lynn with reminiscent smiles.

About The Island

The mecca for many family travelers is traditionally that of an overseas trip, many places claim to offer the worlds ‘ultimate’ in holiday destinations, perhaps an over used accolade. Surprisingly few of us are aware of the deliciously magic Pumpkin Island right here on our doorstep.

Alluring solitude, 360 degree views, bare beaches and an element of fantasy are all on offer when you visit Pumpkin Island. Located in the isles of the Capricorn Coast off Yeppoon, Pumpkin Island is an untouched tropical getaway for the family and the romantics.

Expect to see dolphins, turtles and a wide variety of colourful fish, seas creatures and plant life, as you stroll along the beach. The water is that beautiful clear aqua colour, ideal for swimming and snorkeling most of the year round and fishing on Pumpkin is fantastic especially is you fancy fresh calamari or coral trout for dinner.

The island is home to just five self contained cabins accommodating five, six or seven people, each cabin is fully equipped with a modern kitchen and appliances. While the accommodation is fairly basic you will be amazed at how comfortable you can be with solar lights, gas cooking and a gas fridge and BBQ.

For the children the pleasure of staying on Pumpkin Island lies in the exploration and adventure of being somewhere different from their usual surrounds. While for the adults the island offers affordable comfort, peace and seclusion and the chance to rekindle the romance.

The island is located 10 miles off the coast of Yepoon, and it can be reached by boat or helicopter.

For more details contact:

Quinton & Lynn
Pumpkin Island Managers
+61 7 4939 4413
http://www.pumpkinisland.com.au/

Robinson Crusoe Deluxe Private Island

Haggerstone Island – Great Barrier Reef Australia

Cast away in the remote regions of Far North Queensland, Haggerstone Island turns the notion of fictional paradise into reality. This beautiful secret island hideaway, sitting in the Coral Sea, is the dream come true of Roy and Anna Turner. They purchased it in 1985 in its natural state and spent six years tearing through the jungle to create their timber-and-poles house. In 1990 they designed and hand-crafted more huts, bringing in the building materials by small boats and barges. In 1994 the three huts were ready to welcome guests — each one can sleep up to four. With a maximum of eight guests catered for at any one time, the feeling of living on a deserted island has remained intact.

600kms north of Cairns, adjacent to the virtually uninhabited coast, near the tip of Cape York, the island lies in a region where man barely exists. This rustic private island villa is an incredibly remote and unspoiled Robinson Crusoe retreat. Situated 600 kms north of Cairns it lays within the northern great barrier reef and alongside a wild stretch of Cape York Peninsula.

Anna Turner tells her story about the island:

“We came to Haggerstone Island in April 1985. A 70 ton barge unloaded poles, timber, fruit trees, chickens and an old tractor. The island was jungle covered, uninhabited and hundreds of miles from what we knew as civilization.

We were not to know we would spend nearly six years alone on the island. We were virtual strangers and we came from backgrounds that were worlds apart. Anna was English, well traveled and held a Bachelor of Human Sciences degree. She was a capable potter and had a very patient and practical attitude to survival. By coincidence, Anna had walked the beach of Haggerstone Island some eight years before the barge arrival. She had joined her father, John Heyer, to locate the Pandora wreck and Haggerstone was an exploratory stop.

My childhood and youth were spent on a sheep and cattle property in Gippsland, Victoria. At age 17, all I could really do well was shear a sheep and play a guitar. I was a keen hunter and the love of hunting and music was too strong to hold me on the property. I spent seven years in New Guinea, crocodile shooting and playing music. I then based myself in Cairns, North Queensland and continued doing what I loved most - hunting, fishing and playing music. However, I had developed an interest to build houses and so I began. My direction in design and building was definitely rustic native and led to the desire to create a Robinson Crusoe style abode in the wild.

Many years later, here we are on Haggerstone near the Great Barrier Reef. It is now a home in the wilderness and by our standards truly palatial. We tend to forget that we lived in a tent for a year and carried water by bucket for two.”

The Island Now

Roy and Anna Turner have put twenty years of their lives into extending the beauty of the island with everything they have created. Their hand crafted free form buildings of varying style are placed gently in the island jungle, giving the feeling they have been there forever. The main building captures the imagination; heavy beams, high thatched roof, light flickering from the cooking fire. At the ocean, a thatched jetty hovers over a lagoon that vibrates with fish life.

While the island is undeniably lovely, the Turners back yard makes the resort unique; the lagoons, reefs and Open Ocean of the Northern Great Barrier Reef spread for hundreds of virtually untouched kilometers at one of the outer edges of the continent. It is this region that Haggerstone can access and explore with ease.

The Turners now have a family; Sam 12 years and Tasha 9 years and it naturally follows that the island and its staff are family friendly. Children warm to the escape from deadlines, uniforms, T.V. and parental boundaries. They can live out the fantasy of Swiss Family Robinson.

Visitors to the island come from all points of the globe. They come to experience adventure, seclusion and the unique island holiday that is Haggerstone.

Within a radius of 60 km are thousands of reefs, from singular coral bommies to immense plateaus of living coral. The largest protected marine park in the world stretches from the coastline to beyond the outer barrier. Within its boundaries is Raine Island, nesting place for tens of thousands of turtles and sea birds. Northwest along the coast the white sand hills of Shellbourne Bay plummet into the sea, concealing a moonscape of white sand hills, black lakes and intermittent jungle patches.

To the northeast, sun drenched extrusion of granite rise out of the sea. Called the Charles Hardy's Islands, they are covered with intermittent patches of grass, shrubs and ancient palms. In the mid 1800's a major sailing route ran through this area. Shipwrecks were common and their survivors were drawn to the Hardy's, where they waited and hoped for rescue. We have located an 1840's shipwreck complete with giant anchors, bronze keel bolts and other intriguing relics.

Nor west meandering waterways on Bird Island are sanctuary to rays, turtles, crocodiles, fish and innumerable sea and land birds. These shallows, lined with tall mangrove forest, come to life with the rising tide.

The underwater sea cliffs of the outer barrier reef east of Haggerstone drop 1000 to 2000 feet to the sea floor. It is not easy to describe this underwater experience. Those that get to see it, never forget it. Wild life was first studied in the late 1800's. McGilvray found in excess of 50 bird species on and around the island. The Island and its two sand cays have attracted a population of both sea and land birds. The lush tropical forest and lowland palm jungle has always stood out from its somewhat drier companion islands. The orchard is on a small delta of a creek, which runs in the wet. The rich loam, leaf compost and tropical climate make this area ideal for growing. The wet season from Xmas to March transforms the island into wetland jungle. As the rains ease the island retains its tropical appearance through until August when the deciduous trees begin their leaf shedding. By November the Island forest is thinking only of the approaching wet and early rains are always a blessing. Two lagoons lie directly off the beach and both have prolific marine life.

We have three hand crafted guest houses, each with shower and toilet, kitchenette, fridge and sink plus sundecks with spectacular views out to sea. Two of the huts are self contained and one is a more rustic hut with outside shower and toilet. Each guest house can accommodate up to four people. We cater for just 6-8 guests at any one time. There is daily room and laundry service.

Today the garden is a pleasure to walk through. Passion fruit compete with guado and snake beans. The vines of tropical butternut and squashes have to be coaxed away from beds of rocket salad and bokchoy. Basil, coriander and parsley compete for space with lemongrass and ginger. Kaffir lime, mango and curry trees grow randomly along the paths.

For breakfast, papaya or banana are picked fresh off a tree and served with lime juice or passion fruit. The home made muesli has the dominant flavor of fresh toasted coconut. The rich yellow yolks of our eggs are from free roaming fowls fed largely on coconut, fish and garden surplus.
Lunch might begin with oysters steamed in the shell with sliced ginger and lemon grass, squid, simmered quickly in sea water and then placed on a bed of rocket and drizzled with lime juice, olive oil and crushed garlic. Following, a whole lobster thrown in the coals and served with lime and crushed pepper.

For dinner, fresh slices of coral trout, marinated in lime and then cast into a bowl of freshly squeezed coconut cream, followed by red emperor steamed with sesame oil, soy, ginger and garlic. We love wine and do our best to complement the meals prepared with suitable wines. We carry a good range of red and white wines. Our love of food and commitment to simplicity and freshness has made our food what it is today. We welcome you to enjoy it with us!

Main Building, large spacious native style open house. Its raw but functional design features sun bleached poles and open sides to take advantage of cooling island breezes. Drift wood, collected on the island shores, is used to support heavy polished benches and an intriguing array of relics, from the husk of a canoe from Papua New Guinea to an ancient wooden dinner gong and Balinese bed, just adds to the atmosphere. Contains main kitchen, 2 bathrooms, extensive library, dining area and open fire on the front decks.

Beach hut, featured in Marie Claire, very rustic extensive driftwood construction, a Robinson Crusoe feel with outside shower and toilet, kitchenette and solar fridge. Two round hand crafted huts similar in style to the main building containing ensuites, kitchenette, solar fridge and sundeck.

We have 3 boats. A 9 meter diesel jet boat capable of 40 knots in 6inches of water. Is highly maneuverable for accessing shallow reef areas and mangrove rivers. Delicious meals of fresh cooked seafood can be prepared in minutes on the boat. This boat is fully surveyed, very stable and carries all diving and fishing equipment on board.

There are 6 meter and 7 meter long boats powered by 50 horsepower Yamahas. These boats are fast and stable and ideal for personal exploration.

Fishing equipment: We carry a complete range of rods, reels and hand-lines to suit both river and open sea. We also carry extensive support tackle. i.e. traces, lures, swivels, hooks, sinkers and bait nets.

Diving – Snorkeling: We carry a wide range of masks, snorkels, wetsuits, spear guns and associated dive gear.

Links

Haggerstone Island Resort
Haggerstone Island By Daniel Scott, Travel Intelligence
Recapturing`normality' on a fantasy island, The Toronto Star
Getaway TV Travel Show 2001

The Real Treasure Island

There are many islands which claim they are the “real” Treasure Island, made famous by the novel by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. One story goes that a mariner uncle had told the young Stevenson tales of his travels to Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands, thus this could mean Norman Island was an indirect inspiration for the book. It is said that the island was named for a pirate who bought it or leased it at some point during the early 18th century, although supporting evidence for this contention is difficult to find.

However, Norman Island also has a documented history of pirate booty being stowed upon the island. In August of 1750 a Spanish treasure galleon named Nuestra Senora de Guadelope sought shelter from a storm on the North Carolina coast. The crew mutinied and the treasure, said to consist of (amongst other things) 55 chests of silver coins, was loaded into two Bilanders, one of which was manned by Owen Lloyd. The first vessel perished, but Lloyd escaped to St. Croix. After disposing of some of the money, he proceed to Norman Island where the treasure was buried. Lloyd and his crew were later arrested in St. Eustatius, but word of the treasure spread, and residents of Tortola went to Norman Island and dug it up for themselves. Part of the booty was later recovered by Gilbert Fleming, Lieutenant-General of the Leeward Islands at the time, who travelled to Tortola with a two companies of soldiers. Fleming persuaded Abraham Chalwill, the acting Lieutenant Governor of the British Virgin Islands (who had coincidentally lead the search for the treasure on Norman Island) to issue a procolomation whereby the treasure would be returned and the people who had dug it up would receive a one third share as a reward.

There the historical record ends, but local rumours abound that a member well-known local family had been fishing near Norman Island and took shelter in one of the caves on the Western coast of Norman Island during a storm. The surge repeatedly banged his small boat against the walls of the cave, whilst the storm surge caused the water level to rise several feet. When the fortunate fisherman woke the next morning, a large number of rocks had broken off into his small craft, as had a small chest, supposedly filled with gold doubloons. The story cannot be verified as no legal application for treasure trove as ever made, but it is known that members the family ceased being fisherman and left Tortola at about the time to open some shops in Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas.

Rumous persist of more pirate gold to be found on Norman Island, although to date no applications have ever been made for treasure trove.

Today

The island is uninhabited and privately owned by Dr Henry Jarecki, who also owns Guana Island, a luxurious private island resort. Norman Island is about 600 acres (2.4 km²), and is about 2.5 miles (4 km) long. A large harbour known as "The Bight" offers one of the most protected anchorages in the area. It is considered to be one of the "Little Sisters," along with Pelican Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Dead Man's Chest Island, and Ginger Island. This group of islands is smaller, lower, and more arid than other islands to the north and west.

Norman Island is a well-known destination for cruisers and other tourists because of 3 water-level caves at the base of cliffs just outside the western edge of The Bight. The caves are ideal for snorkeling, and push deeply enough into the cliffs that darkness makes the experience like a night dive.

The island has no permanent inhabitants (other than wild goats), but there is a restaurant and bar name "Pirates" located in the Bight. There is also an old barge named the "William Thornton" (or "Willie T" to locals) which operates as a bar and restaurant.

Treasure Island New Jersey

In May 1888, Robert Louis Stevenson spent about a month in Brielle along the Manasquan River in New Jersey the United States. One day Stevenson visited Osborn Island and was so impressed he whimsically re-christened it "Treasure Island" after his famous novel Treasure Island (1883) and carved his initials into a bulkhead. This took place five years after he had completed the novel. To this day, many still refer to the island as such.

Situated in the middle of the river east of the Route 70 highway drawbridge and adjacent to the former Point Pleasant Hospital site and Point Pleasant Canal entrance the island is only accessible by boat and is a popular spot for picnics and recreation with boaters. The island includes a sandy beach area and even an improvised swingset for youngsters, but is mainly covered with trees. The water surrounding the island is deep enough to accommodate boat traffic, and boaters normally beach their boats on the sand while they enjoy a day of relaxation on the island. Today its officially named Nienstedt Island, honoring the family who donated it to the borough. In the 19th century it was known as "Osborn Island".

“About a mile up the river there was an island--it's a very small, prettily wooded, sandy-beached little place, but it seemed big enough in those days. Robert Louis Stevenson made it famous by rechristening it Treasure Island, and writing the new name and his own on a bulkhead that had been built to shore up one of its fast disappearing sandy banks. But that is very modern history and to us it has always been "The Island." In our day, long before Stevenson had ever heard of the Manasquan, Richard and I had discovered this tight little piece of land, found great treasures there, and, hand in hand, had slept in a six-by-six tent while the lions and tigers growled at us from the surrounding forests.”

Adventures and Letters by Richard Harding Davis

Links

Treasure Island
Norman Island Wikipedia
Norman Island Site
Norman Island “Pirates” Bar
Guana Island
Manasquan River, NJ
Photos of Treasure Island NJ

World's Smallest Country & Internet Pirates

In classical pirate stories, the treasure was buried on a private island, but in the 21st Century the island itself is what is valuable, and the treasure is copyright. While Napster was dealt a death blow by corporations who saw it as an attack on their profits, it is only a matter of time before internet pirates try and set up their own country where extraterritoriality can protect their atteck on the holders of copyright. In a fitting parallel, the island the pirates intend buying was itself used in the 1960's version of copyright protection battles, the pirate radio stations then set up outside Britain's 3 mile limit.

Note: Mr. Cheyenne Morrison

For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports
By Paul Majendie LONDON (Reuters) January 8th, 2007

Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own storm-tossed nation -- even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.

Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base against German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.

He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.

The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins as its currency.

The family saw off an attempt by the Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.

"I was held prisoner out there for three or four days and then managed to get back to England," Roy's son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday.

"I slid down a rope out of a helicopter with my father and a couple of comrades and took the place back against armed opposition. It was quite a high point in my life," he said.

Prince Michael, whose 85-year-old father now lives in Spain, said his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."

Asked what were the delights of living on Sealand, the 54-year-old prince said "The neighbours are very quiet. There is a good sea view."

"There is no jurisdiction by any other country in the world," he said, suggesting it could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.

Calling it a cross between a house and a ship, the prince acknowledged it was not the world's most picturesque country, boasting as it does two large concrete towers with eight rooms in each tower.

"It is fairly bleak," he conceded. ""But it is quite pleasant sitting inside in the warm and watching the horrendous weather roaring past the double-glazed windows."

So what did he expect to get for Sealand?

"We shall see," Prince Michael said. "I will listen to anybody who wants to talk."

The former anti-aircraft platform, seven miles off the Essex coast, was taken over 40 years ago by retired Army major Paddy Roy Bates.

The so-called "independent state" of Sealand is currently home to an internet firm.

The platform, built by Britain during World War II, now has its own flag, passports, currency and stamps.

It was derelict until the 1960s when Mr Bates took over the 10,000 sq ft platform and declared it the independent nation of Sealand.

At the time, the platform was beyond the then three-mile limit of British territorial waters. All this changed in 1987, when the UK extended its territorial waters from three to 12 miles.

Sealand's current "head of state", Mr Bates' son Michael, said he was only 14 when they took over the platform, but now seemed the right time to sell up.

"My father is 85 and my mother in her late 70s and I'm 54," he said. "I believe the project needs a bit of rejuvenation."

"Michael of Sealand" said the family were approached by a Spanish estate agents specialising in selling islands.

At one time it was regarded by some as the Cuba off the east coast of England

The firm, Inmonaranja, has put a price tag of 750m euros (£504m) on Sealand.

However, Michael was reluctant to put a price tag on it.

He said the "micro-nation" included accommodation, offices, a power generator and a chapel.

"What you would normally expect in a small village, really," he said.

During the Bates' time on the platform, they saw off an attempt by the Royal Navy to evict them, and an attempt by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize control of the platform by force.

Michael said Sealand had aroused suspicion as well as drama.

"At one time it was regarded by some as the Cuba off the east coast of England, he said.

"People thought we were harbouring missiles or something, and this is despite my father's exemplary military record."

He said the North Sea property, complied with international laws.

Michael, who travels to Sealand by helicopter from his Essex base, said he believed Britain was increasingly becoming a "nanny state" and that the sale might attract people wanting to "get away from it all".

The government does not recognise the sovereignty of Sealand.

The Pirate Bay plans to buy island
By James Savage, The Local, Sweden
Published: 12th January 2007

Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is planning to buy its own nation in an attempt to circumvent international copyright laws.

The group has set up a campaign to raise money to buy Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea that has been designated a 'micronation', and claims to be outside the jurisdiction of the UK or any other country.

The Pirate Bay says it is the world's largest 'bit torrent tracker', and is a popular way of sharing music, films, software and other copyrighted material online. It has been under the scrutiny of authorities in Sweden and around the world for some time.

The site was briefly closed down after raids by the Swedish police last May. After initially moving to the Netherlands, the site returned to Sweden in June. Swedish authorities have been put under pressure to do more to stop the site. The Motion Picture Association of America, the Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau and the US government have all lobbied for The Pirate Bay's closure.

According to a website set up to secure the purchase of Sealand, The Pirate Bay plans to give citizenship of the micronation to anyone willing to put money towards the purchase.

"It should be a great place for everybody, with high-speed Internet access, no copyright laws and VIP accounts to The Pirate Bay," the organisation claims on its website www.buysealand.com

The "island" of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of southern England, was settled in 1967 by an English major, Paddy Roy Bates. Bates proclaimed Sealand a state, issuing passports and gold and silver Sealand dollars and declaring himself Prince Roy.

When the British Royal Navy tried to evict Prince Roy in 1968, a judge ruled that the platform was outside British territorial waters and therefore beyond government control.

The British government subsequently extended its territorial waters from three to twelve nautical miles from the coast, which would include Sealand, but Prince Roy simultaneously extended Sealand's waters, claimed that this guaranteed Sealand's sovereignty.

The island is now being put up for sale by Prince Roy's son, Prince Michael, who styles himself head of state. A firm of Spanish estate agents has valued the island at £504 million (about 7 billion kronor), although Prince Michael told The Times of London that it is hard to gauge how much it will fetch in reality.

The Pirate Bay says it is looking at alternatives to buying the former naval platform.

"If we do not get enough money required to buy the micronation of Sealand, we will try to buy another small island somwhere and claim it as our own country," the organization says on its website.

It is also looking at Ladonia, situated at the edge of the Scandinavian Peninsula, once ruled by King Ladon, and declared independent in 1996.

OTHER INDEPENDANT ISLANDS

InmoNaranja
Gabriel Medina Vilchez
Santisimo 109 - Bajo
18600 MOTRIL - GRANADA

Tlf: +34-958 609 609
Fax: +958 609 FAX (329)
Skype: inmonaranja

Movil: +34-622 209 609
Miami, FL: (305) 851-2609

LINKS

Official website of the Government of Sealand
Buy Sealand
Ladonia
Pirate Bay Wikipedia
Pirate Bay Official Site

World Class Solar Water Purifier

Note: Water is the number one problem when living on or developing private islands. This amazing new technology recently developed in Australia by retired physicist John Ward is the ideal solution to the problem. It works dramatically better in tropical areas, and is a cheaper and more environmental solution than reverse osmosis.

The Solar Water Purifier uses direct sunlight to convert any source of contaminated water – seawater, bore water, effluent, wine – into drinkable water. It uses no filters, no electronics, has no moving parts, rarely needs cleaning, and gives a greater yield than existing solar purifiers.

Inspiration

John visited Zimbabwe some years ago and observed the effect of polluted water and water-borne diseases on the health and life expectancy of the population, young people in particular. This was the catalyst that moved John to make a potentially useful device that could enable small family units to have access to their own, self-made drinking water. He considered the factors which limited the community accessing a good water supply. John soon realised he would need to make a device which was portable, cheap to make and administer, need very little maintenance and one that would produce drinkable water from any type of dirty water supply. With this in mind, John began to build the Solar Water Purifier.

How does it work?

The Solar Water Purifier is a rectangular shaped unit that contains an array of 32 shallow, square trays interconnected by a series of weaves. The trays are made from a black plastic sheet that is vacuum formed onto an aluminium pattern to reach the desired cell shapes.

The panel of cells is covered by a sheet of white-glass and sealed using the surface tensions of water vapour produced in the unit. The undersides of the black plastic trays have been thermally insulated to maximise heat absorption. The unit is framed by an aluminium mount for strength and to keep shadowing to a minimum. It is also fitted with folding legs, so that the entire system is inclined at 12.5º to the horizontal.

Polluted water is fed into the unit and cascades down, filling the trays. The sun’s radiated heat shines through the glass onto the water. The sun rays are only partially absorbed by the water and then more completely by the black plastic lining of each cell which in turn heats the water more.

As the water is heated to 85º, water vapour condenses on the inside surface of the glass and runs down into the purified water channel into a collection container. The unique design of the cells maximises heat absorption and condensation which increases the pure water output.

The ultra-violet radiation from the sun combined with prolonged exposure times prove to be extremely effective for killing commonly occurring bacteria and other water borne diseases.

Other pollutants do not evaporate and are flushed away in unpurified water into a chamber called the ‘overflow channel’. Virtually none of the dissolved solid waste is collected in the trays. If the SWP is being used consistently there should be no build up at all. If solid impure material has been collected in the trays, the hardened deposit can be easily removed by using a diluted acid solution such as citric acid (or lemon juice).

The water output of the unit can be maximised when it is correctly positioned to the sun. John recommends rotating the unit every 30 mins or so throughout the day, so its shadow is underneath itself, effectively tracking the sun. This will increase the output by about 30%.

The cell geometry maximises the resultant condensation and high yields of pure water are obtained. Multiple units can be connected in a series to produce larger volumes of water.

The Solar Water Purifier can produce about 6 litres of pure water per square meter per day at 20ºC ambient and 9 litres at 35ºC. So an individual unit (which is 1/3 m²) can produce up to 3 litres per day.

Clean Water Output at a latitude of 20° from the equator from a 12x array may be around 50 to 60 litres at an ambient temperature between 35°C and 40°C.

Links

Homepage
ABC The New Inventors
Radio National Australia Interview with Inventor

Contact

Graham Fussen
Ph +61 (08) 8395 0722
Mobile 0412 694 461 (Australia)
Email: gfussen (at) profilecom.com.au

For all commercial enquiries sales (at) solarwaterpurifier.com

The Caretakers of Pinchgut Island, Sydney Harbour

Right in the middle of Sydney Harbour, and passed by thousands of Sydney residents every day lies the tiny island of Pinchgut, or Fort Denison, and it was home to the Morris family who lived there as caretakers from 1961-1985.

The January 1982 edition of the Sydney MSB (Martime Services Board) magazine "All A’Board" described the Morris family’s arrival in November 1961 at Fort Denison when, travelling on a barge towed by an MSB tug, Cliff and June Morris, their two daughters and the family dog moved on to the island. Cliff Morris, caretaker until 1985, was one of the last in a long line.

June Morris celebrated the family’s love affair with Fort Denison in her book, Where Convicts Never Stepped: Fort Denison.

Familiar with the rigours of country life, June Morris was able to adapt to the eccentricities of life on the island: 110-volt battery power, no television and few appliances, cooking on a fuel stove and boiling water for the family bath, collecting milk from the main gate of the Sydney Opera House, sending the girls to school on an MSB launch, washing clothes by hand, storing food in a kerosene refrigerator. Conditions improved in 1970 when an electric power cable was laid from Garden Island to Fort Denison. But groceries still had to be bought in bulk every three months and perishables carried across the water.

The fort often attracted visitors and the caretaker family acted as guides and hosts. June Morris was skilled at catering for morning and afternoon teas and occasional meals for VIPs.

She told All A’board that when the former NSW governor, Sir Roden Cutler,and Lady Cutler visited, Lady Cutler pulled her chair up to the fuel stove and toasted her toes on the oven, just as she had done as a child on her family’s country property.

For the Morris family, the good memories included the camaraderie and friendship of MSB launch drivers and employees and the late-launch driver who used to pick up the family dressed in his nightcap, dressing-gown and slippers.

Less pleasant memories were those of vandals defacing the outer walls of the fort with painted political slogans, visitors behaving badly and revellers who were not aware of, or paid scant attention to, rules forbidding visits to the fort without permission from head office. Summing up their attitude to their lifetime of work and personal involvement with Fort Denison, the Morris family said: “We would not missed it for all the world.”

HISTORY

Originally the island was a 15 meter high sandstone pyramid, and a favoured spot by the local aborigines. In 1791 a convict named Morgan was hung on the island and his body was left to rot on the gibbet post as an example to others. This terrified the Eora / Dharawal and they never visited the place again. Yet, for thousands of years, the island was a 25 meter high pyramid of scrub-covered rock with an area of no more than a fifth of a hectare and was a favorite place of the Aborigines. In 1841 Governor Gipps had the top of the island leveled off for a fort. The sandstone was used to reclaim land in Sydney Cove, to form present day Circular Quay.

Fort Denison was one of the last Martello Towers to be built in the world, following their proliferation in southern England after the design's defensive capabilities had been proven at Cap Mortella, Corsica, in 1794. The tower was built to defend Sydney against a possible attack by Russian warships, which never eventuated. Built from in 1857 from 8,000 tonnes of sandstone quarried near Kurraba Point, Neutral Bay, it was named after Sir William Denison, then Governor of New South Wales. By the time the fort was completed, it was redundant.

When a Japanese submarine entered the harbour in May 1942 (passing through the anti-submarine nets) it was fired upon by the American cruiser USS Chicago. A secondary salvo hit the Martello tower, causing minor, but still visible damage.
The cannons on the island were fired every day at 1pm, so that Captains in the harbor could set their chronometers to GMT. It was stopped during WWII and didn’t resume until 1985.

Fort Denison became part of Sydney Harbour National Park in 1992.

LINKS

Wikipedia Page

The island can now be hired for special events, and there are daily tours.

Tailored Events
office@tailoredevents.com.au
02 9361 5208

A water world the lucky get to call home

The Age, Melbourne, Australia, January 16, 2005

In the last of a series Around The Bay, Claire Miller meets a storm-loving former fort caretaker and a man born on the beach at Queenscliff.

It was the storms Joe Tognolini enjoyed the most, when Port Phillip Bay put on its angry face and belted the South Channel Fort with everything it had: wind, lashing rain and high waves that snapped the mooring ropes on his boat like spaghetti.

"You knew then you were alive," he said. "It gets wild, it is unbelievable out there on the bay. With the running tide, I have seen a breaking wave coming in the heads and sweeping past the island, pushing the water before it. And when it turns, the bay is a couple of metres higher than Bass Strait and it is downhill fast in the boat to Sorrento. I only ever did that once, when I had no idea."

Joe Tognolini had little to do with boats or the sea when he went to live at South Channel Fort in 1988, the first - and last - person to do so since the soldiers left around the turn of the 19th century. The fort was used for storing dredging explosives until the 1980s, when the Victorian Tourism Commission took over the derelict man-made island.

The commission worked with the Friends of the Fort to clear away sand and overgrown boxthorns, and set up a museum. The Friends wanted to promote the island as a tourist draw but vandals were a problem, so they advertised for a live-in caretaker and guide.

"They had the idea it would be lonely and quite isolated so they wanted someone resourceful who could look after themselves and stop things happening," said Mr Tognolini. "For me it was an incredible challenge because it involved a lot of things I hadn't done before, like living on the sea. But I had other skills that were transferable. I didn't think it would be a lonely place, though, because a lot of people get out on the bay."

For 14 memorable months, Mr Tognolini became an integral part of bay life. Mostly it was a very good life.

On a fine evening, he would snorkel a lap around the fort with a spear in hand looking for dinner. On New Year's Eve, he had the best view in Melbourne of the fireworks, and no neighbours to complain about his music.

People out fishing dropped in with gifts of food and beer, convinced he must feel his isolation. Hardly. A counter meal and company were a quick boat ride away in Sorrento, while he had a cosy set-up with a TV, fridge and bedroom in his living quarters inside the labyrinth of tunnels.

Indeed, Mr Tognolini looked forward to squally weather when the tourists stayed home and he had the chance to catch up on digging out the tunnels. It was a little slice of paradise shared with the dolphins, the seals, the birds and the flotilla of sailing, fishing and diving enthusiasts with a passion for Melbourne's marine backyard.

It is a backyard rich in history, real estate and surprises, starting with the Great Sands stretching from Rye and Sorrento across to the Bellarine Peninsula.

"People think the further you go out in the bay, the deeper it gets, but it doesn't work like that - it's as shallow as buggery," said Ross Williams, from Parks Victoria. "People think you can just leave shore and come boring right out. They can't - they will run aground quick smart."

Out here, the water is ankle deep and boats are easily trapped when the tide races out and exposes the sticky gloop around the lightly vegetated and aptly named Mud Island. Inaccessibility makes Mud Island a haven for birds never seen at shore, such as the seagoing gannet. Mr Tognolini remembers seeing up to eight sharks at a time sunbathing in the shallows near the fort.

The wildlife is equally enthusiastic about man-made structures in the southern bay. The seals are so crowded on the platforms at Chinaman's hut, a former navigational aid, that it's standing room only, while gannets nest on the roof of the South Channel Pile Light, just off Rye beach. At South Channel Fort, rare white-faced storm petrels tunnelled under metre-thick concrete walls to escape the seagulls and nest in peace inside the ammunition store rooms.

The fort was built in the 1880s, when authorities in Melbourne were convinced the Russians would invade the colony and steal its gold. About 100 soldiers were stationed there. South Channel Fort bristled with six cannon, two machine-guns and a boxthorn hedge to deter attackers from landing. Soldiers used sight lines in the thick walls to track ships making their way up the channel past Blairgowrie and Rye, and could detonate mines buried in the sand below.

The Victorians were so serious about defending Melbourne that they began building a second defence island to the west of South Channel Fort. They laid a ring of foundation rocks before realising the Russians had better things to do than fight at the ends of the earth. The ring is called Pope's Eye, and is a marine national park much appreciated by nesting gannets as well as divers.

The soldiers were not the only ones living on the bay. Their nearest neighbours were families in the tiny South Channel Pile Light cottage, where there were a lot of hours to fill in between turning the light on and off at dawn and dusk. "You'd have to like fishing," observed Phil Fowler from Parks Victoria, whose job includes caring for the bay's heritage fixtures.

The parents of Queenscliff identity Lewis Ferrier lived at the cottage from 1905 to 1913, alternating every six weeks to look after the Macrae lighthouse. His mother had 14 children at the time, but Mr Ferrier looks askance when I suggest her life must have been tough. "What is a woman supposed to do? Is it not try to stay together, the woman as the keeper and the husband as the provider? It didn't matter whether she liked it or not."

Mr Ferrier, 80, has a refreshingly uncomplicated outlook. He was born on the beach at Queenscliff, his mother, Frances, cradling his head to stop him dropping to the sand, and has been fishing almost ever since. He never wears shoes - his gnarled feet are as tough as boot leather - and his smiling eyes are as blue as the bay on a sunny day. Most mornings, hours before dawn, he ventures through the heads aboard his boat, Rosebud. In a tight spot he speaks to his boat like a lover, saying they have an affinity, a deal that she will always get him home.

But there is the sense that home is really out there, on the water where dolphins keep him company and seals pinch his bait and roll with the swell, scratching their bellies in the sun. "I live in a world that is as beautiful as it has ever been," said Mr Ferrier, and you know his is the voice of experience.

South Channel Fort

The South Channel Fort is a reminder of Port Phillip Bay's early history as part of the defence lines for Melbourne. The artificial island was constructed in the 1880s to illuminate the channel at night and electronically explode mines under attacking ships coming through the Heads. A system of antiquated gun emplacements and tunnels are a feature of the island which is now a significant refuge for seabirds. The Popes Eye was initially proposed for defence purposed, however the partially constructed artificial island was never completed.

Note: I rememeber seeing the position of caretaker for this island back in the early 1980's, and before I could even apply the position was taken by a man who just got out of prison. I remember thinking how funny it was to just get out of one prison, to then live on another. But the guy thought it was a dream job, and he lived there for 2 years as far as I can remember.

The Castaway of North Brother Island NY

MAROONED
Real-life Robinson Crusoe rescued after a week on deserted East River island
By HAL GOLDENBERG AND ANNE E. MURRAY
New York Post, Thursday, December 5, 1985

Images and History of the island

A REAL-LIFE Robinson Crusoe was rescued yesterday after spending a week marooned on a deserted island in the East River. Michael Ostravich, 23, told how he drank rain water to stay alive for several days until he found a small can of corned beef hash. Ostravich said he nibbled a spoonful a day and spent hours each day shouting and waving at busy river traffic, which ignored him until yesterday morning.

A passing tug spotted Ostravich about 10 am and radioed a police launch to pick him up - ending an ordeal that left him with frostbitten feet. Ostravich said he drifted to North Brother Island, a small inland a half-mile from The Bronx, after he jumped into the river near the United Nations on a "bad drug trip."

"I was smoking some marijuana I bought in the street, but I think it was laced with Angel Dust." Ostravich, a homeless part-time laborer, told The Post from his bed at Lincoln Hospital. I must have freaked out, because voices were telling me to jump in the river." Ostravich leaped into the icy river about 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving, and started swimming into the fast currents.

"I almost drowned several times and kept going under, but I kept trying to swim.”

"I hit a big piece of driftwood and grabbed on for my life all night” he said.

"I saw this island and started paddling until I reached the shore."

Ostravich landed on the 16-acre island that once served as a leper and tuberculosis colony in the last century. Several crumbling buildings remain on the city-owned island, over grown with vines, trees and brush. It was abandoned in 1964 when Riverside Hospital closed its doors there. It can only be reached by water.

"I roamed through the buildings looking for a warm place, and found some rags and old blankets," said the 6-foot. 160-pound Ostravich.

"It was so cold all I could do was sleep most of the time," he recalled.

"Every day I went out to the shore for a few hours to yell at boats.

"I thought I might die out there until I found this old can of corned beef hash."

Harbor police who picked him up were surprised that he had been able to drift through the powerful whirlpool currents of Hell Gate with out being sucked under.

"It's amazing to be stranded so close to civilization. You could spit to The Bronx from there." said Sgt. Howard Smith of the Harbor Unit.

U Thant Island

SourceL Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Thant_Island

U Thant Island, or officially Belmont Island, is a tiny 100 x 200 foot (30 x 60 metre) artificial island in New York City's East River, just to the south of Roosevelt Island. It lies across from United Nations headquarters at 42nd Street, and is legally considered a part of the Borough of Manhattan and New York County. The islet is currently protected as a sanctuary for migrating birds, including a small colony of Double-crested Cormorant, and access is prohibited to the public.

The island has its origins in the 1890s as a side-effect of the construction by William Steinway, of piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, of trolley tunnels under the river to link bustling Manhattan to his eponymous company town in Steinway, Queens. The island was built up on the existing granite outcrop Man-o'-War Reef with excess landfill from a shaft dug down the reef to the tunnels. But Steinway died before his tunnels' completion, and it was financier August Belmont, Jr. who finished the project in 1907, leaving the finished islet as a bonus. The Steinway Tunnels are still in use as part of the 7-Flushing Line (see for construction details) in the New York Subway, and trains still pass directly beneath the island many times a day. Belmont Island, after the financier, became (and remains) the legal name of the island.

The little inconvenient island was unused and almost forgotten for nearly a century, until in 1977 it was adopted by employees at nearby UN headquarters following the controversial guru Sri Chinmoy, who served as an interfaith chaplain there. The group, called Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, leased the islet from New York State, greened its surface and unofficially renamed it after Burmese Buddhist United Nations Secretary General U Thant, a friend of Chinmoy. As a name, U Thant Island, though unofficial, has stuck, and is today that most commonly used. The islet is now the site of a thirty-foot "oneness arch" preserving personal items of the island's namesake.

Caples Jefferson Architects proposed for The New York Times Capsule, the New York Times year 2000 time capsule, an obelisk on U Thant Island, designed to gradually disintegrate over the next millennium. Another entrant won the competition, but there may still be some effort to accomplish the project.

In 2004, during the height of the National Republican Party convention, NYC artist and film-maker Duke Riley [1], who has travelled to various "abandoned" islands around the New York City area, rowed a boat with a friend to the island under cover of darkness, proclaimed it a sovereign nation and hoisted a 21 foot long pennant depicting two electric eels from the island's tower. On their return voyage in daylight, they were apprehended by a United States Coast Guard boat, but were not arrested. The entire incident was videotaped for a piece Duke has entitled "Belmont Island (SMEACC)"; the acronym standing for "Situation, Mission, Execution, and Command Control". The incident appears to have been more of an artistic, rather than political, statement.

Reishee Sowa's Man Made Island

This is a fantastic story of one Islomaniac's determination to have an island at any cost.

http://spiralisland.blogspot.com/
http://spiralisland.westkootenayunplugged.com/
http://stavos.homeip.net/condemned/bottleIsland.htm
www.sambarcroft.com/pages/Spiral/spiral.htm
www.geocities.com/spiral_island/pics.html
www.sambarcroft.com/pages/Spiral/spiral.htm

Spiral Island was a floating artificial island in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. It was built by British expatriate Richie (or "Reishee") Sowa beginning in 1998; he filled nets with empty discarded plastic bottles to support a structure of plywood and bamboo, on which he poured sand and planted numerous plants, including mangroves. The island sported a two-story house, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet, and three beaches. He used some 250,000 bottles for the 66ft (20 m) by 54 ft (16 m) structure. The mangroves that have been planted help to keep the island cool, and some of them now rise to 15 ft (5 m) high.

Sowa was formerly a musician, artist, and carpenter. Now in his fifties, he is an environmentalist who believes in recycling and low-impact living.

The island was featured in an episode of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! TV show.

Spiral Island was destroyed by a hurricane in 2005. Mr. Sowa plans to build a stronger island in a more sheltered area.

Reishee Sowa - a man and his island
Wednesday, 15 September 2004
By: Suzanne Bandick
Playa Maya News
www.playamayanews.com/article235.html

It looks like an island, it feels like an island, it has the beautiful vegetation of a tropical island but it just happens to be made of spiraling pop bottles. Who would have known and more importantly who would have thought it possible?

A man named Reishee Sowa that is who. This island is his inspiration, his baby, his dream. With the help of friends met along the way and a lot of hard work his dream has become a reality.

It is an amazing sight. You see a house on the island and you think wow, how lucky for someone to be able to live out there...

You can see it for yourself as it currently sits in Puerto Aventuras. Take the turn into Puerto Aventuras and then take your first right, go passed the school – down to the end of the road and walk out into the field and look across the water. Oh, just ask any local.

He has a passion for a better world; a desire to create a self sufficient paradise that it ends up is made with all recycled materials. Everything from plastic pop bottles to construction leftovers of wood and bags of leaves go into making up his island, house and yard. This island took approximately 250,000 pop bottles.

Reishee, originally from England, is a musician and an artist and as it turns out a visionary. He spent so much time talking of his dream his family finally pushed him to just go out and do it. You will find a way they encouraged him. He has been in Mexico for 8 years now. Seven of them spent in the Riviera Maya. He is very happy here and feels he was lead to this spot by the various people he has met along the way.

It took Reishee 6 ½ years to create this island that was built right in the channel it now sits in. For the first year he lived in it in a tent – then he built his first house and it fell apart in a storm so he tried again and once again it fell apart in a storm. Never a quitter as you might have guessed he built a 3rd time. Now his little house stands strong and it is complete with guest room and a deck on top where he still pursues his love of painting. Future plans include adding yet another level.

The plants once very small have grown and matured over time. As has his cat population. He now lives with 8 cats and 1 dog. They show up and don’t want to leave.

This is an idea that might just be catching on. Xel Ha is actually planning to build their own island and they have asked Reishee to be an advisor on it. He is looking forward to it.

“Things all seem to come in threes for me”, Reishee says “this is actually my 3rd try at an island and my house fell twice before I got it right.”

He started his first trial for the island on the west coast of Mexico where he started an eternal cake that cooked in a solar cooker with the help of an old satellite dish. His wanted to build awareness for his project. It actually did not get the response he had hoped for, so he ended up building a smaller starter version of his island in a Mexican lake. This time as they really did not understand what he was up to he was stopped by the locals and asked to leave.

Were there challenges building here in Puerto Aventuras? “Oh yes,” replies Reishee “You see not even the president is allowed his own island in Mexico – but technically I don’t have an island I have an eco space creating ship – I can move after all. The locals have been very understanding and helpful.”

What happens in waves and storms? Reishee replies, “Most of the wave goes under the island only about 10% comes on top. The part of the wave going under actually makes it flip down again and stay level.”

Reishee continues “The spiraling pop bottles that actually make the base for the island are very fitting because spirals are the shape of all creation – microcosms, macrocosms, DNA, galaxies; the oldest forms of life were spirals. It is the eternal circle.”

“We are being faced with a population explosion and maybe building islands is the answer. This island is an example of something that could be built worldwide. You could be totally self sufficient with it. All is as natural as possible. I catch rain water for showers, the toilet naturally composts, and you can grow your own produce,” adds Reishee.

His desire is a simple life and to share his environmentally friendly, planet saving, maybe even life saving ideas with others. The door is always open for you on Reishee’s little tropical paradise. Also, his eternal cake is still cooking with local fruits and their juices added periodically.
What does the future hold for Reishee and his island? “Wave powered flippers and sails and a journey through the Panama Canal,” says a very enthusiastic Reishee. Now that is a man with a vision!

Want to find a way to become involved? Reishee will gladly accept donations of old plywood, solar panels to run a fridge, money for solar panels, wind generators off a boat or anything to make the island more beautiful and more self sufficient.

Man-made island paradise floats on 250,000 plastic bottles
Ottowa Sun, 2002
www.ottawakin.ca/ckf2002/island.htm

More impressive than Robinson Crusoe's abode, Spiral Island boasts three beaches, a garden and a two-bedroom house with a toilet and shower.

Many people who dream of escaping to a desert island will never get further than the travel agent's, but Richie Sowa has proved that he's got more bottle than most.

In fact, he's got 250,000 of them -- and they've been used to create his very own paradise, just south of Cancun in Mexico.

Measuring 22 metres by 18 metres, it took Mr. Sowa, 49, a former carpenter from Middlesbrough, England, four years to build what he now calls Spiral Island

Mr. Sowa first thought about building his own island when he was working in Germany in the 1980s, finally deciding to take the plunge after the breakup of his second marriage.

He started with a basic raft made from thick bamboo poles, stuffing the plastic drink bottles -- which he got from passersby on the island by setting up a stall -- into nets, which he tied to the bottom of the poles.

The island is basically a huge floating raft supported by the air in the bottles and floats in a lagoon off the exclusive resort Puerto Aventuras.

Mr. Sowa nailed layers of plywood onto the poles to create a secure base on which to build a home and garden.

His home, which is rather more impressive than that inhabited by Robinson Crusoe, now consists of a large living area, two bedrooms and a kitchen and has walls of plaited palm tree.

The roof of the house is a layer of plastic sheeting which doubles as a gutter and collects fresh water for drinking.

However, Spiral Island is in a tropical climate, which brings the problem of extreme weather conditions into play.

Mr. Sowa has managed to combat the searing heat by planting mangroves, some of which are now more than five metres high and keep the island cool.

The lush vegetation has the added advantage of securing the island, preventing it from drifting, as the roots grow around the island.

This also ensures it's robust enough to withstand the high winds that often whip around the island

Mr. Sowa now wants to become self-sufficient, although he currently relies on supplies of bread from a nearby shop.

He's well on his way, though, having already planted grapes, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, bananas and coconuts in his garden.

As if that doesn't sound idyllic enough, he cooks his food on an open fire on one of the island's three beaches, which were created using sand from nearby construction sites.

Meals can also be cooked using a specially created solar cooker -- a huge spiral-shaped mirror that uses the sun's rays to bake food hanging above it.

There's enough energy from the sun to power lights in the evening and a CD player, on which Mr. Sowa listens to his favourite Beatles and Pink Floyd tunes.

And to complete his host of creature comforts, he also has a fully operational toilet and a warm-water shower, using water heated by the rays of the Caribbean sun.

Financially, Mr. Sowa's life on Spiral Island is kept afloat due to the fact he's become an enormous tourist attraction.

Along with his dog Bonga, two ducks and four cats, he now attracts around 100 visitors a day, most of whom give him generous donations before they leave.

SCREW YOUR RRSP AND START SAVING EMPTIES
The U.K. Sun

A British carpenter has finished building his own tropical island out of 250,000 plastic bottles. 49-year-old Richie Sowa started designing his dream island in the '80s, and made two failed attempts before finishing his new home last Janaury. The island measures 66 feet by 54 feet, weighs 60 tons, and is anchored to rocks in a lagoon near Cancun. He has also built a two-bedroom house on the island, powered by solar panels, and he is planning full self-sustainability by beginning to plant a garden. For now, he makes his living selling tickets to about 100 tourist a day who want to see his tropical utopia.

Man makes island out of plastic bottles
The Mirror UK

A Middlesbrough man living in Mexico has built an island out of 300,000 plastic bottles.

Richie Sowa's creation is held together with fishing nets, bamboo and plywood and is topped with soil and sand.

The 20m by 16m floating island, which has its own beaches, has become a tourist attraction off the coast of Mexico.

He is said to have come up with the idea after years of travelling and designed the island after settling down near Puerto Aventuras on the Yucatan Peninsula, says The Mirror.

He has described his four years of work as a "modern Noah's Ark".

He has cultivated plants, has a "self-composting" toilet, solar-powered oven, and wave-powered washing machine.

Man-made island paradise floats on 250,000 plastic bottles

More impressive than Robinson Crusoe's abode, Spiral Island boasts three beaches, a garden and a two-bedroom house with a toilet and shower.

Many people who dream of escaping to a desert island will never get further than the travel agent's, but Richie Sowa has proved that he's got more bottle than most.

In fact, he's got 250,000 of them -- and they've been used to create his very own paradise, just south of Cancun in Mexico.

Measuring 22 metres by 18 metres, it took Mr. Sowa, 49, a former carpenter from Middlesbrough, England, four years to build what he now calls Spiral Island

Mr. Sowa first thought about building his own island when he was working in Germany in the 1980s, finally deciding to take the plunge after the breakup of his second marriage.

He started with a basic raft made from thick bamboo poles, stuffing the plastic drink bottles -- which he got from passersby on the island by setting up a stall -- into nets, which he tied to the bottom of the poles.

The island is basically a huge floating raft supported by the air in the bottles and floats in a lagoon off the exclusive resort Puerto Aventuras.

Mr. Sowa nailed layers of plywood onto the poles to create a secure base on which to build a home and garden.

His home, which is rather more impressive than that inhabited by Robinson Crusoe, now consists of a large living area, two bedrooms and a kitchen and has walls of plaited palm tree.

The roof of the house is a layer of plastic sheeting which doubles as a gutter and collects fresh water for drinking.

However, Spiral Island is in a tropical climate, which brings the problem of extreme weather conditions into play.

Mr. Sowa has managed to combat the searing heat by planting mangroves, some of which are now more than five metres high and keep the island cool.

The lush vegetation has the added advantage of securing the island, preventing it from drifting, as the roots grow around the island.

This also ensures it's robust enough to withstand the high winds that often whip around the island

Mr. Sowa now wants to become self-sufficient, although he currently relies on supplies of bread from a nearby shop.

He's well on his way, though, having already planted grapes, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, bananas and coconuts in his garden.

As if that doesn't sound idyllic enough, he cooks his food on an open fire on one of the island's three beaches, which were created using sand from nearby construction sites.

Meals can also be cooked using a specially created solar cooker -- a huge spiral-shaped mirror that uses the sun's rays to bake food hanging above it.

There's enough energy from the sun to power lights in the evening and a CD player, on which Mr. Sowa listens to his favourite Beatles and Pink Floyd tunes.

And to complete his host of creature comforts, he also has a fully operational toilet and a warm-water shower, using water heated by the rays of the Caribbean sun.

Financially, Mr. Sowa's life on Spiral Island is kept afloat due to the fact he's become an enormous tourist attraction.

Along with his dog Bonga, two ducks and four cats, he now attracts around 100 visitors a day, most of whom give him generous donations before they leave.

RICHIE SOWA'S FLOATING SPIRAL ISLAND PARADISE
Randy 9/9/2002

You may have seen Richie Sowa and his Spiral Island on Ripley's Believe it or Not, or the Spanish TeleMondo channel. As promised to Richie, I finally got around to creating the Richie Sowa Spiral Island web site and decided to post information for adventure travellers who are planning a vacation to the Maya Riviera.. It's full of color photos of this unique floating wonder and is gaining popularity as there is no other site that has the depth of information on Richie's Spiral Island.

I met Richie Sowa, a unique expatriate British street musican and street mural artist in early January 2001 during my 8 months in the Yucatan peninsula area from Oct 2000 to May 2001.

I ventured to many maya ruin sites, including out of the way ruins and all the tourista sites. I carried my digital camera and digital video camera to every location and documented most every unique site. Spiral Island holds special memories for myself and many people.

I've seen about one episode of SURVIVOR and haven't watched since. It's popular, but it pales in comparison to the 5 days that 20 people helped Richie Sowa move his large tennis court sized floating tropical wonder from it's safe location in a canal in the south corner of Puerto Aventuras.

This adventure saw the island slowly move down a 1/2 km channel towards the ocean, and then out into the choppy waves of the Caribbean, and almost drift towards Cuba for an hour, before a parasail boat rescued us and towed us into the location of choice 1 km south of Puerto Aventuras.

If you are near Puerto Aventuras and want to visit Richie Sowa and his island wonder, you can most likely find him at one of the street cafes in the Puerto Aventuras village. All the locals know Richie. If you visit is floating island bring him a bottle of water. He'll appreciate it.

Richie Sowa, a native of Great Britain, is a sidewalk and mural artist, a fine musician, and the creative force behind this amazing project. His island reflects his motto and goals for mankind.

Described in Ripley's Believe It or Not, published March 26, 2000, Richie constructed this floating island out of 65,000 reused plastic bottles, held together in a huge spiral with palapa roof netting. There he lives, complete with sand beach, fruit trees, a small palapa shelter, a kitchen with a solar cooker, and a self-composting toilet. You have to see it to believe it!

Eventually he will get his water supply from collected rainwater. His plan for the project was to "use the waste from this world as a foundation to create a tranquil piece of paradise and eventually sail around the earth on a floating island with the message of love and faith." Spiral Island is located in the southern canal of Puerto Aventuras south of Cancun, Mexico. Visitors are welcome. Any donation to the project of labor or money will help make his goal a reality.

A Secret Island

Note: this is a really delightful little island for rent, and a great story of Islomania.

Mr. Cheyenne Morrison

A Secret Island

Since I was a young boy, I dreamed about owning a tropical island with secluded beaches.

Two years ago, I saw in the local newspaper an add of a private island for sale. I told my wife that it could be fun to go and visit this island. She told me that I was crazy and that we could'nt afford it. So I told her not to worry, it is just a visit with the kids. While I visit the island located on the Echo Lake in St-Hippolyte, Quebec, Canada, and saw the beautiful rustic cottage, I fall in love with the place. I went to the dock and took a break at the Adirondack chair, I saw myself in the future at my retirement. So at 37 years old, with my wife who share my dream, we decided to buy this island, put our soul in this secret paradise and offer it in a renting way. So at my retirement, it should be paid entirely.

Of course, there are no secluded beaches, but we can appreciate 4 magical seasons.

We're there at the guests arrival and bring them, in summer on a pontoon and in winter with a skidoo with their luggages to the island.

During the summer, we provide our guests a row boat with a motor, a canoe and a pedal boat and also all the life jackets.

In the winter, we provide a skidoo and a buggy to carry some guests and their luggages.

The customers can go back and forth as they want for their activities. Just have to fill in the gaz tank.

In the cottage, a lot of amenities are there: Electricity, Stone fireplace, television ,Star Choice satellite, VHS/DVD, Stereo/CD, High Speed Internet Satellite (Unlimited access and computer provided), Phone (local call), Books and Table games, Exterior stove, BBQ and a lot more.

I had the chance to meet a lot of people from Quebec, USA, France, Tahiti, England and I was so happy to share a bit of my own paradise.

I still dreaming of my Tropical Island, but the Secret Island give me peace and help me to find my personal heaven inside me.

It's better to be prepared for something that never cross your way then not to be ready when the opportunity will ring at your door.

Dream, dream and never stop dreaming. It keeps you alive.

CONTACT

Michèle or Martin
http://www.secret-island.com/

Benin & Niger Island Dispute

BENIN-NIGER: International Court rules that main disputed island belongs to Niger not Benin
UN Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Rights

The disputed islands lie near the border crossing at Malanville

DAKAR, 12 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave its ruling in a border row between Benin and Niger on Tuesday, awarding the majority of 25 disputed islands in the Niger River, to Niger, including the largest one, which was at the heart of the dispute.

Niger was awarded 16 of the disputed islands along a 150 km stretch of the river where it forms the border between the two countries, including 60 square km Lete, the largest island, which had been the cause of sporadic border clashes.

The government in Niamey already receives taxes from the handful of people who live on Lete island. Most of them are livestock herders.

Benin and Niger, which are two of the world's poorest countries, have both claimed ownership of the 25 islands since they won independence from France in 1960.

The West African nations headed to the UN court in The Hague in 2002, promising to abide by its decision.

The panel of five judges which examined the case said in a four-to-one majority ruling that it had allocated 16 of the disputed islands to Niger, with the other nine falling to Benin.

It also delineated the boundaries between the two countries in the River Niger and the River Mekrou.

Tuesday's ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

Lete is situated close to the main border crossing between the two countries at Malanville, where the main highway from the port of Cotonou to the Niger capital Niamey crosses the River Niger on a bridge.

A series of clashes over Lete island the early 1960s left eight Niger nationals dead and the dispute has smouldered on since then.

It flared up again in 2000 when Benin began erecting a government administration building on the island. Niger sent soldiers to stop the construction work and Benin responded by temporarily blocking food shipments to its landlocked neighbour.

Both governments have both vowed to abide by the ICJ's decision.

In a broadcast to the nation on Monday night, Niger's Prime Minister Hama Amadou called on the population of his country to accept the court's verdict, whichever way the decision went.

"Defining a clear border between our two countries can only reinforce peace and good neighbourly relations," he said.

Reuters news agency quoted Benin's Foreign Minister Rogatien Biaou as saying after the ICJ verdict that his country still believed the border should have been on the far bank of the rivers, granting Benin possession of all the islands, but it would accept the ruling.

Iran and UAE Battle of Tiny Island

Iranian sensitivities over disputed island
BBC News Friday, 11 November 2005, 11:35 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4427778.stm

A British couple and an Australian yachtsman ran into trouble when they sailed towards a disputed island in the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

But why is the island so sensitive that it prompted Iranian authorities to hold them under armed guard for 13 days while they questioned them repeatedly?

Abu Musa is a small island, about 12 sq km, and seemed a good destination for Rupert and Linda Wise with Australian Paul Shulton as they took their yacht on its maiden voyage from Dubai.

After checking maps and asking some locals, they decided that the harbour and marina looked just the spot.

What the maps didn't appear to tell them was that Abu Musa is heavily fortified, populated by soldiers and the cause of tension between Iran and UAE.

As two gun boats approached and 10 men surrounded them they must have wondered what they had sailed into.

Tanker traffic

Abu Musa, with neighbouring Greater and Lesser Tunbs, are strategically important in the Gulf as one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes by them.

Iran seized the Greater and Lesser Tunbs in 1971 and annexed Abu Musa in 1992 and has been in dispute with the UAE since.

The Iranians are very, very sensitive about anything that comes close to the island

David Hartwell Jane's Country Risk
Britons tell of ordeal

The UK's Foreign Office said "relations with Iran have been soured by the dispute".

And in the "war of the tankers" during the 1980s, Iran fired missiles at Iraq's tankers from there.

"It's a boiling strategic issue because it's key for tanker traffic," said Middle East editor for Jane's Country Risk David Hartwell.

"The Iranians are very, very sensitive about anything that comes close to the island."

Unwelcome intervention

The UAE has no presence on the island but sees custody of it as a sovereign issue.

It has offered to allow the International Court at the Hague to settle the dispute.

Iran, however, has made it clear it does not welcome intervention by any outside body.

That presumably applies to errant sailors.

No charge

Mr Hartwell said: "Given that they were British, that they were sailing towards a sensitive island, given the pressure that Iran is under at the moment, regarding the nuclear issue and Iraq - then they are going to react pretty adversely."

The trio were released without any charge or even knowing why they had been apprehended.

Initial questioning by the officials focused on spying and the possibility that it was "a subtle probe" into ownership of the island, but they soon gave up on that tack, Mr Wise said.

But with the navy, judiciary, ministry of information and ministry of foreign affairs all involved, the Iranians were clearly being cautious about the unwelcome visitors.

ABOUT THE ISLAND

Abu Musa (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) has a population of around 600 people, and is situated at the mouth of the narrows of the Strait of Hormuz.

The largest of these three islands Abu Musa covers an area of 12 sq kms., with a diameter of 5 kms. It is roughly circular in shape. The highest elevation is about 110 meters, obtains toward the northern part of the Island at Halva peak (Jebel Halwa).

The mountains end as rocky cliffs or steep promontories at the north, while at the mouths of the valleys are sandy beaches at the south. Like the other islands in the Persian Gulf enjoys warm and humid climate. The annual precipitation is over 100 mm².

Abu Musa is notable for its golden, sandy beaches and for its authentic natural beauty. In the west and south-west is Abu Musa town, the capital of the island and its most important harbour. Fishing is the major industry on this island.

There are few significant resources on the islands apart from red oxide (coloring pigment) and oil, and only Abu Musa can accommodate large ships.

The History of Islands - Abu Musa

Abu Musa (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) is situated at the mouth of the narrows of the Strait of Hormuz.

Carried out studies show that in 1000 BC., Abu Musa island was administered by Iranians like other islands of Pars Sea (Persian Gulf) and was a part of Iranian territory.

Between the years (1165-1151 AH.) Pars Sea and Abu Musa were under the dominance of Elomates.

In Parthians (Arsacides) era and in the time of Mehrdad the First (138-171 BC.), Abu Musa was under the dominance of this Iranian dynasty.

In Sasanid time (another Iranian dynasty), these islands were a part of Iranian territory and in time of Omavian and Abas ian caliphate, ports and islands of the Persian Gulf were managed by their envoys.

In the year 323 AD., Emadoldole Daylami, occupied the ports and islands of the Persian Gulf including Abu Musa. In the reign of Al-Bouyeh, all ports and islands of the Persian Gulf annexed to their territory.

This island was under Kerman Saljoughian rule till 538 AH., and was managed by local government of Bani Ghaisa. Taymur Gurkan annexed the ports and islands of the Persian Gulf to his territory.

In 1147 AH., Karim Xane Zand ruled over the ports and islands of the Persian Gulf. Aqa Mohamad Xane Qajar ruled over all of these areas as well.

In the reign of Shah Abbas Safavid, Portuguese conquered Abu Musa island. Initially the Portuguese who came to the gulf in the late 15th century after Vasco da Gama's discovery of the route to India via the Cape of Good Hope.

In the late 18th century, with entrance of British naval force and her political citizens to the Persian Gulf in the pretext of expelling pirates, preventing slavery and safeguarding the sea routes to India, British Naval Force stopped Iranian military operations in Abu Musa.

In January 1968, Britain announced that it would withdraw all of its forces from east of Suez by the end of 1971. At that time the sheikhdom of Sharjah, now part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) controlled Abu Musa.

Dueling Geographers May Decide Title To Disputed Island

An Oklahoma Indian tribe argues that geographic references in one hundred-year-old treaties give them title to a 677-acre Lake Erie island worth millions of dollars. The attorney for the Ottawa Tribe retained a geography professor to plot the U.S.-Canadian border through Lake Erie in the early 1800s.

Dr. Ute Dymon, a Kent State geography professor and cartographer says that by combining descriptions from the Fort Industry treaty in 1805 and the Treaty of Detroit of 1807 she has been able to plot the international border as it existed in the early 1800's. According to Dr. Dymon's research, this line placed North Bass Island in the hands of the British. By the terms of the 1805 treaty, the Ottawa and other tribes relinquished their lands to the United States. However, the tribe argues that since the island was not part of the U.S. at the time, that treaty did not affect North Bass Island.

The Toledo Blade explains further:

The Ottawa, however, now maintain that North Bass Island, also known as the Isle of St. George, was on the British side of the U.S.-Canadian border at the time of the 1805 treaty and was not affected by it.

The tribe claims it retained its rights when the U.S.-Canadian border was redrawn in 1822 with North Bass clearly south of the line.

Not surprisingly, having recently paid $17.4 million for 87% of the disputed island, the State of Ohio disputes the tribe's claim and suggests that the tribe has another motive. The Blade quotes Mark Anthony, spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General as saying, "Their claim is unfounded and unreasonable, which we will prove in court with the help of expert testimony. We suspect their claim is a shakedown ploy to bring casino gambling here, which a majority of Ohioans have twice rejected."

The trial may well come down to a duel of expert witnesses as not all geographers accept the tribe's claim. The Toldeo Blade quotes Morton E. O'Kelly, chairman of the department of geography at Ohio State University as drawing a different conclusion than the Ottawa Tribe:

"Based on a review of early maps, my experience and expertise as a geographer, and a careful examination of the proposed construction of the Land Claim, I conclude, and it is my opinion, that the island referred to as North Bass Island was not at any time divided by the international boundary and has always been considered part of the United States," he said.

Indonesia & East Timor Battle over Private Island

Fatu Sinai or Batek Island, East Timor
http://oecusse.com/fatusinai/index.htm#

The island of Fatu Sinai (sometimes known as Batek) is located approximately 5km off the coastline of Oecusse's Nitibe subdistrict and the Amfoang Utara subdistrict of Kupang Barat district in West Timor. It is approximately the size of a football field raised on a plateau some 50 m above sea level. Since 1999 Timor Leste and Indonesia have disputed ownership of the island.

Fatu Sinai/Batek is in fact the "Fatu Lulik" or traditional "adat" stone for the people who live on the Nitibe coastline in addition to those who live in sight of the island in Amfoang Utara, West Timor. Fatu Sinai/Batek is mythologically believed by the people of Oecusse Enclave to originate from Oesilo subdistrict in Oecusse's interior, while the people of Amfoang Utara originates from Nuaf Mutis in the interior of West Timor. It is in fact a shared asset between people of common ethnic background divided by an international border. To both groups it is much like what Jaco Island is to the people of Tutuala, Los Palos.

The Colonial Period
(Portuguese Timor and Timur Timor, Indonesia)

Colonial treaties between Portugal and The Netherlands in 1859, 1896, 1904 and 1914 determined the border between the eastern and western parts of Timor Island, including the Oecusse Enclave. In these primarily land border treaties the only reference to the island off Nitibe (Timor Leste / Portuguese Timor) and Amfoang Utara (Indonesia / Dutch East Indies) is in the 1904 agreement in which the island is referred to as Pulau Batek, and in the in the treaty map the border splits the island in half between Timor Leste / Portuguese Timor and Indonesia / Dutch East Indies.

Between 1914 and 1999 there were no disputes regarding Fatu Sinai/Batek for a number of reasons not the least of which is that it was not perceived to be of any significance to parties in Jakarta or Dili; and, secondly, it was part of Indonesia from 1975 to 1999.

Fatu Sinai/Batek was a "forgotten island" by the colonial powers.

Since 1999

Fatu Sinai/Batek island has only become an issue since Timor Leste's liberation in 1999. In early drafts of the 2001 Oecusse Enclave Constitutional Commission report (based on a series of community consultations) Fatu Sinai/Batek was defined as part of the Oecusse Enclave and Timor Leste's national territory. However, the Constitution of Timor Leste as promulgated in March 2002 did not include Fatu Sinai/Batek in it definition of national territory.

In the second half of 2002 the Indonesian Government apparently constructed a small lighthouse on Fatu Sinai/Batek. On 14 December 2003 the TNI conducted what it described as a military exercise "in its territory" on Fatu Sinai/Batek when a warship, helicopter and jet shelled and bombed the island for several hours—seriously intimidating the people in Citrana, Nitibe.


The Jakarta Post Tuesday, January 20, 2004

TNI to Send Troops to Disputed Island of Batek

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it will soon deploy troops to the disputed island of Batek, which is close to East Nusa Tenggara province and East Timor.

Wirasakti military commander Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, who is responsible for military affairs in East Nusa Tenggara, claimed the stationing of troops on the island was aimed at preventing the island being used for illegal activities, such as people trafficking or smuggling.

"Batek island is part of Indonesian territory, so we have to guard it. We plan to send around a combined unit of 10 to 15 personnel from the Navy, Army and police," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Nevertheless, he could not give a definite date when the troops would be sent to Batek, saying the TNI had yet to complete the development of various facilities there, including accommodation for the troops.

The issue of Batek Island, near Kupang regency in East Nusa Tenggara, became a hot potato after the East Timor government claimed that it was part of Oecusi, the new nation's enclave in West Timor.

Responding to the claim, the Indonesian government said East Timor had never controlled the island and that the national red-and-white flag had been raised there since December 2002.

The dispute heated up further recently after East Timor's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramos Horta criticized the TNI for holding military exercises on the disputed island at the end of last year.

Based on data from the Kupang administration, the island, which is uninhabited, is part of Oepoli village in North Amfoang subdistrict. It is located near international waters.

Due to its strategic location, fishermen from both Indonesia and East Timor often rest on the island.

Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation and Communication erected a beacon on the island that benefits fishermen from both countries.

Moesanif, however, said the island has no any economic value because most of it is made of coral.

Indonesia, a country of more than 13,000 islands, had to relinquish its claim over Sipadan and Ligitan islands last year after the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of neighboring Malaysia.

The dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the two islands came to the fore in 1969 when both countries started initial talks on delineating their common borders.

In 1989, the leaders of both countries started diplomatic efforts to settle the issue and in 1996 turned to international arbitration.

Despite the fact it was disputed territory the TNI did not forewarn Timor Leste it would carry out this exercise. The Government of Timor Leste and the United Nations were particularly silent in reaction and did not speak publicly on the matter until it was reported in the Australian press several weeks later on 12 January 2004. On 5 February 2004 Col. Moesanip, the KOREM commander in Kupang, was reported by Antara News Agency as stating that the exercise was conducted to demonstrate Indonesia's sovereignty over Fatu Sinai/Batek and that if Timor Leste should choose to resist then Indonesia would consider deploying soldiers to the island.

Indonesian warship blasts island
HERALD SUN
Mark Dodd and Ian McPhedran
January 12, 2004

In a dramatic show of military muscle, an
Indonesian warship has blasted a contested island
near East Timor with gunfire and a missile just
weeks after peacekeepers left the area.
A UN military report dated December 14, 2003,
and seen by the says a camouflaged helicopter
bearing Indonesian markings fired a missile into
the disputed outcrop, known locally as Fatu
Sinai, before a warship pounded the tiny uninhabited
island with heavy gunfire.
The classified report says the shelling was witnessed
by more than 150 terrified villagers living
in Baoknana village on the Oecussi enclave, a
pocket of East Timorese territory on the north
coast of Indonesian West Timor.
Security analysts say the show of force marks
Jakarta's determination to stamp its sovereignty
on the disputed island it calls Pulau Batek.
The outcrop lies just 5km off East Timor's coastline
at the western tip of the enclave.
Since September 2000, the UN and East Timor
Government have been negotiating with
Indonesia over matters relating to border demarcation.
A senior UN security analyst familiar with
Oecussi said the shelling was a show of strength.
“The Indonesian side has not fulfilled any of its
commitments and within 60 days of the withdrawal
of UN troops the Indonesian military flexed its
muscles with this display,” the analyst said.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer said the Government was
aware of the incident, but regarded it as a matter
between Indonesia and East Timor.
“We are pleased that the unresolved issues are
being handled in constructive discussions
between the two countries concerned,” the
spokesman said.
Indonesia and East Timor are discussing land
border issues, but maritime borders have not yet
been raised.
The December incident underscores the vulnerability
of East Timor's ill-defined maritime borders.
East Timor seceded from Indonesia after a
bloody UN-brokered ballot in 1999 that saw a
massive majority of the population vote in favour
of independence.
The brash display of gunboat diplomacy raises
fresh concerns over the timing of a planned withdrawal
of Australian peacekeepers maintaining
security along East Timor's main frontier with
Indonesia.
East Timorese witnesses interviewed by UN
observers said about noon on December 14 an
Indonesian warship carrying a camouflaged helicopter
approached the island, stopping within
100m of its southern tip.
The helicopter then took off and the warship
withdrew to a new position facing the island but
about 200m offshore.

The helicopter fired what is believed to be a missile
that exploded on impact, creating a pall of
smoke.
Then the warship sailed to within 400m northeast
of the outcrop and fired 13 rounds of high
explosive from what the UN said was a 40mm
cannon.
Two hours later an Indonesian jet fighter believed
to be a US-built F-16 flew over the island at just
200m.
Witnesses said that during the two-hour incident
the people of Baoknana were terrified, with some
fleeing into the hills.
“People could smell smoke and fumes from the
gunfire and were very concerned about possible
poisoning from the gases,” the report said.

While the report does not identify the type of
warship involved, Indonesia has three classes of
frigate capable of carrying an armed helicopter.
The most likely culprit was one of six ex-Dutch
built frigates based on the British Leander class.
According to diplomats, several motives could lie
behind the display of firepower, but Jakarta's
determination not to lose any more territory is
the most likely explanation.
Indonesia has built four houses on the disputed
island to accommodate lighthouse workers,
according to West Timor military commander
Colonel M. Moesanip.
Col. Moesanip confirmed the navy exercise was
carried out to assert sovereignty on the island.

Burmese troops occupy disputed island

BANGKOK, (UPI)

Burmese troops are reported to have built two watchtowers and are digging bunkers on a disputed island along the ill- defined border between Burma and Thailand.

The island, located in the Moei River that divides northern Thailand from Burma, has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the two neighbors.

Major Chirawat Wongpiyanarong, secretary to the Local Thai Border Committee, is quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying the construction of the fortifications by the Burmese army violates a bilateral agreement to withdraw troops from the disputed island.

The island, covering 79 acres (200 rai), was created in 1994-1995 when the Moei River changed course during flooding.

During negotiations with the Burmese, Thai officials suggested that the border be demarcated with the use of aerial photos but the Burmese did not reply to the suggestion.

About 20 Thai families who settled near the disputed area are reported to have fled because they feared being shot by the newly arrived Burmese troops.

During last week's parliamentary censure debate against Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, members of the opposition accused the premier of agreeing to cede the land to Burma in return for the opening of a so-called Friendship Bridge linking Burma with the northern Thai province of Tak.

Greece, Turkey circle island each says is theirs

CNN News, January 30, 1996

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Greek and Turkish naval forces shadowed each other in the eastern Aegean Sea Tuesday, as conflicting claims intensified between the governments over an unpopulated 10-acre islet.

The two countries called on each other to pull back rival warships around the disputed territory.

In Ankara, the Greek ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry where Turkey called "for the immediate withdrawal of Greek ships" from around the tiny rock island.

In Athens, Defense Minister Gerassimos Arsenis said, "We do not want escalation of the crisis. If the other side is sincere and also wants de-escalation, it should remove its (military) presence from the area, from our waters, from our airspace."

There were reports that the entire Greek fleet was ordered to sail toward the Dodecanese island chain in the eastern Aegean, where the islet is located. But, the Defense Ministry press office would only say that some ships were in the area. Air force jets were ready to take off within two minutes, if necessary, military sources said.

Arsenis said a Turkish frigate and helicopter had violated Greek air and sea space early Tuesday around the islet, which Greece calls Imia and Turkey calls Kardak. Greek forces warned the frigate to turn back, Arsenis said. No warning shots were fired.

"The islet of Imia is Greek and it is the responsibility of the armed forces to defend Greek territory, and they are in a position to defend it," Arsenis said.

On Monday, Greek Premier Costas Simitis warned Turkey that Greece would not tolerate questioning of its sovereign rights. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller responded similarly, demanding that Greek forces be withdrawn and that the Greek flag be taken down from the island.

"Turkey will by no means give up its sovereignty rights," Ciller said. "It is part of Turkey's territory. . . . We will put our full decisiveness behind it."

The crisis between the two NATO allies appears to be their worst since 1987 when they nearly went to war after Turkey tried to send an oil-drilling ship into disputed waters in the Aegean.

In 1974, the two sides narrowly escaped another clash after Turkey invaded and occupied the northern part of Cyprus, an independent Mediterranean island populated by people of Turkish and Greek descent.

The islet is made up of two barren rocks spanning 10 acres. The conflicting claims emerged late last month after a Turkish ship ran aground near the islet and refused assistance from the Greek coast guard, saying it was on Turkish territory.

The Turkish government backed the ship's claim that the island was Turkish. The Greeks promptly gave notice that the island was theirs.

The low-level dispute remained a diplomatic one for nearly a month. But last Wednesday, a private Greek television station, Antenna TV, reported on the situation, giving rise to news stories in the Greek media about Turkish commandos invading Greece.

Turkey has called for a dialogue to settle the issue, and the broader question of air and sea rights. Greece says there is nothing to discuss and that the islet belongs to it under a 1947 convention in which Italy ceded the Dodecanese islands to Greece. Italy had taken them from Turkey under an agreement in 1932.

The islet is about 12 miles from the Greek island of Kalimnos and nearly four miles off the Turkish coast.

The Minqueiers & Ecrehos Islands Case

Note: Here again we have two nations acting like spoiled children. It reminds me of the Falkland islands, which Jose Luis Borges so succinctly described as like " a fight between two bald men over a comb".

That would be funny if it werent for the fact that 255 British and 635 Argentine soldiers lost their lives, over what Reagan called "that little ice-cold bunch of land down there."

I remember the Falklands vividly as it started the very day I joined the Army, and was finished before I completed my basic training!

Just a reminder of how stupid politicians can be.

Mr. Cheyenne Morrison


The Minquiers & Ecrehos Islands Case
Judgment of 17 November 1953
The International Court of Justice

The Minquiers and Ecrehos case was submitted to the Court by virtue of a Special Agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and France on December 29th, 1950. In a unanimous decision, the Court found that sovereignty over the islets and rocks of the Ecrehos and the Minquiers groups, in so far as these islets and rocks are capable of appropriation, belongs to the United Kingdom.

In its Judgment, the Court began by defining the task laid before it by the Parties. The two groups of islets in question lie between the British Channel Island of Jersey and the coast of France. The Ecrehos lie 3.9 sea miles from the former and 6.6 sea miles from the latter. The Minquiers group lie 9.8 sea miles from Jersey and 16.2 sea miles from the French mainland and 8 miles away from the Chausey islands which belong to France. Under the Special Agreement, the Court was asked to determine which of the Parties had produced the more convincing proof of title to these groups and any possibility of applying to them the status of terra nullius was set aside. In addition, the question of burden of proof was reserved: each Party therefore had to prove its alleged title and the facts upon which it relied. Finally, when the Special Agreement refers to islets and rocks, in so far as they are capable of appropriation, it must be considered that these terms relate to islets and rocks physically capable of appropriation. The Court did not have to determine in detail the facts relating to the particular units of the two groups.

The Court then examined the titles invoked by both Parties. The United Kingdom Government derives its title from the conquest of England by William Duke of Normandy in 1066. The union thus established between England and the Duchy of Normandy, including the Channel Islands, lasted until 1204, when Philip Augustus of France conquered continental Normandy. But, his attempts to occupy also the islands having been unsuccessful, the United Kingdom submitted the view that all of the Channel Islands, including the Ecrehos and the Minquiers, remained united with England and that this situation of fact was placed on a legal basis by subsequent treaties concluded between the two countries. The French Government contended for its part that, after 1204, the King of France held the Minquiers and the Ecrehos, together with some other islands close to the Continent and referred to the same mediæval treaties as those invoked by the United Kingdom.

The Court found that none of those treaties (Treaty of Paris of 1259, Treaty of Calais of 1360, Treaty of Troyes of 1420) specified which islands were held by the King of England or by the King of France. There are, however, other ancient documents which provide some indications as to the possession of the islets in dispute. The United Kingdom relied on them to show that the Channel Islands were considered as an entity and, since the more important islands were held by England, this country also possessed the groups in dispute. For the Court, there appears to be a strong presumption in favour of this view, without it being possible however, to draw any definitive conclusion as to the sovereignty over the groups, since this question must ultimately depend on the evidence which relates directly to possession.

For its part, the French Government saw a presumption in favour of French sovereignty in the feudal link between the King of France, overlord of the whole of Normandy, and the King of England,his vassal for these territories. In this connection, it relies on a Judgment of the Court of France of 1202, which condemned John Lackland to forfeit all the lands which he held in fee of the King of France, including the whole of Normandy. But the United Kingdom Government contends that the feudal title of the French Kings in respect of Normandy was only nominal. It denies that the Channel Islands were received in fee of the King of France by the Duke of Normandy, and contests the validity, and even the existence, of the judgment of 1202. Without solving these historical controversies, the Court considered it sufficient to state that the legal effects attached to the dismemberment of the Duchy of Normandy in 1204, when Normandy was occupied by the French, have been superseded by the numerous events which occurred in the following centuries. In the opinion of the Court, what is of decisive importance is not indirect presumptions based on matters in the Middle Ages, but the evidence which relates directly to the possession of the groups.

Before considering this evidence, the Court first examined certain questions concerning both groups. The French Government contended that a Convention on fishery, concluded in 1839, although it did not settle the question of sovereignty, affected however that question. It is said that the groups in dispute were included in the common fishery zone created by the Convention. It is said also that the conclusion of this Convention precludes the Parties from relying on subsequent acts involving a manifestation of sovereignty. The Court was unable to accept these contentions because the Convention dealt with the waters only, and not the common user of the territory of the islets. In the special circumstances of the case, and in view of the date at which a dispute really arose between the two Governments about these groups, the Court shall consider all the acts of the Parties, unless any measure was taken with a view to improving the legal position of the Party concerned.

The Court then examined the situation of each group. With regard to the Ecrehos in particular, and on the basis of various mediæval documents, it held the view that the King of England exercised his justice and levied his rights in these islets. Those documents also show that there was at that time a close relationship between the Ecrehos and Jersey.

From the beginning of the nineteenth century, the connection became closer again, because of the growing importance of oyster fishery. The Court attached probative value to various acts relating to the exercise by Jersey of jurisdiction and local administration and to legislation, such as criminal proceedings concerning the Ecrehos, the levying of taxes on habitable houses or huts built in the islets since 1889, the registration in Jersey of contracts dealing with real estate on the Ecrehos.

The French Government invoked the fact that in 1646 the States of Jersey prohibited fishing at the Ecrehos and the Chausey and restricted visits to the Ecrehos in 1692. It mentioned also diplomatic exchanges between the two Governments, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, to which were attached charts on which part of the Ecrehos at least was marked outside Jersey waters and treated as res nullius. In a note to the Foreign Office of December 15th, 1886, the French Government claimed for the first time sovereignty over the Ecrehos.

Appraising the relative strength of the opposing claims in the light of these facts, the Court found that sovereignty over the Ecrehos belonged to the United Kingdom.

With regard to the Minquiers, the Court noted that in 1615, 1616, 1617 and 1692, the Manorial court of the fief of Noirmont in Jersey exercised its jurisdiction in the case of wrecks found at the Minquiers, because of the territorial character of that jurisdiction.

Other evidence concerning the end of the eighteenth century, the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries concerned inquests on corpses found at the Minquiers, the erection on the islets of habitable houses or huts by persons from Jersey who paid property taxes on that account, the registration in Jersey of contracts of sale relating to real property in the Minquiers. These various facts show that Jersey authorities have, in several ways, exercised ordinary local administration in respect of the Minquiers during a long period of time and that, for a considerable part of the nineteenth century and the twentieth century, British authorities have exercised State functions in respect of this group.

The French Government alleged certain facts. It contended that the Minquiers were a dependency of the Chausey islands, granted by the Duke of Normandy to the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in 1022. In 1784 a correspondence between French authorities concerned an application for a concession in respect of the Minquiers made by a French national. The Court held the view that this correspondence did not disclose anything which could support the present French claim to sovereignty, but that it revealed certain fears of creating difficulties with the English Crown. The French Government further contended that, since 1861, it has assumed the sole charge of the lighting and buoying of the Minquiers, without having encountered any objection from the United Kingdom. The Court said that the buoys placed by the French Government at the Minquiers were placed outside the reefs of the groups and purported to aid navigation to and from French ports and protect shipping against the dangerous reefs of the Minquiers. The French Government also relied on various official visits to the Minquiers and the erection in 1939 of a house on one of the islets with a subsidy from the Mayor of Granville, in continental Normandy.

The Court did not find that the facts invoked by the French Government were sufficient to show that France has a valid title to the Minquiers. As to the above-mentioned facts from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in particular, such acts could hardly be considered as sufficient evidence of the intention of that Government to act as sovereign over the islets. Nor were those acts of such a character that they could be considered as involving a manifestation of State authority in respect of the islets.

In such circumstances, and having regard to the view expressed above with regard to the evidence produced by the United Kingdom Government, the Court was of opinion that the sovereignty over the Minquiers belongs to the United Kingdom.

The Pig War of San Juan Island

Note: This the hilarious (but stupid and dangerous) war between the United States and Canada over San Juan Island. It all began with a fight over a pig!

Mr. Cheyenne Morrison


Published March 8th, 2004 in Life
http://www.michaelhanscom.com

In the early 1800’s, as settlers moved westward across America, a dispute arose between the Americans and the British over ownership of the Oregon Country, land covering much of today’s Pacific Northwest, stretching from Oregon through Washington and up into British Columbia and parts of Idaho and Wyoming. While the territory had been declared to be in joint possession of the two governments, as more and more settlers moved in, the British claimed that land ceded to them in previous treaties and through the work of the Hudson’s Bay Company was being encroached upon.

After a few years of slightly strained tensions, in 1846 the Oregon Treaty peacefully resolved the dispute, setting the 49th parallel as the upper boundary of the United States. As the 49th parallel cuts directly through Vancouver Island when extended westward, it was determined that the boundary line would extend “to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver’s Island; and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca’s straits to the Pacific Ocean.” Unfortunately, that wording proved to be unclear enough to set the stage for another conflict.

The difficulty lay in that there were two straits running southward through the islands — Haro Strait and Rosario Strait. As each country wanted the most advantageous boundary line, each claimed that the boundary ran through whichever strait would grant them the islands, with the British running the boundary line through Rosario Strait and the Americans, Haro Strait.

Over the next few years, both the British and the Americans started utilizing San Juan Island, with each group assuming that the other group was there illegally. By 1859, the British Hudson’s Bay Company had both a salmon-curing station and a sheep ranch operating on the island, and the Americans had about eighteen settlers living there also. Tempers were short, but things didn’t come to a head until June of 1859.

On June 15 of that year, American settler Lyman Cutlar discovered a pig rutting through his garden. He shot and killed the pig — which belonged to his neighbor, an Irishman employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company. When Cutlar offered to pay for the pig, his neighbor claimed that the pig was a champion breeder and demanded $100 for the loss. Considering this high price to be unreasonable, Cutlar refused to pay. British authorities, already considering Cutlar and the rest of the settlers to be illegal squatters, threatened to arrest him. The American settlers, none to happy about these British who refused to leave their island, petitioned for U.S. military protection. On July 27th, a 66-man company of the 9th U.S. infantry, commanded by Cpt. George E. Pickett, landed on the southern tip of the island and set up camp.

The British governor of British Columbia’s Crown Colony, angered by the arrival of U.S. troops. answered by sending in his own forces — three British warships commanded by Cpt. Geoffrey Hornby — with instructions to remove Pickett from San Juan Island, but to avoid any actual hostilities if at all possible.

Over the next few months, each side continued to send in reinforcements, until by the end of August, “461 Americans, protected by 14 cannons and an earthen redoubt, were opposed by three British warships mounting 70 guns and carrying 2,140 men, including bluejackets (sailors), Royal Marines, artillerymen and sappers.”

Incidentally, the construction of the redoubt at the top of a hill in the American camp to let the cannon oversee the water approaches to the island was supervised by engineer Henry Martyn Robert. Later in his military career, Robert discovered a fascination with parliamentary procedure, and went on to author Robert’s Rules of Order.

Thankfully, throughout all of this territorial saber-rattling, saner heads prevailed, refusing to “involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig,” in the words of British Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes. Eventually, U.S. President James Buchanan dispatched General Winfield Scott to resolve the affair. Scott was able to broker a treaty, with each country reducing their forces — a single company of U.S. troops, and a single British warship — allowing the island to continue under joint occupation until a more formal resolution could be reached.

This situation continued for the next twelve years, making the Pig War the longest single military conflict on U.S. soil — even if the only casualty was a hungry pig. Eventually, during the signing of the Treaty of Washington between Britain and the United States, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany was asked to arbitrate in the matter of the San Juan Islands. He referred the matter to a commission, and after a year of deliberation, the commission ruled in favor of the United States on October 21st, 1872. British troops withdrew from San Juan Island within the month, and the last of the U.S. troops left by mid-1874.

United States Disputed Private Islands

For many years the Unites States excercised the "Guano Act" to claim over 100 islands around the world. The majority of these island disputes were settled, but Navassa island still remains disputed between the United States and Haiti.

The Guano Islands Act was federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress on August 18, 1856 which enables citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other governments. It also empowered the President of the United States to use the military to protect such interests.

Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other Government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other Government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States. (first section of Guano Islands Act)
The Guano Islands Act is currently embodied in federal statutes as U.S. Code, Title 48, Chapter 8, Sections 1411–1419

More than 100 islands were eventually claimed. Some of those remaining under U.S. control are Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Howland Island, Kingman Reef, Johnston Atoll, Palmyra Atoll and Midway Atoll. Others are no longer considered U.S. Territory. Possession of Navassa Island is currently disputed with Haiti. An even more complicated case deals with Serranilla Bank and the Bajo Nuevo Bank, where multiple countries claim ownership. In 1971, the U.S. and Honduras signed a treaty recognizing Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands.

Unites States Office of Insular Affairs
www.doi.gov/oia/

In the twentieth century the United States has disputed with other nations the status of certain islands or atolls. Five (5) were in the Caribbean; twenty-five (25), in the Pacific. For purposes of discussion, one may divide these thirty (30) islands or atolls into seven groups.

(1) The status of the islands of Canton (Kanton), Enderbury, Hull (Orona), Birnie, Gardner (Nikumaroro), Phoenix (Rawaki), Sydney (Manra), McKean, Christmas (Kiritimati), Caroline, Starbuck, Malden, Flint and Vostok: On September 20, 1979, representatives of the United States and Kiribati met in Tarawa Atoll in the northern district of the Gilbert Islands. There they signed a treaty of friendship on behalf of their two nations, an agreement which many refer to as the Treaty of Tarawa of 1979. Under that treaty the United States recognized Kiribati's sovereignty over these fourteen islands. This treaty entered into force on September 23, 1983.
(2) The status of the United States' claim to certain atolls in the northern Cook Islands, Danger (Pukapuka), Manahiki, Penrhyn and Rakahanga: On June 11, 1980, the United States and the Cook Islands signed in Rarotonga a treaty of friendship to delimit maritime boundaries. By the terms of this treaty the United States renounced its claim to these four atolls and acknowledged the sovereignty of the Cook Islands over them. This treaty entered into force on September 8, 1983. Since August 4, 1965, the Cook Islands have been a state in free association with New Zealand. This relationship resembles very closely that which the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have enjoyed with the United States since October 21, 1986,and November 3, 1986, respectively.

(3) The status of the United States' claim to certain atolls in the Union (Tokelau) Islands, Atafu, Fafaofu and Nukunono: On December 2, 1980, the United States and New Zealand signed in Atafu Atoll itself a treaty to delimit the maritime boundary between the United States and Tokelau, a New Zealand territory. As a result of this treaty, the United States relinquished its claim to these three atolls and acknowledged New Zealand's sovereignty over them on Tokelau's behalf. This treaty entered into force on September 3, 1983.

(4) The status of the United States' claim to certain atolls in the Ellice Islands, Funafuti, Nukefetau, Nukulaelae and Nurakita (Niulakita): On February 7, 1979, diplomats representing the United States and Tuvalu met in Funafuti Atoll itself and signed a treaty of friendship. By this treaty the United States ended its claim to these four atolls. This treaty entered into force on September 23, 1983.

(5) The United States' claim to Quita Sueno Bank, Roncador Cay and Serrana Bank: To the north of Panama and east of Nicaragua, this cluster of islands was the subject of a treaty which the United States and Colombia signed in Bogota on September 8, 1972. Under its terms the United States has recognized Colombia's sovereignty over these islands. This treaty entered into force on September 17, 1981.

(6) The United States' former sovereignty over the Swan Islands: In relative isolation, the Swan Islands lie in the western Caribbean, ninety-five miles north of the coast of Honduras and three hundred twenty miles west of Jamaica. They consist of Great Swan and Little Swan Islands, of which neither has any dimension of more than about two miles. In 1863 the area was certified as islands appertaining to the United States under the Guano Islands Act of August 18, 1856 (Title 48, U.S. Code, sections 1411-19), and guano operations were carried on there for many years.
The United States' later interests in the Swan Islands involved agricultural production in coconut plantations and aids to navigation and communications, resulting in continued United States occupation and use of the islands. In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on November 22,1971, American and Honduran representatives signed a treaty by which the United States recognized Honduras' long-standing claim to sovereignty over the Swan Islands. The treaty entered into force on September 1, 1972.

(7) The United States' former administration of the Corn Islands: Made up of Great Corn and Little Corn Islands, the Corn Islands lie about thirty miles off the coast of Nicaragua. They never were a U.S. insular area, that is, under the sovereignty of the United States, but were leased from Nicaragua for a period of ninety-nine years under the Convention of Washington, D.C., of August 5, 1914. The terms of the lease made the Corn Islands subject exclusively to American laws and administration. However, with the United States' acquiescence, the Government of Nicaragua directed the islands' local administration. The United States' right to the actual or potential use of the islands remained unimpaired until April 25, 1971, when the lease was officially terminated and the Convention of Managua of July 14, 1970, entered into force.

U.S. Haiti Claim Island Ownership
By Michael Norton Associated Press Writer
Thursday, September 10, 1998

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) --

Mountains of bird droppings glistening on the rocks caught Captain Peter Duncan's eye. Inspired, he claimed the stony outcrop off Haiti for the United States. That was 141 years ago, when ``guano,'' as the droppings are politely called, was a popular fertilizer. Guano mining has stopped, but a low-level dispute has simmered ever since. Now, the quest for biodiversity has made the uninhabited island of Navassa, declared by U.S. scientists to be ``a marvel of biological treasures,'' fashionable again. An expedition, organized by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, last month announced the discovery of unique animal and plant species on the two-square-mile island. That sparked a response from Haiti, which has claimed the ``Isle de Navase,'' 40 miles off its southwestern peninsula, since its independence from France in 1804. Prominent Haitian scientists immediately formed the Navassa Island Defense Group. '`Navassa island belongs to Haiti. It is only fair that Haitian scientists be included in discovery expeditions,'' said oceanographer Ernst Wilson, a group member. The scientists plan an expedition this month to the island. Haiti's Ministry of Environment also announced an expedition. Haitian sensibilities were further injured by reports that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt had warned that the U.S. Coast Guard would shoot at any boats approaching the island. Babbitt actually said that as a joke during a news conference in Washington, where the discoveries were announced. His lighthearted threat was aimed at possible U.S. ecotourists or divers eager to explore Navassa's flourishing Coral Reefs. Christopher Columbus discovered the island in 1504. But interest came after phosphate- and nitrate-rich bird droppings were prized as fertilizer and used to make gunpowder in the 19th century.

In 1856, Congress passed the U.S. Guano Act, which allowed any uninhabited, guano-rich island to be claimed as a U.S. territory. Captain Duncan did just that a year later, during the reign of Emperor Faustin Soulouque. He sent an expedition to Navassa in 1858 to inform the guano-mining company that he objected to the U.S. claim. Haiti sent an official protest to Washington, which supported the U.S. company. In 1956, a resolution proposing that Haiti's claim to Navassa be respected was presented to the U.S. Congress. That went nowhere, but Haiti was undeterred. In 1989, the former military government dispatched radio amateurs there in an army helicopter. They planted a Haitian flag in the ground and erected a pillar asserting Haitian sovereignty. Then, for a couple of hours, they broadcast messages from``Radio Free Navassa.''On Sept. 8, the Navassa Island Defense Group wrote to U.S.

Ambassador Timothy Michel Carney, inquiring on what grounds the United States claimed Navassa. Meanwhile, the U.S. scientists plan more visits to the disputed island. Their two-week expedition last month, the first by scientists in three decades, yielded the discovery of 250 animal and plants species. They found 15 endemic species, including two lizards, Cyclura nigerrima and Leicocephlus erimitus, previously thought to be extinct. ``We never dreamed that on a single visit the team would so greatly increase our knowledge of the number of species,'' said Roger McManus, president of the center. ``Uninhabited islands like Navassa are the very best chance we have to understand and protect the diversity of life in the Caribbean.''

RECENT EVENTS

On August 29, 1996, the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the automatic navigational beacon on Navassa and notified the State Department that it no longer wanted to administer the island. Since the early 1990s, Global Positioning Satellites have made the light unnecessary to guide large cargo ships around Navassa.

An inter-agency task force transferred Navassa to the U.S. Department of the Interior. By Secretary's Order No. 3205 of January 16, 1997, the Office of Insular Affairs in the Interior Department assumed interim responsibility for the island.

A scientific expedition organized by the Ocean Conservancy in Washington DC visited Navassa from July 23 to August 5, 1998, with the support of the Interior Department. Subsequent visits have confirmed the island's unique value as a Caribbean ecosystem virtually untouched by the twentieth century.

These visits have included a 1999 visit by the U.S. Geological Survey and a 1999 mapping mission conducted by NASA's planetary geodynamics research program.

On December 3, 1999, the Secretary of the Interior signed Secretary's Order No. 3210, delegating Navassa to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a National Wildlife Refuge. The twelve mile nautical zone around the island is a protected National Ocean Wilderness. The island and its surrounding waters are now closed to visitors.

Navassa Island: History

The recorded history of Navassa Island (originally called Navaza in Spanish) began in 1504 when Christopher Columbus, stranded on Jamaica, sent some crew members to Hispaniola by canoe for help. The canoes ran into the island on the way but it didn't have any water. Mariners avoided the place for the next 350 years.

Navassa's history resumed in 1857 when Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, landed and claimed the island for the United States under the Guano Act. The U.S. Congress had passed this act the year before, declaring that any unclaimed and uninhabited island anywhere in the world that possessed guano, ie. bird droppings in various stages of petrification, was U.S. territory if an American citizen claimed it first. The purpose of the Act was to protect U.S. claims to uninhabited guano islands. Navassa had one million tons of guano and became the third island to be acquired under this law. Haiti protested the annexation and claimed the island, which lies forty miles west of its southern peninsula, but the U.S. rejected the Haitian claim.

Guano phosphate was a superior organic fertilizer that became a mainstay of American agriculture in the mid-19th century. Duncan transferred his discoverer's rights to his employer, an American guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to the just-formed Navassa Phosphate Company in Baltimore. After an interruption for the U.S. Civil War, the Company built larger mining facilities on Navassa with barrack housing for 140 African-American contract laborers from Maryland, houses for white supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church. Mining began in 1865. The workers dug out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rail cars to the landing point at Lulu Bay, where it was sacked and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque, the S.S. Romance. Railway tracks eventually extended inland.

Hauling guano by muscle-power in the fierce tropical heat with harsh rules enforced by abusive white supervisors eventually provoked a rebellion on the island in 1889. Five supervisors died in the fighting. A U.S. warship returned eighteen of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on murder charges. An African-American fraternal society, the Order of Galilean Fisherman, raised money to defend the miners in federal court, and the defense rested its case on the contention that the men acted in self-defense or in the heat of passion and that in any case the United States did not have proper jurisdiction over the island. The cases went as one to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional, and three of the miners were scheduled for execution in the spring of 1891. A grass-roots petition drive by black churches around the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison, however, who commuted the sentences to imprisonment.

Guano mining resumed on Navassa but at a much reduced level. The Spanish-American War of 1898 forced the Phosphate Company to evacuate the island and file for bankruptcy, and the new owners abandoned the place to the boobey birds after 1901.

Navassa became significant again with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Shipping between the American eastern seaboard and the Canal goes through the passage between Cuba and Haiti. Navassa, which had always been a hazard to navigation, needed a lighthouse. The U.S. Lighthouse Service built a 162 foot tower on the island in 1917, 395 feet above sea level. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to live there until the U.S. Lighthouse Service installed an automatic beacon in 1929. After absorbing the Lighthouse Service in 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard serviced the light twice each year. The U.S. Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War II. The island has not been inhabited since then.

A scientific expedition from Harvard University studied the land and marine life of the island in 1930. Since World War II, amateur radio operators have landed frequently to broadcast from the territory, which is accorded "country" status by the International Radio Relay Union. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti, fish the waters around Navassa.

On August 29, 1996, the U.S. Coast Guard dismantled the light on Navassa. An inter-agency task force headed by the U.S. Department of State transferred the island to the U.S. Department of the Interior. By Secretary's Order No. 3205 of January 16, 1997, the Interior Department assumed control of the island and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs. A 1998 scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington DC described Navassa as a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity. The island's land and offshore ecosystems have survived the twentieth century virtually untouched. The island will be studied by annual scientific expeditions for the next decade at least.

By Secretary's Order No. 3210 of December 3, 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assumed administrative responsibility for Navassa, which became a National Wildlife Refuge Overlay. The Office of Insular Affairs retains authority for the island's political affairs and judicial authority is exercised directly by the nearest U.S. Circuit Court. Access to Navassa is hazardous and visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Office in Puerto Rico in order to enter its territorial waters or land.

Japan & Korea Battle over Private Islands

Asia is a particular hotspot for rival countries claiming small islands, Japan claims islands disputed by Russia (The Kuriles), Korea (Dokdo) and various others. Most notably the islands known as the Spratly Paracel islands are claimed by virtually ecery country in Asia, and as they have valuable oil deposit in their shallow waters this dispute provides one of the most unstable situations in the world. Although a status quo agreement has been reached by all parties, the dispute could turn violent again in the near future.

Mr. Cheyenne Morrison

BBC News Monday, 14 March, 2005, 14:03 GMT
S Korean fury over island dispute
By Charles Scanlon
BBC News, Seoul

The row has inflamed old wounds over colonial history

Two South Korean demonstrators have each cut off a finger in protest against Japan's claim to a disputed cluster of islands.

Other demonstrators burned Japanese flags and scuffled with police.

South Koreans have reacted with fury as Japan has stepped up its claim to the uninhabited rocks, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.

Seoul says it considers sovereignty over the islands more important than good relations with Japan.

South Korea and Japan had planned to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations this year. The governments wanted to emphasise their strong economic links and warming cultural ties.

But the goodwill has been swept aside in a furious Korean reaction to renewed Japanese claims to the disputed islands.

Protesters outside the Japanese embassy showed the depth of their feelings. An elderly woman sliced off her finger with a pair of garden shears and a middle-aged man followed suit using a meat cleaver.

The Japanese ambassador is currently in Tokyo briefing his government on the mood in Korea.

He helped provoke the outcry by claiming publicly last month that the islands are legally and historically Japanese.

South Korean marine police are stationed on the uninhabited outcrops, which are located midway between the two countries.

The Territorial Dispute Over Dokdo Islands
www.geocities.com/mlovmo/page4.html

Dokdo consists of two tiny rocky islets surrounded by 33 smaller rocks. The Dokdo islets are located about 215 kilometers off the eastern border of Korea and 90 kilometers east of South Korea's Ullung Island. The islets are an administative part of Ullung Island, North Kyongsang province, under the control of the Department of Ocean and Fisheries. Dokdo is also 157 kilometers northwest of Japan's Oki Islands. Its exact position is 37° 14' 45" N and 131° 52' 30" E. Of the two Islets that make up Dokdo, Suhdo (the West islet) is a steep-sided rock about 100 meters high, while Dongdo (the East islet) is 174 meters high. The approximate total surface area of Dokdo is 0.186 square kilometers (56 acres).

Both rocks, about 200 meters distant, are the remains of an ancient volcanic crater and are a refuge for Petrels and black-tailed gulls and several, partly endemic plants.
The government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) designated Dokdo 'Natural Monument No. 336' in 1982. The government generally does not allow private individuals to visit the island, but as of early 2005, the Korean government is expected to further lift restrictions on civillian visits to the islets.

The first historical references to the island were cited in Korean documents, which make reference to them as a part of an independent island state known as "Usankuk" (Ullung Island) which was incorporated into the Korean Shilla Dynasty in 512 AD. Dokdo was first registered on charts in Europe after a French expedition under the leadership of Jean F.G. Perouse travelled to the East Sea/Sea of Japan in May of 1787, naming Ullung Island as "Dagelet", for a French astrologer, and Dokdo as "Boussole", after the name of one of the ships on the expedition. It was not until 1849, when French whale-hunters gave the name of their ship to the islets, that Dokdo began to be called "Liancourt Rocks". Other names have been ascribed to Dokdo ("Manalai and Olivutsa Rocks" by a Russian warship in 1854, and "Hornet Rocks" by the British, after one of their ships, the Hornet in 1855) but the name "Liancourt Rocks" is the only one of these names that is commonly seen on (usually older) English-language maps and sea charts published since 1910. The island was known to Koreans as "Kajido" (Sealion Island), "Sambongdo" (Three-Rock Island) and "Sokdo". Since at least 1881, the island has been called Dokdo by Koreans, meaning "Lonely Island" or "Rock Island", depending on the Sino-Korean character that one uses for the word, "Dok". Since at least 1905, the islets have been known by the Japanese name "Takeshima", but were previously known to Japanese as "Matsushima" or the "Rykano" islets.

Rival claims

Both Japan and Korea lay claim to Dokdo, and both claim a long historical and geographical connection with the islets.

The Japanese Claim

The Japanese assert that they had incorporated Dokdo, an island that they considered to be a terra nullius, into the Japanese Empire on February 22, 1905 when the Govenor of Shimane prefecture proclaimed the islets to be under the jurisdiction of the Oki Islands branch office of the Shimane prefectural government under the name "Takeshima", cited in Shimane prefectural proclamation number 40 of that year. This action by the Japanese government came about when, in September 1904, a Japanese fisherman from Okinoshima (Oki Island) named Yozaburo Nakai requested to be given exclusive rights to fish and hunt sealions in the area of Dokdo (Nakai later recounted that he initially believed the island to be Korean territory, and attempted to submit a request to the Government of Korea, but was dissuaded of this idea by the Japanese Fisheries Bureau Director, Maki Bokushin [...learn more]). The fisherman also asked that he be given a ten-year lease of the island for sea lion hunting. Officials in the Japanese Government took Nakai´s request one step further and appealed to the government for the formal incorporation of the island. After having declared Dokdo (Takeshima) as a part of Imperial Japan in February 1905, Japanese officials entered the island´s name in the State Land Register for Okinokuni, District 4 on May 17th of that year.

Who Was Nakai Yozaburo?

On June 5th, Yozaburo Nakai´s request came through when he and three others were given permission by the Shimane prefectural government to hunt sea lions at Dokdo. In the year that followed, the prefectural government posted a territorial sign and conducted inspections and surveys of Dokdo. On April 24, 1939, a decision to incorporate the island under the jurisdiction of Goka Village was made by the Goka Village Assembly on Oki Island, Shimane Prefecture. Imperial Japan had also made use of Dokdo in a military capacity, when they named the islets "Maizaru" Naval Station on August 17, 1940, restricting the island to purely military uses.

With Japan´s defeat in the Pacific War in 1945, the victorious Allied Powers renounced the Japanese claim to Dokdo. Under U.S. military occupation (1945-1952), the highest governmental authority in Japan was the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), which delimited Japanese administrative territory. SCAP´s first major opinion concerning the territory of postwar Japan was cited in an instruction SCAP gave to the Government of Occupied Japan. The order, SCAPIN (SCAP instruction) #677 of January 29, 1946 specifically outlined Japanese territory and stated that the islands disputed between Japan and Korea- Utsuryo Island (Ullungdo), Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), and Quelpart Island (Chejudo) were to be excluded from Japan's administrative authority. However, to SCAPIN 677 was added this caveat: "nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration." Dokdo´s exclusion from Japan remained SCAP policy throughout the occupation, (another instruction, SCAPIN 1033 of June 22, 1946, prohibited Japanese nationals from approaching within 12 miles of Dokdo). With Dokdo´s territorial status yet to be determined by a peace treaty between Japan and the allied powers, U.S. authorities in Japan decided to use the island as a bombing range.

In June 1947, the Japanese Foreign Ministry appealed to the U.S. occupation authorities over Japan's claim to sovereignty over both Ullungdo and Dokdo in a treatise entitled, "Minor Islands in the Sea of Japan", hoping to influence U.S. opinion in any future deliberations concerning the island that would take place in the upcoming peace treaty negotiations. The Japanese ministers denied Korea's ownership on the grounds that "no Korean name exists for the island" and that Dokdo "is not shown on the maps made in Korea". The Japanese document also argued that the settlers on the island had just arrived recently and that the island´s development was "still in an incipient stage", and because of this, it was not within the Korean government´s ability to develop the island.

The Japanese efforts to regain Dokdo during the negotiations of the peace treaty eventually failed. Although the 1952 San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and the former allied powers settled sovereignty over the islands of Ullungdo, Kommundo, and Chejudo (all to Korea), the ownership of Dokdo was not settled in the treaty.

The reasons for the omission of Dokdo´s sovereignty from the treaty are many. One important reason why Dokdo´s sovereignty was left unanswered by the peace treaty was that the president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Yi Seung-man (Syngman Rhee) did not effectively focus his government´s attention on the ownership of Dokdo when negotiating with U.S. authorities over Korea´s territorial concerns. The Korean president instead focused on an unrealistic demand for Korean sovereignty over Tsushima Island (as a form of war reparations from Japan, an idea which the drafters of the treaty never seriously entertained). Much of his attention was also focused on suppressing domestic political rivals than with maintaining his country´s territory. In fact, the Rhee government never bothered to produce a scholarly, well-documented study of the Korean historical record on Dokdo that could offer the American drafters of the peace treaty an alternative to the Japanese Foreign Ministry´s monograph, "Minor Islands in the Sea of Japan". The ROK only produced a thorough study on Dokdo in the Summer of 1953, long after the San Francisco Peace Treaty had gone into effect.

Even after the peace treaty was signed and talks on the normalization of relations between the ROK and Japan were underway, the Korean demand for recognition of their country´s sovereignty over Dokdo continued. This was particularly the case after the Korean president announced the establishment of a territorial line (sometimes called the Rhee-Line, or Peace Line) in the East Sea/Sea of Japan on January 18, 1952, that encompassed Dokdo on Korea´s side of this line. Another development that heightened the Dokdo issue in the minds of the Korean public was when a bombing incident at Dokdo on September 15, 1952 had raised awareness in Korea over the impending fate of the island. The growing demand from Korea placed U.S. authorities in the region in the undesirable situation in which the U.S. would have had to pick sides in a territorial dispute between Korea and Japan, whose cooperation with the U.S. and each other, was important to U.S. strategic designs. The documentary record shows that the Americans increasingly attempted to distance themselves from the dispute.

U.S. Diplomatic and Military History of Dokdo (1945-1952)

What the American Military Occupation of Japan and Korea might mean for the sovereignty of Dokdo


Dr. Pyun Yung-tai, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from 1951-1955.


The only ROK high-official that tried to effectively campaign for Korea´s claim to Dokdo before the peace treaty went into effect was the Foreign Minister, Pyun Yung-tai, who argued for Korean ownership of the islets based largely on allied policies and the decisions made by SCAP immediately after the Pacific War. If it hadn´t been for Dr. Pyun´s efforts, Korea´s stand on Dokdo might never have been understood by influential U.S. officials, since other Korean arguments for sovereignty over the island were neither clear nor consistent during this period. Unfortunately for Korea, the American authorities who made the decisions to exclude Japanese sovereignty over Dokdo at the beginning of the occupation (the SCAP Headquarters Government Section), were not the same Americans involved in drafting the territorial sovereignty provisions in the San Francisco Peace Treaty. Instead, American judgements on these issues were largely governed by those in the Diplomatic Section of SCAP, led by a great American friend of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, William Sebald. As Acting Political Advisor in Japan (essentially General MacArthur´s acting "Foreign Minister"), Sebald´s long involvement in Japan and strong personal connections with Japanese officials influenced his opinions towards the ownership of Dokdo, evident in his communications to the US State Department. In the end, however, the ownership of Dokdo was considered too contentious to handle, and it was left out of the final draft of the peace treaty. Thus, the failure of the San Francisco Peace Treaty to resolve the legal ownership of Dokdo is a major reason why the rivalry over the island continues between Japan and Korea.

Years later in 1966, the Japanese Foreign Ministry produced an extensive study on the history of the island. This study, Takeshima no rekishi chirigakuteki kenkyu (An Historical and Geographical Study of Takeshima), was authored by a Foreign Ministry researcher by the name of Kawakami Kenzo. The Foreign Ministry of Japan has since used Kawakami´s research as the Government of Japan´s basis for its claim to sovereignty over Dokdo. Kawakami attempted to show that Koreans were not aware of the existence of the island. He asserted that the island that Koreans cite in their Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) documents as Dokdo simply does not exist. He also states that Dokdo is not visible from Ullungdo and that Koreans did not have adequate navigation skills (until the late 1800s, when Japanese people taught the Koreans proper sea navigation) to reach Dokdo by boat, and therefore Koreans could not possibly have been aware of the island. This is a very interesting assertion, since Koreans travelled by boat from all points on Korea´s east coast to Ullung Island, but (according to Kawakami) somehow could not make the much shorter trip from Ullungdo to Dokdo.

Based on the above precedents, Japan still declares Dokdo to be within its territorial boundaries. The Japanese still consider their 1905 incorporation of Dokdo into the Japanese territorial sphere as legally binding. They also believe that previous opinions of occupation authorities were made null and void by the 1952 peace treaty. Since 1954, the government of Japan has been inviting the Koreans to take the issue before the International Court of Justice. The Koreans have consistently refused, stating that Dokdo is not a disputed territory, but simply Korean territory.

To this day Dokdo is on Japanese registers as a part of Goka Village, Oki-gun, Shimane Prefecture. The Japanese government has even allowed their citizens to declare themselves residents of the islets.

Why won't the Koreans agree to take the Dokdo issue before the International Court of Justice?

The Korean Claim

The Koreans, however, lay their claim to Dokdo based on earlier and more numerous precedents than Japan. They point to the document that named it as a territory that was first incorporated into the Korean Shilla Dynasty in 512 AD. They also point to various government and military reports, policy decisions, land surveys, and maps that were drawn in later centuries that do, in fact, show Dokdo (in its accurate geographic position) to be Korean territory. Some of these documents were even published in Japan: Japanese cartographer Dabuchi Tomohiko cited Dokdo as Korean territory in "Kankoku Shinchishi (New Geography of Korea), Teikoku Encyclopedia Number 134", published in September 1905; six months after the islets were "incorporated" into Shimane Prefecture. In a survey of Korea that was requested by the Colonial Government, Ihohara Fumiichi referred to Dokdo as belonging to Korea. In a 1930 article, Japanese scholar Hibata Sekko mentioned that Dokdo belonged to Kangwon Province, Korea. The Japanese Navy had also cited Dokdo as an appended island to Ullungdo, and Korean territory, in its 1923 publication, "Chosen Engan Suiroshi" (Korean Coastal Straits), as did Japanese maps published in 1872, 1877, and 1936.

Mapping Confusion regarding Dokdo

Koreans also complain that the Japanese took advantage of Korea's political weakness vis-a-vis Japan in 1905, when the islets were registered as a part of Shimane prefecture, Japan. Koreans rightfully argue that Korea had not been able to effectively protest the Japanese action at the time because Japan had had already taken control of the foreign affairs of Korea via the Protectorate Treaty of 1905, also known as the "Eulsa Treaty" or the "Second Japan-Korea Agreement". (The ratification of the treaty itself had been forced on Korea by the Japanese delegation to the treaty "negotiations" led by Ito Hirobumi and General Hasegawa Gonnosuke, with no signatures given by either the King or the Prime Minister of Korea.) The Korean side also points out that the Japanese did not inform the Korean Government of their claim until 1906, and then only indirectly. Upon learning of Japan´s decision, Korean officials in 1906, at both local and national levels, did in fact recognize and document the Japanese action as a violation of Korean sovereignty. However, due to the loss their nation´s independence and foreign affairs capability, no action was taken. Currently, the Japanese Foreign Ministry website states that it was not necessary for Japan to inform other countries of this territorial acquisition, although international precedents and the majority view of scholars consider notification is indeed necessary. The Japanese themselves evidently thought that notification was necessary when it acquired the Bonin (Ogasawa) Islands in the Pacific: Then Japan contacted Great Britain and the U.S. several times, which were only remotely involved in them, and it notified 12 European countries of its establishment of control over these islands. So why didn´t Japan provide notification in the case of Dokdo?

To bolster their claim to Dokdo, Koreans also point to the opinions SCAP rendered on no less than three occasions during the occupation that excluded Dokdo from Japanese control.

Koreans have also pointed out the falsehoods in the Japanese Foreign Ministry-sponsored 1966 study by Kawakami Kenzo. Kawakami´s disparagement of Korean Choson Dynasty documentation has been shown to be baseless. Futhermore, the claim that Dokdo was not (is not) visible to Korean eyes on Ullungdo is also a falsehood, since Dokdo is visible at a height of 120 meters or higher in elevation from Ullungdo, an island with a maximum elevation of 985 meters.

Japanese have also made claims that Japan´s "effective management" of Dokdo had been in place as early as the 17th Century, when the Japanese merchant families Otani and Murakawa obtained permission from the Japanese Government to travel to Ullungdo. Not only was Japan´s "effective management" of Dokdo highly improbable at this time (the merchant families were interested in exploiting Ullungdo, not Dokdo), it also creates a contradiction in the Japanese claim. In 1905, the Japanese recognized the islets as a terra nullius, and therefore ownerless (never having been managed) before that time. These contradictory Japanese claims under international law have never been fully addressed by official or unofficial sources in Japan (learn more..). Probably as a result of this contradiction, the Japanese Foreign Ministry Website no longer mentions the fact that Japan incorporated Dokdo as a terra nullius. The change in the wording of the Foreign Ministry´s webpage reflects the official shift in Japan´s claim from "acquisition by prior occupation" to a claim that Dokdo was an "inherent territory".

Yet another problematic issue for the Japanese claim to Dokdo, particularly Japan´s 1905 ´incorporation´, is the existence of a land survey conducted by Korean authorities in 1900, known as Korean Government Imperial Ordinance No. 41 (Article 2), which stipulated that the Ullungdo-kun office was to have jurisdiction over Sokdo (Dokdo). This Korean Government order was promulgated on October 25, 1900; over four whole years before Japan sequestered the island as a terra nullius. Japanese critics of this ordinance assert that the island named in the document, Sokdo (in Sino-Korean characters), is not Dokdo, but refers to the island Kwanumdo; an island that is almost penninsular in appearance and in the far Northeastern corner of Ullungdo. The evidence by which they conclude that Sokdo is Kwanumdo has never been explained. It is difficult to believe that Sokdo is Kwanumdo, based on Kwanumdo´s history, appearance and topography, and as "Dokdo" and "Sokdo" essentially mean the same thing: "rock island". As the text of the ordinance was written in Sino-Korean (Chinese) characters, the name appears as "Sok", and not the dialectal pure Korean, "Dok" (See similar dialectal transformations).

Spain & Morocco battle over Parsley Island

The Scotsman Sat 13 Jul 2002
Spain sends gunboats to disputed island
GILES TREMLETT

SPAIN sent gunboats yesterday to the north coast of Morocco and demanded Moroccan troops withdraw after "invading" a tiny island claimed by both countries.

The timing of the incident would not have been lost on the Spanish foreign ministry or the Foreign Office, coming at the same time as Britain’s offer to share sovereignty over Gibraltar with Spain.

Three Spanish patrol boats and at least one Moroccan vessel were patrolling the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta yesterday as the two prepared for a diplomatic battle over the barren, unpopulated and strategically unimportant islet of Perejil, which is known as the "dead woman" because of its shape when seen from the mainland.

Up to a dozen Moroccan troops who landed on the island on Thursday were still there yesterday, flying red and green Moroccan flags. A Moroccan spokesman said they were watching for terrorists and people traffickers in the nearby Strait of Gibraltar.

The outcrop, controlled by Spain since the 17th century, is a half mile wide and just a few hundred yards from the coast. It is three miles from Ceuta, one of two Spanish enclaves on Morocco’s northern coast.

Spain also controls three other rocky islands in the area. Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s deputy prime minister, said security had been stepped up at Spain’s possessions in the zone after Moroccan forces were seen near other islands.

In a note to the Moroccan Embassy in Madrid, Spain called for an end to the Perejil occupation and adherence to a 1991 friendship agreement.

"We have heard nothing back and the soldiers are still there," a foreign ministry spokesman told The Scotsman.

Mr Rajoy said the occupation was "a hostile act" and warned Morocco to take into account that it was the biggest recipient of Spanish foreign aid and a major trading partner.

Mr Rajoy also pointed out that approximately 200,000 Moroccans live in Spain and that this summer some 1.5 million Moroccans would cross the country to make the yearly trek home for holidays from Europe.

The dispute dates back to the 1950s, when France and Spain gave up territory they controlled under a protectorate arrangement. Under a 1956 deal, Spain kept the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, but Morocco strongly disputes Spanish control over several islands.

The Moroccan foreign ministry official said Perejil "was liberated in 1956 at the end of the Spanish protectorate".

Spain and Morocco are opposite each other at the western gateway to the Mediterranean.

Relations have been raw for some time - Rabat unexpectedly withdrew its ambassador to Madrid in October and has yet to give an official reason.

Spain believes Morocco is peeved over Spain’s insistence that a long-delayed United Nations-backed self-determination referendum should be held on the Western Sahara, a territory formerly controlled by Spain but annexed by Morocco in the mid-1970s.

The two countries have also been involved in disputes over fishing and illegal immigration to Spain.

Spain, which yesterday received EU backing, admits that while it has controlled Perejil for several hundred years, the rock has not been legally documented as Spanish in recent decades.


The Scotsman Tue 16 Jul 2002
Spanish gunboats sail after invasion of Parsley
Foreign Staff

SPAIN and Morocco stepped up their war of words yesterday over the tiny Mediterranean island of Parsley.

The Spanish prime minister, in his first comments on the affair, said his government would not accept Morocco’s "occupation" of the rocky outcrop, barely the size of a football pitch. Morocco’s foreign minister, issued a statement, however, insisting that the island "has always been an integral part of Moroccan territory".

The dispute over the uninhabited island, known as Perejil, or parsley, to the Spaniards and Leila to Moroccans, began on Thursday when a dozen Moroccan troops made camp there, raising their country’s flag.

Their official mission was to set up a surveillance post to fight immigrant smuggling, drug trafficking and terrorism.

Less than 200 yards from the Moroccan coast, the islet is used by locals to graze their goats.

Spain has responded by dispatching several warships to patrol close to two much larger Spanish enclaves perched on the Moroccan coast, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. It appears intent on sending a strong signal that its possession of the two cities is not to be challenged - particularly as Britain moves to make concessions to Spain on Gibraltar. Spain does not claim full sovereignty over Perejil, but its rule over Ceuta and Melilla is "undisputed and indisputable", said the foreign minister, Ana Palacio.

The confrontation has its roots in the end of the colonial era, when France and Spain relinquished their North African possessions. Under a 1956 treaty, Spain kept Ceuta and Melilla, which it had governed for centuries. But Morocco strongly disputes Spanish control over several rocky islands along its Mediterranean coast, including Leila.

Relations between the governments in Madrid and Rabat have soured in recent months over bitter disagreements over immigration and fishing rights. Morocco has been irritated by Spain’s backing for a United Nations-backed independence referendum for the people of Western Sahara, a territory annexed by Morocco when Spain pulled out in 1976. Morocco recalled its ambassador from Madrid in October without any explanation.

But while the language in the row has been reminiscent of the Falklands - or even the dispute between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar - both sides have insisted all will be settled diplomatically. Moroccan newspapers reported yesterday that the number of troops on the island had fallen back to three - and the government insisted they were "police", not soldiers.

The Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, told parliament in his annual state of the nation address yesterday that Spain "will not accept a fait accompli".

"It is essential to return to the status quo before the occupation of the island. We will make all possible diplomatic efforts to restore the rule of international law," he said.

The Moroccan foreign minister, Mohamed Benaissa, making his first official comments, also stressed the desire to use diplomatic channels. But he insisted: "Morocco will not for the time being withdraw the observation post from the island Leila."

Mr Benaissa said the deployment was part of the "fight in the Strait of Gibraltar against, in particular, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other illegal activities", an apparent reference to terrorism. The men on the island were involved in a "simple surveillance operation", he said.

Morocco arrested three Saudi Arabians in May, accusing them of belonging to the al-Qaeda terrorist network and engineering a plot to attack United States and British warships.

While Spain has laid claim to the spot on the map for the past three centuries, "history is full of acts" showing that the island belongs to Morocco, Mr Benaissa’s office added. "Morocco is for a serene and calm dialogue to avoid the militarisation of the region."

The European Union has backed Spain in the dispute.

Portugal seized Ceuta in 1415 and Spain sent a large fleet to occupy Melilla in 1497. Spain inherited Ceuta after King Sebastian of Portugal was killed in 1578.

Madrid considers the enclaves, with a combined population of more than 130,000, as integral parts of Spain. Ceuta is administered by the province of Cadiz and Melilla by Malaga.

Khalid Alioua, editor-in-chief of the Moroccan al-Ittihad al-Ishtiraki newspaper, questioned yesterday why Spain "remains opposed to any discussion on the future of Ceuta and Melilla ... and [insists] on the continuing colonisation".

The newspaper is considered the mouthpiece of Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi’s Socialist Union of Popular Forces, Morocco’s ruling party since 1998.


The Scotsman Thu 18 Jul 2002
Rabat defiant after Spain recaptures disputed isle
Giles Tremlett in Madrid

SPAIN yesterday captured six sleepy Moroccan soldiers and regained control of the tiny, disputed island of Perejil after sending its special forces on a bloodless dawn assault of the rocky outcrop in the Straits of Gibraltar.

The crack team of 28 men dropped on to the rock, which lies just 200 metres from the Moroccan coast, from three helicopters and, megaphones in hand, persuaded the six Moroccans to give up their arms.

The captured soldiers were taken to the nearby Spanish north African enclave of Ceuta and were later handed over to Moroccan authorities.

Spanish troops, meanwhile, tore down the two Moroccan flags that had flown over the otherwise uninhabited islet since last Thursday. Yesterday, two red and gold Spanish flags could be seen fluttering in the strong Atlantic breeze and more than a dozen Spanish troops had taken up defensive positions around the islet.

"Spain was attacked by force in a very sensitive part of its geography," the Spanish defence minister, Federico Trillo, explained. "We are talking about a clear case of legitimate defence."

The importance of the tiny island extends far beyond its 300 by 500 yards. Perejil is only four miles from Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, which has been long coveted by Rabat.

Recent talks between Britain and Spain on the future of Gibraltar have prompted comparisons from the Moroccan capital, Rabat, which would like to absorb Ceuta and its sister enclave, Melilla.

"Morocco has always said unofficially, that when Britain and Spain settled Gibraltar, Morocco would settle the enclaves," said George Joffe, one of Britain’s leading experts on North Africa.

Spain’s foreign minister, Ana Palacio, said it intended to remove its troops as soon as possible, but insisted on a return to the status quo before Morocco’s five-day occupation, when neither side had actively pressed a claim over an island whose Spanish name refers to the wild parsley, or perejil, that grows between the rocks.

"Spain has no interest in keeping a military presence on Perejil, but wishes to return without delay to the situation before 11 July when Morocco

occupied the island," she said.

While the government of Prime Minister José María Aznar puffed up its chest with pride over the first Spanish military victory for decades, Morocco began insisting on an "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" from the island they call Leila.

"The kingdom of Morocco protests with force against this unjustified aggression, at the moment when Morocco and Spain were trying to resolve this crisis by diplomatic means," said a statement issued in Rabat by the official news agency MAP. "The island is an integral part of Moroccan territory."

Spain recalled its ambassador late on Tuesday, but, despite a military build-up since Morocco took over the island, few people had expected an assault on the island.

Spanish-Moroccan relations have been under increasing strain since Morocco recalled its ambassador to Spain in October over differences tied mainly to illegal immigration, a fishing accord with the European Union and the issue of the Western Sahara.

However, sources said Spanish press criticism of the pace of reforms that King Mohammed VI, 37, promised when he took the throne three years ago, was partly to blame.

Spain has insisted that a long-delayed UN-sponsored referendum should be held on the Western Sahara, a territory south of Morocco formerly controlled by Spain but annexed by Rabat in the mid 1970s.

Since becoming an independent nation in 1956 following a Spanish protectorate over part of the country, Morocco has frequently pressed for Spain to turn over control of Ceuta and another enclave it rules on the North African coast. Morocco says Perejil has formed part of its territory since then and while Spain has stopped short of claiming sovereignty it has consistently demanded a return to the "status quo".

The European Commission president, Romano Prodi, said yesterday the EU, which absorbs three quarters of Morocco’s exports, could mediate. Brussels, he said, "attaches great importance to relations between the EU and Morocco".

Morocco as the largest recipient of Spanish foreign aid, and trade between the two countries has risen rapidly to $2 billion a year.

NATO officials said the alliance was "pleased the status quo ante has been restored" and also pleased there had been no injuries.

Spain claims the island has belonged to it since 1668, but there has been no Spanish presence there for 40 years.

The island’s caves have reportedly been used by gangs to smuggle immigrants across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain.

Spain withdraws from disputed island after U.S. mediation



Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Sunday, July 21, 2002
Morocco and Spain appear to have ended their military standoff over a disputed Mediterranean.

Officials from both countries said Spain withdrew its troops from the island it calls Perejil, located 200 meters from the North African coast. The withdrawal was completed by early Sunday in wake of a U.S.-sponsored mediation effort.

Morocco's Foreign Ministry declared that the island dispute has ended. A ministry spokesman said Spain withdrew its 75 troops from Leila as a result of U.S. mediation.

"The Spanish government has withdrawn its forces from the Moroccan islet called Leila, as a result of successful contacts with his majesty King Mohammed VI," the official MAP news agency quoted the spokesman as saying. The U.S. effort was directed by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell held at least 14 telephone calls with Spanish and Moroccan leaders on Friday and Saturday, including three calls to Morocco's King Mohammed.

The island crisis began on July 11 when Morocco sent a military delegation of 12 soldiers to take over the uninhabited island. Six days later, Spanish troops, transported by helicopters and backed by warships, captured Perejil and detained the Moroccan soldiers.

On Friday, Morocco agreed to a Spanish offer to withdraw from the island in exchange for Rabat's guarantee not to recapture Perejil. Details of the accord were drafted by the United States.

"The United States welcomes the understanding reached by Morocco and Spain over the island, following consultations by the United States with each side," Powell said on Saturday. "In accordance with this understanding, the two sides have agreed to restore the situation regarding the island that existed prior to July 2002."

Officials said neither Morocco nor Spain has abandoned claims to Perejil. On Monday, Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio will meet her Moroccan counterpart Mohammed Ben Issa in Rabat.

The Battle for Hans Island

The island is barren and steep-sided. No-one lives there. No-one except scientific parties ever have. The question one is inclined to ask is not, "Who owns it?" but rather, "Who would want it?" But this island is different from other interruptions in the surface of the Arctic sea. This is Hans Island, two square kilometers of rock situated at 80° 49' N and 66° 26' W, smack-dab in the middle of Kennedy Channel, mid-way between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. It has become the focus of a bizarre border dispute between Canada and Denmark, an issue that has simmered for three decades and finally boiled over in 2005.

In 1984 Kenn Harper, a historian from Iqaluit, Nunavut, wrote an article about Hans Island, which was published in the local newspaper Hainang, in Qaanaaq (Thule) in north-western Greenland. This article was picked up by a Danish newspaper in Copenhagen, and by CBC Radio in Canada, which gave Hans Island its first fleeting publicity.[citation needed]

This article was sparked because of a chance encounter on the ice near Resolute, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic in the fall of 1983. According to Kenn Harper he met a man wearing a hat with bold letters around the side of the hat, saying "HANS ISLAND, N.W.T.". This man was a scientist with Dome Petroleum who had just spent the summer on the island doing ice research. Dome Petroleum did research on and around the island in the years 1980 to 1983.

Oil companies build artificial islands in the sea on which to position their drilling rigs. Hans Island was apparently the perfect setting to test such artificial islands' strength to withstand the force of being hit by large floes of multi-year ice.[citation needed]

Simultaneously the Danish and Canadian governments were in the process of signing a cooperation agreement in relation to the Marine Environment in Nares Strait. The agreement was signed and put into force on August 26, 1983. (The treaty was extended even further in 1991.)

The Agreement aims at developing further bilateral cooperation in respect of the protection of the marine environment of the waters lying between Canada and Greenland and of its living resourses, particularly with respect to preparedness measures as a contingency against pollution incidents resulting from offshore hydrocarbon exploration or exploitation (Annex A) and from shipping activities (Annex B) that may affect the marine environment of these waters.

One of the items also discussed was the possibility of establishing a reciprocal arrangement for processing applications to conduct research on and around Hans Island. This was never signed, however Canadian John Munro, at that time minister for Northern Affairs and Development and Danish Tom Høyem, at that time Minister for Greenland, agreed, in common interest, to avoiding acts that might prejudice future negotiations.

However unknown to the politicians Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the island. According to Kenn Harper, the Canadian Department of External Affairs conducting these negotiations with the Danes might not even have been aware that Dome Petroleum was already doing research on the Island. Kenn Harper claims that in 1984, a senior official of Energy Mines and Resources, Canada, wrote him saying: "To my knowledge the Department of Energy, Mines & Resources did not confer with the Department of External Affairs over the use of the island by Dome Petroleum."

When Kenn Harper’s article of 1984, mentioning Dome Petroleum and Hans Island, found its way to the Danish newspapers, it is not difficult to see why Tom Høyem in 1984 chartered a helicopter from Greenland and went to Hans Island. It might indeed have been something so simple as a misunderstanding and breach in communications.

It is said that Tom Høyem planted the Danish flag on the Island and left a little message saying "Velkommen til den danske ø" (English: Welcome to the Danish Island). It is also said he left a bottle of cognac.

The dispute hits the news

The dispute suddenly came to popular attention through Canadian press stories during late March 2004. Within days, it spread to other newspapers worldwide. Shortly after Internet newsgroups, weblogs and forums began to start new threads and entries on the subject. Subjects like "Canada being invaded" and "Denmark massing troops on Canadian territory" could frequently be found.[citation needed]

The issue came to light on March 25, 2004, when Adrian Humphreys of the Canadian National Post newspaper wrote an article entitled, "Five-year plan to 'put footprints in the snow' and assert northern sovereignty". Humphreys made a brief mention of the dispute over Hans Island, and that the Danes had sent warships to the island.

While Canada wanted to assert sovereignty of its northern territories for a variety of reasons unrelated to this dispute, Hans Island soon became the focus of the debate, and was presented as the main reason for this new Canadian policy.

The Arctic sea region has long been a subject of dispute. In this matter, Canada, Denmark, Russia and Norway all share a common interest because they regard parts of the Arctic seas as "national waters". The United States and most European Union countries, on the other hand, officially regard the region as international waters.

Hans Island, 3 May 2004
by Kelly Falkner, Canadian Archipelago Throughflow Study.

Further items in the Canadian media led to the issue being picked up by international news organizations.

The Canadian federal government's 2004 budget was introduced on March 23, 2004, two days before the issue gained widespread attention. It proposed minimal increases to spending on national defence. The issue of Hans Island was raised in the Canadian Parliament by opposition foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day to highlight the government's failure to provide more funding for the military.

A new article by Adrian Humphreys on March 30, 2004, also in the National Post, entitled, "Danes summon envoy over Arctic fight — the solution of the dispute is not going to be military'", drew even more attention to the issue. The article claimed that Brian Herman, Canada’s only diplomat in Denmark (ambassador Alfonso Gagliano having been recently recalled as a result of an unrelated Canadian scandal), was called before the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to comment about his country's intentions in the dispute, which had, according to the article, recently been inflamed by Danish sailors occupying Hans Island.

On March 31, 2004, the Danish and Canadian governments denied that Herman or any other Canadian official was summoned to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both governments stated that the dispute was a long-standing issue, and that nothing had changed in the matter.

The last time Danish seamen visited the island had been on August 1, 2003, but this information was not brought to the public's attention during the discussion. Comments posted on internet newsgroups and forums suggested that Danish seamen had just landed on the Island, despite the fact that this had occurred seven months before.

A Canadian military exercise, named "Narwhal 04", inflamed the issue further. Some saw this as a response to the Danish flag planting. However this exercise had been in the planning stage since September 2003, and i