Islomaniac’s paradise Society, bliss and rapture

“A week of sweeping fogs has passed over and given me a strange sense of exile and desolation. I walk round the island nearly every day, yet I can see nothing anywhere but a mass of wet rock, a strip of surf, and then a tumult of waves.”
John Millington Synge

Fact:

• One in every ten people in the world lives on an island.
• Craze or a strong attraction to islands – islomania

Islands or Cay, land surrounded by water, with stories that are truly stranger then fiction, beauty that no artist could ever paint, a paradise, an ecstasy, a bliss and rapture, paradoxical standing point where criminals are left stranded, these grand and great islands, which are remote and mysterious, even deadly but absolutely amazing piece of land in world. Here is the list of such bliss and grief.

Pitcairn Islands: Home to wreckage of Bounty

Pitcairn Islands is the latest and last resting place of HMS Bounty, divers love to see the wreckage of burnt down ship Bounty, descendents of Bounty mutineers and Tahitians who accompanied them, this remote island with crisp and warm air, dark sea yet calm and peaceful, the lush verdant, its glimpse will make hold your breath, an island inhibited by some fifty people. Only way to reach this island is by ship and but that’s never been easy since its time immortal, Pitcairn’s dangerous harbor and storm have prevented landings, its supply ship ran aground on a reef to Pitcairn. Yet this island is beautifully green, last remnants of the British Empire, this remote place lying halfway between Peru and New Zealand. The island is out of range of all evacuation helicopters, needless this is no place to have stroke, heart attack or fatal accident. Having the road name “hill of Difficulty” and peculiar language being spoken called Pitkern, a mix of English and Tahitian.

Palmyra: Something not being quite right

Plamyra, with Palmyra curse, last uninhibited islands in Pacific, a very beautiful island which has the essence of paradise-like beauty yet there is some foreboding feeling about this island, kind of ghost type island, unfriendly place to be, kind of threatening and hostile place, remove from time, a place where even vinyl rots. It’s like “Palmyra will always belong to itself, never to man.” Many experienced and adventurous sailing people ventured to Palmyra, for island nirvana but their romantic notion about Palmyra soon fall apart. A latest death of a couple has send shocked waves to all. there is long list of calamities, disasters and has some uncanny synchronicities that can be associated with Palmyra. Palmyra is actually a atoll, formed by growth of coral around the rim of ancient ocean volcano that has sunk below the surface of sea over eons of geologic time, this horseshoe shaped Palmyra atoll; with doldrums, thick jungles, gray and blacktip reef sharks with aggressive nature and ciguatera- a deadly algae this is truly a deadly island.

Bouvet: Bouvetoya of Alien v/s Predator

Bouvet Island an uninhibited Antarctic volcanic island in South Atlantic Ocean, dependent territory of Norway and in its center is an ice filled crater of Wilhelm the Second plateau an inactive volcano and supposed that there is a lake there, of hot lava all the time in the crater of volcano. The most remote island in world, which is all covered with glaciers, harsh climate and all time ice bound terrain flora and fauna is limited to lichens, mosses, seals, Penguins and seabirds. Though uninhibited it has .bv its internet code, and amateur radio expeditions to connect it well with radio stations.
The island has been a mysterious one, once when sited, was not to be found and re-found with another island and that another island got lost. It was this island that the film Alien v/s Predator used it for its plot. A mysterious discovery of a boat with supplies intact was found yet no where about its travelers has baffled the people. Yet this place has lots of international intrigue and it is also incredibly difficult to access it.

Tristan da Cunha: Remotest group of inhibited islands in world

“No matter what, We always like to go home” that’s what the Tristan people will say about not having any Mc Donalds/ restaurants/ Amusement parks/ nightclubs of people who still speak old English and fishing being there mainstay with just 65 to 70 days every year suitable for fishing coz of South Atlantic is so stormy yet this place is self sufficient in economy with its postage issue and Crawfish tails as there export. Not even volcano could stop them to love this island, the island with some 270 people give or take few varying in a year, they all choose to come back even after seeing cars, phones and other technology filled world yet they felt homesick when volcano suddenly in 1961 exploded and rained rock, lave and fire on their houses. Its active volcano is the reminder of power beneath the earth, a black rock extending from a meadow and this island is prized with diversity in flora and fauna. Species not found anywhere else in wolrd inhabit the island of this archipelago and has wonderful birds, home to smallest flightless bird. Possession of British Empire with seven founding families, this is world’s most isolated inhibited island, with hearts of the inhibitors as warm and generous.

Bishop Rock: Smallest Island in world

Also termed by BBC as Seven Man made wonders The Bishop Rock’s Lighthouse South West England’s most dramatic and remote locations and defining symbol of engineering. This small rock at the westernmost tip of Isles of Scilly, listed as Guinness Book of Records as the smallest island with a building on it (the lighthouse) in the world. this lighthouse was used for filming location for BBC One Idents. Bishop Rock lighthouse stands on rock, 46m long and 16 m wide, rising sheer from a depth of 45m and exposed to full force of Atlantic Ocean this was the most difficult and even hazardous site for building a lighthouse. The many wreckages of ships led to building of lighthouse at this site, James Walker was the engineer in charge, the first lighthouse he build was washed out by waves in storm and then he built another one. 5700 tones of granite without steel work, glass engines and helipad and fully automated lighthouse, with light shinning 24 nautical miles, Bishop Rock is a wonder undeniably, especially in wonderful weather, and withstanding autumn gust and winter storms for months on end, that’s phenomenal that’s where the true conjecture of this place lies. Also this place has been used for confinement of criminals left there with some bread and water and then left to die in earlier times.

Nauru: Independent island country

Nauru once a glorious and now a pauper, this country earned from its natural resource of years of Bird’s dropping in form of mining the fertilizer phosphorus and now this island is all about gloomy people, employment scarce and country begging for economical support coz it has to import even the basic needs of food and water. This island once name as Pleasant Island by its first European visitor, this smallest republic is now on aid and facing uncertain future. This is a tiny, potato shaped, with abrupt reversal of fortune. In spite of this economic fiasco, its pleasantness can be seen with wild surrounding ocean swooping of sea birds along with green island cliffs. Also check out the skeletal remains of mining infrastructure and WWII remnants of Japanese occupations.

Dubai’s Man made islands: Man can leave no stone upturn!

These are islands all which are man made- Dubai knows that it will outrun its natural resource of oil, so to overcome loss to its extravagant economy it has given all the Celebrities, and rich and people listed on Forbes, an estate of small islands to make their home, office or headquarters. This place can be told as beautiful concrete jungle with its luxurious constructions of villas in these islands. These islands are:

• The Palm Deira
• The World: the Map on Dubai
• The Palm Jumeirah
• Palm Jebel Ali
• Dubai Waterfront: largest man made waterfront project

Dubai is taking nature into its own hands, in attempt to being the top destination in the world for Leisure which is beyond Las Vegas, Economic hot spot beyond Hong Kong and develop islands such that whole world can be seen as world map from space. Engineering marvel not seen since Venice, made by Nakheel.

This is just a small list of some island that will get you all crazy, some remote and some uninhibited and some man made.