[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Jet2

I was born on Cheung Chau Islands which is located at the southwest of Hong Kong Islands.

Cheung Chau used to be two very small islands and they were linked up by the sand and became a tombolo very long time ago.

I love this peaceful little islands very very much and I hope you can have opportunity to pay it a visit if ever you go to Hong Kong. It just takes less than an hour ferry to get there from Central HK.

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Very cool Jet2!
Looks like a bustling and busy little island!but But pretty and tropical. Thats awesome!
Theres something very romantic about a small trpical island. I know I loved Margarita Island when on vacation...

You must have some very happy memories from there.

Cheung Chau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jet2]

I lived there more than 20 years before I moved to HK Islands and then now Shanghai China.

Yes, many happy memories there.
Cheung Chau has no vehicle and is surrounded by water so the air is very fresh and living there is particularly quiet, well unless we have typhoon.

The most famous thing happen on the islands would be The Bun Festival and you can read more here:
Cheung Chau Bun Festival Home Page

[Racoon]

I buck the trend and stereotype of Americans not being good at geography.

Kapingamarangi


Kapingamarangi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of Micronesia and of the Caroline Islands, 300 km south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, and 740 km southwest of the main island of Pohnpei state. Kapingamarangi has a population of about 500 (as of 2007). Their language is Polynesian. The main industry is fishing.

The total area of the atoll, including the lagoon, is 74 km². Out of this, 1.1 km² is land area, spread over 30 wooded islets on the eastern side of the atoll. The western reef rim of the atoll is almost submerged at high water. Touhou Island, which reaches a height 35 meters and is connected to Veilua Island (Ueru Island) in the north by a causeway, is the capital of the municipality, the center of population and the home of a native chief. Most of the population resides on these two islets, plus on Taringa (south of Touhou), although many of the remaining islets are used for growing fruit and vegetables.

The Kapingamarangans refer to themselves as "Kirinese" and are known for their handicrafts, with the men carving and the women weaving. They typically carve various trinkets out of the flesh of an ivory nut. They are also well known for their shark carvings, wall hangings, mobiles, woven mats, shell jewelry and turtle-shaped ukuleles

More Than a Living (Michael Lieber) - book review

Kapingamarangi atoll is among the most extreme environments on Earth. It sits at the top of a kilometre high sea mountain in the middle of the Pacific, is almost five hundred kilometres from the next island, and has a total surface area of just .42 square miles; you can't get much closer to the ocean than that!

[Mercedes Benzene]

Originally Posted by Racoon

I buck the trend and stereotype of Americans not being good at geography.

I would also like argue that we are quite good at geography.

YouTube - Jacob's Geography Quiz

Anyway, sometimes I like to look at islands for sale (just for fun!). They may not all be obscure, but they are still fascinating!
Islands for Sale, Real Estate, Private Islands

[Michaelangelica]

Tasmania is a nice little Island with a Mediterranean Climate.
There is no fruit fly or termites there (paradise).

The Botanic Gardens have a "cold room" with vegetation from Macquarie Island.
A lot of Antartic ships leave from and supply thmselves from Hobart. The capital city. The population is very small. there are stacks of litle islands around it as there are arround all of Australia.(The largest Island on Earth)

The Pacific islands have always fascinated me (Most 'dicovered" by Cook). A cruse around some of them would be fascinating

The Whitsundays in Queensland is the place to go if you like sailing and scuba diving.

[Turtle]

This obscure gem is now completely protected. The stand of virgin Western Red Cedar is estimated to have grown on the island for the past 4,000 years, and it contains living trees at least 1,000 years old. Bring your own boat.

Long Island in Willapa Bay (photo)

Long Island in Willapa Bay home to ancient cedars and protected wildlife

Originally Posted by nwsource

... Long Island, in Willapa Bay, is the largest island in a Pacific Coast estuary. It is home to a variety of environments and their inhabitants, and hidden away in the middle of the island is one of the Northwest's best-kept secrets -- the ancient cedar grove. The island was also the stuff of dreams eventually abandoned by early settlers; it was worked by loggers, and now as a result of major land-for-timber exchanges it is to be left alone to revert to its natural state. ...

[Racoon]

I hadn't actually heard of Bioko before.

Bioko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The island has a population of 130,000 inhabitants most of whom belong to the Bubi tribe. The rest of the population are Fernandinos, Spaniards and immigrants from Rio Muni, Nigeria and Cameroon.

History
The island was inhabited in the middle of the first millennium C.E. by Bantu tribes from the mainland which formed the ethnic group Bubi. The first European discovery of the island was made in 1472, by the Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó. It was at first named Formosa Flora ('Beautiful Flower'), but in 1494 was renamed for its discoverer (Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo). Unlike other islands in the area, Bioko had an indigenous (African) population. Still a distinct ethnic group on the island today, these indigenous people, the Bubi, speak a Bantu language; the island was probably inhabited by this or other Bantu-speaking groups since before the 7th century BC

Malabo is the capital city of Equatorial Guinea and the largest city on the island. The island is mostly covered by tropical rainforest.

Bioko Island conservation

Bioko Island, the largest of the Gulf of Guinea Islands, has a surprising variety of native monkeys: four species of guenons ("cercopithecine monkeys"), two species of colobus, and the drill, a large baboon-like monkey that is now considered to be the most endangered primate in all of Africa. Until recently, the island's steep, volcanic terrain, high rainfall and low human population have combined to protect these monkeys and their undisturbed forest habitat from many of the conditions that now threaten wildlife in other African forests.

In the last fifteen years, Bioko Island, like much of the rest of West and Central Africa, has developed an unsustainable commercial bushmeat trade, where forest animals are hunted to be sold as a delicacy in city markets.

Science and Technology Newsletter :: October 2005

[Michaelangelica]

I spent a few wonderful days on lady Lady Elliot Island off Bundaberg,Queensland.
It is one of the very few coral islands on the Great Barrier Reef
It was magical, if primitive accommodation wise.
A lot of Yanks there as it had been written up by the NYT as the best diving spot on the planet.
I don't dive but I spent a few VERY magical hours playing with one of these (not showing up?) -a giant old female Turtle- who come to the area in season to lay eggs on the island and mainland.


Other links
PJF's Pages - Journal - General thoughts while diving off Bundaberg
Lady Elliot Island - off Bundaberg, Qld
Lady Elliot Island - off Bundaberg, Qld - birding-aus | Google Groups
Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia
Photos Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia

[Jet2]

Another obscure one for your interest:

Welcome to Delos, the no man land where used to be a busy town...
Delos, Greece - April 2000

I visited there many years ago and I still have this strong impression:

It was a sunny day with bright blue cloudless sky.
Very few tourist were there may be it was near the island closing time.
We walked around the ruins and when the wind blew through the broken site, a strange sound happened that made goose bum all over our bodies.
Ghost! Run! That's what we came to our head at that moment...

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Jet2

Welcome to Delos, the no man land where used to be a busy town...
Delos, Greece - April 2000

That was a great read Jet, thanks for the link!