Heritage Expeditions
Western Pacific Islands
Norfolk Island
Geographical Information:
Covering an area of 34.6 square kilometers the main island is situated at 29° 02’S and 167° 57’E.
Maximum Altitude:
319 M above sea level.
Physical features:
Norfolk Island is a volcanic formation with mostly rolling hills.
Flora: At the time of European discovery in 1774, Norfolk Island was covered almost entirely by mixed-species subtropical rainforest, although the steep cliffs and highest slopes of Mt Pitt supported a distinct community of shrubs, herbs and climbers, dominated by the New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) All of the floral communities show strong affinities with the flora of New Caledonia and New Zealand.
Historical features: Norfolk was first settled by East Polynesian seafarers. They arrived in the 14th or 15th century and survived for several generations before disappearing. The final fate of these early settlers remains a mystery.
The first European known to have sighted these islands was Captain James Cook in 1774, who named them after the Duchess of Norfolk.
In an attempt to head off French interest in the island, a party of convicts were sent to Norfolk Island from Port Jackson, Australia, to take control of the Island and prepare it for commercial development. They arrived in March 1788 and the Islands were initially seen as a farm to supply Sydney with grain and vegetables. More convicts were sent from Sydney to relieve the pressure on meager food supplies in Sydney.
The Island was abandoned and the buildings destroyed in 1814. It remained abandoned for 11 years until it was decided it was an ideal place to send “the worst description of convicts”. What followed has been described as “Hell in Paradise”. An 1846 report exposed the scarcity and poor quality of food, inadequacy of housing, horrors of torture and incessant flogging, insubordination or convicts and corruption of overseers. This second penal settlement was abandoned in 1855 and the remaining convicts were removed to Tasmania.
The following year descendants of Tahitians and the HMAV Bounty resettled on Norfolk Island because Pitcairn Island has become too small for their growing population. The Islands population continued to grow as the island accepted settlers. After the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1907 Norfolk was placed under the authority of the new Commonwealth Government and administered as an external territory. In 1979 Norfolk was granted self government.
Wildlife:
Most of the land birds present at the time of human settlement were endemic taxa. Of the 15 species present at the time, 6 are now extinct, and a number of endemics, including three species and two subspecies, are highly endangered. The Norfolk Island boobook (Ninox novaeseelandiae royana), an endemic owl, was reduced to a single female in 1987 but has since mated successfully with a male New Zealand boobook (Ninox novaeseelandiae), and some of their offspring have also survived and bred. The Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service also runs a captive breeding program for the endangered Norfolk Island green parrot (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae cookii). There have been no confirmed sightings of the critically endangered white-chested white-eye (Zosterops albogularis) since 1980, but periodic reports indicate that a small population persists in indigenous forest. Although locally common, both the Norfolk Island gerygone (Gerygone modesta) and the slender-billed white-eye (Zosterops tenuirostris) are considered threatened, and the slender-billed white-eye population continues to decline outside protected areas. Two seabirds with restricted breeding ranges, the providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri) and white-necked petrel (P. cervicalis) have been reported breeding on Philip Island. The only native mammal on the islands is Gould's wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii) which is locally very rare or possibly extinct.
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New Caledonia
Geographical information:
21º 30’S , 165º 30’E
Area:
7,172 Sq Miles
Maximum Altitude:
Mt Panie 1628 Metres (5341ft)
Physical Features:
New Caledonia is an ancient fragment of the Gondwana super continent. New Caledonia and New Zealand separated from Australia 85 Million years ago and from one another 55 million years ago. New Caledonia is made up of a main island, Grande Terre and several smaller islands.
Flora and Vegetation:
New Caledonia has many unique and endemic plants and animals of Gondwanan origin. The Islands make up two terrestrial eco regions, the New Caledonian rain forests on the Loyalty Islands, Iles des Pines, and the eastern side of Grande Terre, and the New Caledonia dry forests in the rain shadow on the western side of Grand Terre.
Historical
The diverse group of people that settled over the Melanesian archipelagos are known as Lapita, they were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists. They arrived in New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands around 1500BC.
Capt. James Cook was the first European to sight Grande Terre in 1774 and he named it New Caledonia after the Scottish Highlands.
British and North American whalers and sandal wood traders became interested in New Caledonia. Contact brought new diseases and many people died as a result of these diseases. Tensions developed into hostilities. As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by “Blackbirding” which involved enslaving native people to work in sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland.
The Islands were made a French Possession in 1853 in an attempt by Napoleon III to rival the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. France sent a total of 22,000 convicted felons to penal colonies on the Islands.
The Matignon Accord signed after the bloody uprising of 1988 provides for local Caledonian citizenship as well as mandating a referendum on the contentious issue of independence from the French Republic sometime after 2014.
Wildlife:
There are no native amphibians, only three snakes (none of which live on Grande Terre), and only nine mammals species, all of which are bats. The birds of New Caledonia consist mainly of modern forms. However, one ancient family, Rynochetidae, is endemic to New Caledonia and is currently represented by one species, the kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus). The kagu is listed as endangered (EN), along with the Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), New Caledonian lorikeet (Charmosyna diadema), and New Caledonian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles savesi). The most precarious existence, however, may belong to the New Caledonian rail (Gallirallus lafresnayanus). Five other species are vulnerable to extinction. A total of seven birds are endemic to the eco region, but there are twenty-four near endemics.
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Solomon Islands
Geographical Information:
8º 00’S, 159º 00 E
Area:
28,450 sq km’s consisting of more than 990 Islands.
Physical features:
The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial eco regions. Most of the Islands are part of the Solomon Islands rain forest eco region. The Santa Cruz Islands (which are part of the Solomon’s) are part of the Vanuatu rain forest eco region. Soil quality ranges from extremely rich volcanic to relatively infertile limestone. There are a number of volcanoes situated on some of the larger islands that are still relatively active.
Historical Features:
The Solomon Islands have been inhabited by Melanesian people for over 30,000 years. Polynesian settlers began to arrive in 4000BC. The first European to discover the Islands was de Gambo in 1568. Missionaries began arriving in the Solomon’s in the mid 1800’s. The brutal recruitment of labourers for sugar plantations in Queensland and Fiji led to a series of reprisals and massacres. This led the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomon’s in 1893, this was extended in 1900 to include the entire group. Under the protectorate missionaries settled in the Solomon’s converting most of the population to christianity.
Some of the most intense fighting of World War 2 occurred in the Solomon Islands. The Battle of Guadalcanal became one of the most important battles fought in the Pacific. Following the end of World War 2, the British Colonial government returned. In 1974 a new constitution was adopted, establishing a parliamentary democracy and ministerial system of government. In January 1976 the Solomon’s became self-governing and independence followed in 1978.
The current political situation in the Solomon’s is unstable. Lawlessness, widespread extortion and ineffective police are rife. New Zealand and Australia sent in police and troops to quell the unrest. The most recent unrest was in April 2006.
Wildlife:
Although the Solomon Islands contain only forty-seven mammal species, a remarkable twenty-six of those species are endemic or near endemic, including nine murid rodents (Melomys, Solomys, Uromys), fifteen pteropodid bats (Dobsonia, Melonycteris, Nyctimene, Pteralopex, Pteropus), a horseshoe bat (Anthops), and one molossid bat (Chaerephon). Three of the fruit bats-Bougainville monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex ancep), Guadalcanal monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex atrata), and montane monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex pulchra)-are critically endangered, and three of the rodents-Specht's mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys spechti), Poncelet's giant rat (Solomys ponceleti), and emperor rat (Uromys imperator)-are endangered.
The Solomons are considered a centre of bird endemism, with at least seven endemic genera. A total of 199 bird species inhabit the Solomons. The unique islands of Rennell and Bellona, separated from the rest of the Solomons by a submarine trench, contain a total of twelve endemic species, and seven additional species. The Solomon’s are a global priority for bird conservation. Ninety species are endemic or near endemic. Three bird species are critically endangered: Makira moorhen (Gallinula silvestris), yellow-legged pigeon (Columba pallidiceps), and thick-billed ground-dove (Gallicolumba salamonis). Four additional bird species are endangered: imitator sparrowhawk (Accipiter imitator), Woodford's rail (Nesoclopeus woodfordi), chestnut-bellied imperial pigeon (Ducula rubricera), and white-eyed starling (Aplonis brunneicapilla).
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Caroline Islands
Geographical Information:
The Caroline Islands consist of 607 islands extending 1800 miles through the Pacific Ocean.
Physical features:
Most of the Islands comprise low, flat coral atolls, a few rise high above sea level.
Historical features:
First discovered by Europeans in 1527 by the Portuguese explorer Diego da Rocha who named them the Sequeira Islands. Admiral Lazeano named them the Carolines after the Spanish King Charles II in 1686.
Missionaries arrived in 1732 but it was not until 1875 that Spain made any attempts to assert her rights. Germany which had occupied Yap disputed the Spanish claim. Pope Leo XIII arbitrated finding in favor of Spain but gave Germany free trading rights. The Spanish did not occupy any island formally until 1886.
After the Spanish-American war of 1899 Spain sold the Islands to Germany. Japan occupied the islands in 1914 but after World War II they became Trust Territories of the United States of American eventually gaining independence.
Wildlife:
Eighteen restricted-range species of bird occur in the Carolines. Thirteen species are endemic to the eco region, including the Truk monarch (Metabolus rugensis), the Pohnpei fantail (Rhipidura kubaryi), the Pohnpei mountain starling (Aplonis pelzeni), and the Pohnpei lory (Trichoglossus rubiginosus). Among the 29 recorded bird species on Pohnpei, 24 make extensive use of the upland forest habitat.
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Mariana Islands
Geographical Information:
The Mariana Islands are part of a submerged mountain range which extends from Guam to near Japan. There is a total of fifteen Islands.
Total Area:
396 square miles
Maximum altitude:
965 M, Mt Tapochao
Physical features:
The Southern Islands are limestone with level terraces and fringing coral reefs. The Northern Islands are volcanic with active volcanoes on Anatahan, Pugan and Agrihan. Approximately one fifth of the land is arable with one tenth of this in permanent pasture.
Historical features:
The first European to discover the Island group was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. In 1667 Spain formally claimed them and named them after the Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria. Following the Spanish-American War Spain ceded Guam to the United States of America and sold the northern islands to Germany. Japan began to occupy the Islands in 1914.
The Islands saw fighting between the U.S.A. and Japanese forces in 1944 with the U.S.A. capturing them for use as a bombing base to raid the Japanese mainland.
Wildlife:
Of the 12 restricted-range birds found in the Marianas, seven are strictly endemic. A number of these restricted-range species are threatened, including the critically endangered Mariana crow (Corvus kubaryi) and Rota bridled white-eye (Zosterops rotensis), the endangered Micronesian megapode (Megapodius laperouse), Guam swiftlet (Collacalia bartschi), Nightingale reed-warbler (Acrocephalus luscinia), and vulnerable Tinian Monarch (Monarcha takatsukasae) and golden white-eye (Cleptornis marchei).
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Read other comments"I would have to consider this trip one of the highlights of my life. I have always dreamed of voyaging to the Antarctic. The excitement of actually traveling to the places I had heard so much about was certainly the fulfillment of a dream…your obvious enjoyment and enthusiasm for Antarctica was very infectious and I would defy anyone to not be affected by it"
John, United Kingdom - 5/02/2007