# Islands



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Every once in a while I go to Google earth and I search randomly for islands I have never heard about. I look them up on Wikipedia and search for some pictures and so I learn new and fascinating stories everytime. Makes me feel like a little boy reading about geography, looking at the maps in an atlas. Travelling without moving.
Islands are so fascinating. The wild nature, the isolation and remoteness, their unique properties. When I picture myself on these remote and sometimes (largely) uninhabited islands I feel an immense sense of freedom, being far away from civilization. 

Let's share some information and pictures about beautiful and (relatively) unknown islands!


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Finnish islands in the Baltic sea. People live on the bigger ones that cover a number of acres/hectares, but the small ones can't be inhabited. I'm not sure what is the finnish or swedish word for an island so small it can't be inhabited, but in English they're called _skerries_. Everything you're seeing in these pictures are islands, big and small. Nothing connects to any sort of mainland.























I think it's me in that 3rd pic on that little island, fishing


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Crater Lake, in the US in southwest Oregon, fills the caldera of Mt. Mazama, a volcano that collapsed about 7,700 years ago. The lake, centerpiece of a popular national park, is the deepest in the US at about 2,000 feet (600 meters).

Wizard Island is a prominent feature, formed from the cinder cone of a new eruption that occurred after the lake had started to fill. This park is a beautiful place to visit!


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

There's actually a second island in Crater Lake, the tiny and rather rugged Phantom Ship.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

I'm off to Hiiumaa on Wednesday:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiiumaa


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I love these travel threads. I don't remember, maybe I already posted this in another thread, but anyway, here it is:









The island Rügen. Looks almost like a tropical paradise, but it is the Baltic coast of Germany. Not exactly an unknown destination though.


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Anticosti seems to be a very beautiful place
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticosti_Island


----------



## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Shetland - where we are off to on Saturday. We haven't been there before.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

The Isle of May, in Scotland, which is not far from where I live. Actually a nature reserve but you can visit via a boat trip from Anstruther.









Apologies for the tiny picture.


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

TurnaboutVox said:


> Shetland - where we are off to on Saturday. We haven't been there before.


Sounds so nice. I'm jealous.

But it reminds me of one of the most interesting islands I've visited: Papa Westray

http://www.orkney.com/about/explore-orkney/papa-westray


----------



## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Turnip Rock in Lake Huron. Picturesque, but not recommended for extended stays.


----------



## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

I think I went to Brownsea Island as a child. But maybe I just saw it from the shore.

Either way, it wasn't very interesting.


----------



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

From early august we will arrive on our island with a new ferry that looks like a cruise ship.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Finnish islands in the Baltic sea. People live on the bigger ones that cover a number of acres/hectares, but the small ones can't be inhabited. I'm not sure what is the finnish or swedish word for an island so small it can't be inhabited, but in English they're called _skerries_. Everything you're seeing in these pictures are islands, big and small. Nothing connects to any sort of mainland.


The Swedish word is skär when they are so small that it is just a small piece of rock above the sea they are called kobbar in singular kobbe.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Kivimees said:


> Sounds so nice. I'm jealous.
> 
> But it reminds me of one of the most interesting islands I've visited: Papa Westray
> 
> http://www.orkney.com/about/explore-orkney/papa-westray


Ah, Papa Westray. Not the most remote or exotic island, but wonderful atmosphere, usually moving sideways at speed!


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A few years ago I vacationed on Mo'orea, an island in French Polynesia near Tahiti. Beautiful place. Here are some bungalows at the Hotel Hibiscus.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

And while we are admiring the Orkney islands, here's North Ronaldsay on an unusually sunny day.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Kivimees said:


> Sounds so nice. I'm jealous.
> 
> But it reminds me of one of the most interesting islands I've visited: Papa Westray
> 
> http://www.orkney.com/about/explore-orkney/papa-westray


Did you fly?

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/08/worlds-shortest-commercial-flight-is.html


----------



## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

sospiro said:


> Did you fly?
> 
> http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/08/worlds-shortest-commercial-flight-is.html


Indeed so! Here's a story on our pilot on that day:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...hortest_flight_as_it_gets_first_female_pilot/


----------



## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

We could, just about, see St Kilda when we on North Uist in June









Quite remote about 45 miles off the Hebrides. The last people left in the 1930's


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Nice, keep 'm coming!
A few years ago I went to Boa Vista in Cape Verde. Except for some small villages and a couple of big resorts there's not much going on there. It's mostly empty, but that's exactly why I liked it. It has some amazing deserted beaches and a totally awesome quad tour along the coastline and sand dunes. Probably one of the most relaxed and not too distant destinations if you want to rest in the sun when it's winter in Europe.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

One of the islands I discovered during my "Google Earth travels" is Socrota island, which is part of Yemen.

You can read about it here, "most alien place on earth": 
http://reversehomesickness.com/asia/socotra-the-most-alien-place-on-earth/

It simply blew my mind.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Another island I came across is North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and home of the Sentinelese people, who have been called the "most isolated people on the planet". Not exactly a holiday destination as the indigenous people are mostly hostile and refuse contact to the outside world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

When you visit Phuket Island, Thailand, be sure to take the popular boat tour to Ko Tapu, also known as James Bond Island, in Phang Nga Bay. You may remember this from _The Man with the Golden Gun_, where it served as the island fortress of the super-villain Scaramonga.

My own visit was pre-tsunami, so I'm not sure how things are there today.









The entire area is beautiful. Here's Koh Panyi, a village of 1500 people built entirely on stilts beside a similar but larger rock island. This village was part of our same boat excursion from Phuket.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Kivimees said:


> Indeed so! Here's a story on our pilot on that day:
> 
> http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...hortest_flight_as_it_gets_first_female_pilot/


Excellent! Did you get your certificate?


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

DeepR said:


> One of the islands I discovered during my "Google Earth travels" is Socrota island, which is part of Yemen.
> 
> You can read about it here, "most alien place on earth":
> http://reversehomesickness.com/asia/socotra-the-most-alien-place-on-earth/
> ...


It looks exactly like the Garden of Eden in the illustrated children's Bible I read as a kid.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Kivimees said:


> Indeed so! Here's a story on our pilot on that day:
> 
> http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...hortest_flight_as_it_gets_first_female_pilot/


Last time we took the Orkney inter-island flights, the pre-flight safety talk consisted of the pilot calling back over his shoulder "Everyone belted in? Good". 
The previous pic of North Ronaldsay that I posted was reduced too far. Here's a bigger panorama.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Pat Fairlea said:


> And while we are admiring the Orkney islands, here's North Ronaldsay on an unusually sunny day.
> View attachment 87151


I just returned from 5 weeks in Scotland and visited the Orkneys for 2 weeks, including the main island, and Rousay and _North Ronaldsay_, which I found quite magical; stayed there for 3 nights & generally had good weather:

































The sheep there have their own story, there´s a unique tradition of letting them wander on the beaches during most of the year in order to live from sea-weed; an old system of stone walls prevents them from entering the more fertile fields of the island in those months.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

On the more hilly _Rousay_, weather was quite miserable, but when I did the island circuit on bike - it was a trip combining bike, trains and ferries - the sun broke through on the spectacular western coast.

Thought of visiting nearby _Sanday_ (where *Peter Maxwell Davies *lived and is buried), but its landscape with dunes seems to have much in common with Danish scenery. Maybe-maybe some other time.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> I just returned from 5 weeks in Scotland and visited the Orkneys for 2 weeks, including the main island, and Rousay and _North Ronaldsay_, which I found quite magical; stayed there for 3 nights & generally had good weather:
> 
> View attachment 87206
> View attachment 87207
> ...


How wonderful to spend 5 weeks in Scotland and what great photos. The beach looks a bit crowded though!


----------



## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Singapore is an island too, right?










Gardens by the Bay


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

sospiro said:


> How wonderful to spend 5 weeks in Scotland and what great photos. The beach looks a bit crowded though!


On the first evening, I noticed a woman snorkel-diving in the turquoise water on that lonely sandy beach on North Ronaldsay, accompanied, it seemed, by her husband, whose head could be also be seen. However it turned out, that the head was that of a seal. The girl worked at the local bird observatory, one of the very few accommodation options on the island, which has just two small shops.

BTW, it wasn´t exactly beach weather generally; on two occasions I saw Scottish people bathing _with their clothes on_ & actually wonder whether that is somewhat of a local habit.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> On the first evening, I noticed a woman snorkel-diving in the turquoise water on that lonely sandy beach on North Ronaldsay, accompanied, it seemed, by her husband, whose head could be also be seen. However it turned out though, that the head was that of a seal. The girl worked at the local bird observatory, one of the very few accommodation options on the island, which has just two small shops.


Is that where you stayed?



joen_cph said:


> BTW, it wasn't exactly beach weather generally; on two occasions I saw Scottish people bathing _with their clothes on_ & actually wonder whether that is somewhat of a local habit.


Seems a bit odd. Maybe they were lifeguards doing some training. The lifeguards at my local swimming pool take turns at playing the _drowning victim_ who may well have their clothes on.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Is that where you stayed?
> 
> Seems a bit odd. Maybe they were lifeguards doing some training. The lifeguards at my local swimming pool take turns at playing the _drowning victim_ who may well have their clothes on.


Yes, I camped there, £5 a night. Budget-minded people might find it interesting that there are return flights for only £21 from Kirkwall, but I took the ferry, there are only twice a week.

The people I saw swimming with clothes on were families, but maybe/probably just in good spirits.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

joen_cph said:


> On the first evening, I noticed a woman snorkel-diving in the turquoise water on that lonely sandy beach on North Ronaldsay, accompanied, it seemed, by her husband, whose head could be also be seen. However it turned out, that the head was that of a seal. The girl worked at the local bird observatory, one of the very few accommodation options on the island, which has just two small shops.
> 
> BTW, it wasn´t exactly beach weather generally; on two occasions I saw Scottish people bathing _with their clothes on_ & actually wonder whether that is somewhat of a local habit.


Ah, they have a strange sense of fun at the NR bird observatory. It's the isolation. And the drink.


----------



## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Santorini, Greece. The real heaven on Earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I remember reading about Santorini many years ago, aka Thera. It was the site of a huge volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago that likely destroyed Minoan civilization on Crete. No more bare-breasted beautiful girls leaping over bulls!

Beautiful pictures.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Vronsky said:


> Santorini, Greece. The real heaven on Earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini


Want to makes on jump on a plain, right now .


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

System crash, trying again.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

^^^
Since I read about those, I´ve always wanted to visit them, but it didn´t happen yet. There´s a certain mystique about them, apparently some of them have garden-like traits?

(The attachments don´t seem to work right now).


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

joen_cph said:


> ^^^
> Since I read about those, I´ve always wanted to visit those, but it didn´t happen yet. There´s a certain mystique about them, apparently some of them have garden-like traits?
> 
> (The attachments don´t seem to work right now).


System crash. Will try again.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I visited the Borromean Islands on Lake Maggiore in Italy in 2010. There are four islands in the group.

Isola dei Pescatori aerial shot (not mine).










Photos below are mine.









There's a 'hop-on hop-off' ferry service from the town of Stresa and you can easily visit all the islands in a day.















Isola dei Pescatori


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> System crash, trying again.


This one is working Sospiro.


----------



## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Falster the island the Danish composer Fredrik Magle comes from:


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

From what I know, the most unusual thing (but very overlooked) on Falster is the old tradition of straw architecture at the Hesnæs hamlet:








There are many quaint medieval village churches too, and the beaches are nice, the typical beech often forest going down to the sea:


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Sloe said:


> Falster the island the Danish composer Fredrik Magle comes from:


That looks absolutely gorgeous!


----------

