Raro's I.Q. (Island Quotient) Test #1

Dear TT'ers: It seems like it's time for a bit of fun on the Pacific Islands/PNG TT branch.

Here is an "I.Q." (Island Quotient) test for those of you interested.

Here is the procedure:
1. Please do NOT answer the Q's directly on this posting. Send them to me at my Private Message box.
2. When you do send a Private Message to me, please then add a note to this thread just to say that you have sent one, so I can be sure all is working correctly.
3. I'll post your score in points---out of 100---within a couple of days of your submission. By submitting the answers to me, you are agreeing I can make your score and answers public.
4. I'll keep processing submissions for a week or so, then publish the answers on this thread.
5. Some are fairly difficult, some medium, some easy.

Have fun!!!

5 points each unless otherwise specified:

1. Which Pacific Islands country has had four coups in the last 25 years?
2. Savaii is a large island in what country?
3. Which of its island sub-groups is the northernmost in French Polynesia?
4. Are the Solomon Islands considered part of Polynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia?
5. Which island in the South Pacific is over 90% populated by descendants of the infamous 'Bounty' ?
6. If it is February, is it summer, fall, winter or spring in the South Pacific?
7. Is Hawaii in the South Pacific?
8. Although this island is geographically in the South Pacific, a TT'er would often find more info about it on the South American branch.
9. In what country is the famed Kokoda Trail of WWII fame?
10. Which country used to be called the New Hebrides?
11. Which small island nation has had about half of it dug up for phosphate-rich guano (bird dung)?
12. Does breadfruit grow on a tree, in a swamp, or on a bush?
13. The Niuas are part of what island nation?
14. Alofi is the main town on what island?
15. Aside from French Polynesia and New Caledonia, there is another French possession in the South Pacific. What is it? (both parts of the name required)
16. Which island has baseball as its main sport, and a resort area called Tumon Bay?
17. In Polynesian languages, the following words all mean just about the same thing: hale, fale, fare, 'are. What is it?
18. Name the three islands of the Cooks Islands that are usually uninhabited (1 point each, 2 extra points if you get all three).
19. What Fijian island shares part of its name with that of a one-time Beatle's wife?
20. Aside from the islands governed by American Samoa, what is the only US Pacific island possession in the Southern Hemisphere?

Sent you a PM

What's the prize, Elliot? Does it involve coconut cream or kava????

Sent my answers.

Hi kids! Thanks for the prompt replies!

Islandboi comes in at 92 points, very good! The Beatles Q (#19)and uninhabited Cook Islands (he got 2 of 3) may be hard for most TT'ers.

Silvanocat comes in at a google-assisted 95, but without google we have to deduct 24 of those, so it's an unassisted 71. Still very good, esp. on a few tough ones!

The prizes will be announced after the contest is over. They may be more intangible than tangible. Any suggestions???

I just sent you a PM as well. I must admit that I needed Google as well for #18 (just knew one of the islands straight away). But you never mentioned that you get points deducted for using Google ... What about asking friends, looking into books and what else?

Prizes? I did not see it as a con-test; just as a test of my knowledge and, well, research skills too. Anyway as a I had a lot of fun with it I would highly appreciate a second edition.

Werner

Hi Raro

Ive sent you a PM (Possibly 3 times!!, my PC is playing up).

Hi kids!

Well, it was meant to be based on your existing knowledge, not research skills via Google etc., I should have clarified that. But doing research is also a good skill to have. So, if you use Google to find an answer, what I'll do is give it half-credit. Just indicate that it was a google search that got you the answer.

I'll re-calculate Silvano's and add a few, and answer wk and mandja later on today.

[wk--I think the quip about prizes was just a joke by islandboi]

Thanks!

Mine's there!

I have to confess Googling questions - 3,4,14-16 and 18+20 !

Sent my answers - well, just 19. Never met the Beatles in Fiji to ask them what the answer on question # 19 is.

Hi again!

Well, here are the latest results. [Please note that I am putting research via an atlas, books, etc. in the same category as googling. It's all on the honor system, of course.]

Silvano has a re-calculated score of 83. (combines googled and non-googled answers)

Mandja comes in at 80 points.

Wksamoa comes in with a very impressive 98!!!

TaiMarilyn has 90.5.

Venezio has 85 points.


All of these are very good!

Some have even pointed out some things I wasn't aware of related to a couple of the Q's, so I'm learning a bit from all this as well!

Raro

Ah- most of this is south of the equator. I don't know south of the equator.

Sent you my answers but only managed to answer 15 out of 20. Is there a booby prize?

Sent you my answers but sure don't know all the answers

Hi---
Late night, so just a quick note---will do Watsoff and Newfie "apopo" ["tomorrow" in CI Maori, kind of the "manana" of the Cook Islands, for when things will get done!]

Yes Waldos, I was afraid you might feel left out! Maybe you can put together maybe a ten Q test on micronesia, etc!
And of course, now that the rules are clarified to allow googling, atlases etc for half-credit, we won't take no for an answer!!! Give it a shot!!

Raro

Some hard stuff in it - hope I'm not too bad! Enjoyed it though.

I am 100% certain I would get four questions right, and I am 100% certain that I don't have the faintest clue about 13 of the others ...

C'mon Oldpro, give it a shot--even if you need to google, etc!

Latest results are:

Bulabear comes in at a very good 73.5, mostly all without google use.

Watsoff is at 70, but did it all with no google etc help.

Newfie is at 71, also with no google etc help.

These are good scores for non-google submissions. Keep in mind that if one had no knowledge of anything in the SP, and used google/wikipedia/atlases to find all the answers, the absolute best they could do would be only 50 points! (OK, maybe a few points more if they guessed on a couple of the general ones).

So, keep them coming, even if research is involved, it's still a lot of fun, and a good learning erxperience from what people have said. Plus, I'm learning as well from the comments people are adding!

Raro

Hi Raro I've sent you my answers & my confession that I cheated on questions 13 & 18.

Hey Raro,

Well I'm with oldpro, I know a handful and could have a good guess at a few but I am too competitive to settle for a score of 50 so will just enjoy seeing what everyone else scores. I would love to see the correct answers at the end of this.

Donna

OK. Answers PM'ed. Some known, a few guessed, most GOOGLED. You certainly come across a few bizarre facts about the world...

Thanks for the test. However I am so untechy that I have not figured out the mysteries of PMing yet. :0) So taking the test without googling I figure I would get around 80 points. Look forward to seeing the answers when finally given....a couple of those last questions I had no idea on. Aloha

OK, here's what we have for now:

Fernsie comes in at a very good 80 points, only a couple were with Google help, so that's a great score!

ADDITIONAL OPTION FOR CONFIDENTIALITY:
For those of you who feel a bit shy or might be uncomfortable with having your score posted (but really, this is all among friends!), you have the option of doing a "Confidential submission". Just PM your answers to me and tell me it's confidential. You don't need to post on this board that you have sent me anything.
I'll do your score, and send you a PM. If you then want it posted I'll post it, otherwise it will stay confidential.

So, Donna, Waldos et al, give it a try!!

Taranaki Chick---to send a PM it just takes a few clicks:
1---click on my name "Raro" where it shows up in blue color, such as at the top left of this posting. Then a screen appears with some details about me.

2--- At the bottom of that new screen, in blue, is the sentence "send private message to Raro". Just click on that, and a white box appears.

3--- You type in your answers in that white box;

4---then hit the "send private message" button at the bottom.

All done!

Raro

Raro,

I sent a private message with my answers.

I feel embarrassed that I did not know the New Hebrides, the "baseball island" and the three uninhabited Cook islands without prompt from Google and the guide brochures I read just a few days ago :-(. Can I get extra points for answering after travelling for 51 hours and spending two nights in a row in planes?

Well, Nuku came in with a very good score of 81 points. But it turns out that the Jason's Cooks Islands guide has some errors on it! So, let the reader be aware!

The 51 hours travelling and two nights on a plane will get you lots of sympathy from all of us, but as the prize for this contest was going to be the US$85,000,000 to be borrowed from the TT scammer who posted some loan thing a couple of days ago here (deleted by the moderator already??!!), we have to keep to strict rules :)

OK.....my test answers have been PMed. Thanks for the using TT lesson there. Mine are all guesses....no googling etc. Aloha

Well, Taranaki chick did master the intricacies of the TT, and submitted a great response---81 points, without any help from Google etc.!

As with many others, the last three are the hardest Q's. She did get one of the three in #18 without any help. And to get 16 others w/o help is excellent!

Raro

OK, we now have soem more brave TT'ers coming in.

Oldpro did an admirable job at 67.5 points, most on his own w/o research. And, on oen answer he actually had a correct answer I had not thought of, so that was pretty neat!

Wksamoa has an adjustment to his original score of 98, as two Q's he needed help, so it is a revised score of 93, still excellent!

We are still waiting for DonnaMaree, 5Waldos, and a few others! Confidential submissions are OK!

And where is Letterdude??? Probably off with the lovely Janice, planning their wedding details! OK, unless you score at least a 52.5 (which means you have to know just one Q without help!) you can't get married in the Cooks!!! And to make it even easier, you can do a joint answer!

We're still waiting possibly for some others such as Laszlo, Bendigo, Harry Mudd and the other "usual suspects"!!

Raro

Answers in - without wind assistance or performance enhancing drugs (except a few cups of coffee and a couple of wines - it is Sunday down here!!

Hi kids---
Well, if we don't count coffee as a research aid, than Rob (Bendigo) has a great unassisted score of 86!!
Coffe and all performance enhancing drugs are legal for purposes of this quiz----unless the bag the coffee comes in has a map of the South Pacific on it!
Great job Bendigo.

I'll wait a few more days to give the answers, maybe Letterdude and a few others will join in (put that sun tan lotion away, LD!!)

Raro

My answers have been sent.

Thanks DonnaMaree!
She got a fantastic 70 pts. I say fantastic, since she didn't use Google or other research for any of her answers. So that's 14 of 20 on her own, very, very good (esp. since two or three Q's are so tough/obscure that only a couple of people have gotten them without assistance).

So, we are waiting for a few veteran TT'ers, and any of you newbies out there are most welcome to join in, I can keep your scores confidential if you indicate that when you send them to me. If you're not sure about how to send a "PM" [private message], see the discussion above at #22.

And doun't wurry abbout speling missstakes!

Have fun!

Raro

Thanks Raro,

Like I said in my PM, I had a few lucky guesses, and five I didn't even attempt.

Well, then, you are definitely a lucky person!
[ Any tips on the October World Series??? :) ]

OK, Papa Mike came in with a very good score of 82, all without any googling, etc. Very good!

So, we'll wait a few more days for the stragglers out there, and then give all the answers!

Raro

Sorry, no tips for the world series.
I certainly surprised myself with how many I did know or thought I had heard of, but also I spent the first 21 years of my life in Australia and I have been reading this branch of the TT for 7 years. A few of my answers were from reading it on this board over the years.
My kids always tease me that my head is full of useless information.

Donna, my kids often compliment me , that when it comes to useless info, "Dad, you're full of it"

"Useless" information???

Ask your kids the following:

1. If they ran out of fertilizer for the garden, and there was none left in their country, and they had a yacht, where would they sail to for more???

2. If they were escaping from the CIA, FBI, Interpol, or Osama bin Laden---or they had made their parents very mad by staying out too late the night before---and they had won a free ticket to the Cook Islands in a school raffle and had a yacht waiting for them on arrival in Rarotonga, which uninhabited Cook Island would they hide out on for a few weeks until things calmed down???

3. If they somehow got stranded on a deserted tropical island---like Tom Hanks in "Castaway"----how would they know whether to look for a bush, or a swamp root, or a tree to find a nice edible and nutty starch to eat???

4. If, while traveling in the islands, an attractive member of the opposite sex asked them "Would you like to see my "fale"?", would they know whether to slap that person, or feel like they were an honored guest?

5. And if they met that same attractive member of the opposite sex while visiting a museum in their home town, and they were offered an invitation "Come to my home town of Alofi and I'll show you around!", how would they start arranging to get there???

Anyone have any other other suggestions on why specific Q answers are so important?? !!! :)

#35, 36
Lucky you!

I do not think that there is something like useless information. I grew up with "Everything is worth to be known ..." (coming from my father). Well, later on it was real fun to see how all these bits and pieces of knowledge fell into their places, integrating history and geography for example, actually allowing some deeper understanding when watching the news on TV.

And you never know in advance ...! Aged 16 I won a prize, real money, by knowing about Kyzyl(-Choto) at that time being the capital of (Tannu-)Tuva, a former Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, now the Tuva Republic in the Russian Federation. Before that contest Kyzyl appeared to be a quite useless piece of information indeed. But I learnt my lesson from that ... Nothing teaches you better than being rewarded, lol.

The other lesson I learnt from my father is "When you do not know it, find it out. NOW!" At the age of 55 now, about half of my actual income today comes from doing background and other research for businesses, news agencies, publishers and such. Sound basic knowledge to build the research on (choose the right questions and sources) does help a lot here again. And again in every research one runs in a lot of even more information being useless for the actual purpose but again worth to be known. I think I will learn until my last moment of brain activity.

(Sorry for bragging, lol. It's not meant like that.)

Useless information? No way.

Knowing what a "fale" is could be a life or death situation... or a marriage situation.

wksamoa--
As with you, I've won a few things with trivia knowledge. I won a trip for two to Mexico on a radio contest, when they asked "What US city's streets were the basis for the property names in the game Monopoly?"

And I was also a contestant on the TV show "Jeopardy" (in 1986). I came in second that day, but still won a washer, dryer, and carpeting, all handy for the new house I had just built!

And of course, heading back to a fale, or fare or hale or 'are has always been an interesting adventure.....!!!

<blockquote>Quote
<hr> ... heading back to a fale, or fare or hale or 'are has always been an interesting adventure.....!!! <hr></blockquote>

Referring to #39 on the previous page:

Interesting adventure? Regarding life, death ..... or marriage ....?

Monopoly. I could not eat, I could not sleep - I had to find that out. NOW! I have never seen an English version of the game though. The German version uses fictional common street names, as I found out. They did that after the first edition had been banned during the Nazi rule by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister for Propaganda. Officially because it was of "Non-Arian" character (make fortunes by ruining others) but the common assumption was that it was banned because the most expensive Berlin street on the board was "Schwaneninsel" - and he happened to live right there ...

I am thinking about a South Pacific Monopoly. Would be funny. Instead of taxes you can put in what we call Falavelave in Samoa, the more or less forced financial contrubutions to the village, church or family. You could be banned to one of the uninhabited Cook Islands, build a hotel in Alofi (they need one), stage a coup, buy the Guano mine. And instead of getting money every time at "Start" you have to share half of your fortune to the other players when passing there. I am not sure who would be the winner ... The first one being broke or the one who survives five rounds and still has money?

I grew up absorbing all kinds of "useless information", which is not seen as a particularly useful skill in a small rural town where football players are heroes, and most people talk about the "bags per acre" they expect to get from their crops. It's not that those things aren't important, it's just that I'm not interested!

Anyway, earlier this year I survived five games as a member of "the mob" on a national TV quiz show called "1 vs 100" (I presume there are local versions of this show in other countries?) After all that (25 questions in a row right, before I stumbled), I walked away without a cent (but it was a lot of fun). But there are plenty more quiz shows, and I think they are just the best way to make serious money - all you need is a lot of "useless information" in your head, a bit of luck, and the courage to risk humiliation on national television.

I came to this realisation after having a rather good pay-day on the Oz version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" a few years ago - well short of a million, but enough to do some important things and have some fun!

There are two French Polynesia themed monopoly games. Unfortunately I can't locate the links to them right now.

Silvano, I love Monopoly and I love PI as well as trivia. I didnt know there was 2 FP versions, but I do now that there are MANY versions available. The ones you were thinking of... is it one of these 1200 odd?

Many many years ago when Trivial Pursuit first came out, I was meant to be travelling the world but had fallen in love and was living in Calgary for a year. Anyway I had a lot of spare time on my hands so decided to memorize the box of questions and answers from TP. I didn't tell anyone. It was a hoot, I won every time. They soon caught on, here was a girl, fresh off the plane from Australia answering all the American baseball questions.

Raro, I'm sure we would all like to get our hands on a copy of you on Jeopardy.

Yes Raro, is your Jeopardy performance on YouTube?

wk's monopoly---LOL!!!

OK, for the US version it's a resort/gambling city on the Atlantic, in the NE of the US.

Yes, I have a tape of it, It's VHS. Not sure how one would go about putting a half-hour show on in. And, although I was leading at the half-time break, I got shut out in double Jeopardy round!

Bendigo---I think we do have 1 vs 100 here, not sure if it is currently on. If you made it through 25 Q's that's fantastic!

Hey Greg,

What happened to Rarotonga Feb/08. I gave up and am going in November.

Donna

OK, this is last call for any stragglers out there who want to join in.

Answers will be posted later today, or tomorrow, hopefully.

THE ANSWERS!

OK, here are the answers to the first IQ Test.

To give you an idea of how well you did compared to others, I'll indicate "easy", which means almost everyone got it, "medium", which means about half got it without using Google or an atlas, etc., and "difficult" indicating only a few people got it without Googling, atlases, etc.

1. Which Pacific Islands country has had four coups in the last 25 years? Fiji ----easy

2. Savaii is a large island in what country? Samoa (also accepted Western Samoa, but the name was changed to plain "Samoa" several yrs ago.---easy

3. Which of its island sub-groups is the northernmost in French Polynesia? Marquesas -----medium. See Nukuhiva2's great report and photos currently on another posting on this branch!

4. Are the Solomon Islands considered part of Polynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia? Melanesia----- medium . "Polynesia" means "many" islands, "micronesia" means "small" islands, and "melanesia" means "dark" or "black" islands, at least that is how it was applied from Greek (or is it Latin??). Early explorers coined these terms. In general, Polynesia is the east and north to Hawaii part of the Pacific, Micronesia is the NW of the Pacific, and Melanesia is the SW of the Pacific.

5. Which island in the South Pacific is over 90% populated by descendants of the infamous 'Bounty' ? Pitcairn---medium. It is a few hundred miles east of French Polynesia, and is one of the hardest islands for a tourist to visit. The other island inhabited by Bounty descendants is Norfolk, about halfway between New Zealand and Australia. Norfolk is probably more in the Tasman Sea than the Pacific. But only about 50% of year 'round residents are Bounty descenfdants, the rest are from NZ and Austr.
Trivia buffs---
After the Bounty mutineers landed on Pitcairn in about 1790, no one visited until about 1808! By then only one old man (the botanist, I think) was left, along with about 10 ladies and two dozen kids. He said the mutineers and the Tahitians who had joined them in Tahiti had fought over the women and eventually killed each other off, he was the only adult male left! By the 1850's Pitcairn had become overpopulated, with about 150 people, that the British took everyone off and moved them to Norfolk, a former penal colony for Australia. Several years later about 50 people charted a boat and went back to Pitcairn, and those are the ancestors of the current 50 or so residents. There was a huge criminal trial recently related to sexual abuses of the girls by the men over many yrs, pretty disgusting stuff, Google Pitcairn for more on what happened.

6. If it is February, is it summer, fall, winter or spring in the South Pacific? summer---easy

7. Is Hawaii in the South Pacific? No. ---easy. It's about 1300 miles north of the Equator, so it's in the North Pacific Ocean. But since the movie "South Pacific" was filmed there, many people think it is actually in the South Pacific.

8. Although this island is geographically in the South Pacific, a TT'er would often find more info about it on the South American branch. -------Easter Island. ---medium---- Called Rapa Nui in local language, and Isla de Pascua (sp?) in Spanish. It's a couple of thousand miles east of French Polynesia, and the same distance from Chile, so it is geographically more remote than Pitcairn. But there are a few flights a week from Chile to Easter I. then to Tahiti, and back the same way, in wide-body jets, so a hell of a lot easier to get to than to Pitcairn!

9. In what country is the famed Kokoda Trail of WWII fame? Papua New Guinea----easy

10. Which country used to be called the New Hebrides? Vanuatu----medium . It was jointly run by the French and British until independence, I think that was in about 1978.

11. Which small island nation has had about half of it dug up for phosphate-rich guano (bird dung)? Nauru---medium.
trivia buffs--
Nauruans were the second-richest people per capita in the 1970's (after Kuwait), due to the guano dug up for phosphates---for fertilizer. They eventually blew 95% of all the $$$ they made, and are near-bankrupt now. A major source of earnings is housing refugees off ships seized on the way to drop off illegal aliens to Australia. It's only 2 miles long, 1 mile wide.

12. Does breadfruit grow on a tree, in a swamp, or on a bush? Tree---medium.
dedicated trivia buffs:
The nutty-tasting potato-like starchy breadfruit is really the genesis of the "Mutiny on the Bounty". Bligh was sent to Tahiti to get breadfruit seedlings and replant them in the Caribbean for the British slaves. But instead of heading around Africa, with the winds, the normal way (longer distance)he decided to try to go the short way, west through the Straits of Magellan at the tip of S. America, and set a sailing record to Tahiti. After a couple of weeks of not getting anywhere into the fierce winds, he turned around and went the regular way. But he got there just when the breadfruit's dormant season of a couple of months started, so instead of being in Tahiti for two weeks or so, they were there for a few months until the dormant season ended. During those few months the crew kind of got to like the local lifestyle, and Bligh's harsh style seemed so much worse than on the way down. If he had gone the normal way, they would have been there just two weeks, and maybe the mutiny would not have occurred, and Pitcairn would not have been settled. And the 1961 Mutiny on the Bounty movie, with Marlon Brando, never would have been made. And the producer would not have paid the French govt several million dollars to expand the very short runway at Papeete [so his production crew etc could fly in direct from LA non-stop on jets], thus ushering the tourist era in Tahiti thereafter, as jets from the US could go non-stop (instead of having to spend four days on Solent "flying boats" from NZ to Fiji/Samoa/Aitutaki/Tahiti!). And he would not have married his Tahitian co-star and bought Tetiaroa, et. etc.
So, the mild-mannered breadfruit tree should be given some recognition in history!
PS---On a later voyage the British did take breadfruit seedlings frm Tahiti and transplant them in the Caribbean. The locals there hated it, and refused to eat it, so most tress were left untended and died out.

13. The Niuas are part of what island nation? Tonga----difficult. They are a few hundred miles north of Vavau, and there are flights every couple of weeks or so, during good times. sometimes none for several weeks. On one island there is a lake, and in the middle of that lake is an island. So you have an island in a lake on an island in the ocean! One is called Tin Can Island, as delivery of mail was done by putting it in empty biscuit tins, throwing them overboard towards the island, and locals would paddle out in canoes and fetch the tins!
A Mormoan missionary lived there in the 1950's and wrote a book about it, which was made into a movie. forgot the name [Other Side of Paradise??]. But in it, the soles of his feet were chewed up one night by rats, since he didn't tuck in his bedsheet around them. His feet had to be propped up for a couple of weeks, while he was pushed around in a local version of a wheelbarrow!

14. Alofi is the main town on what island? Niue---difficult. Much of it was destroyed by Cyclone Heta a few yrs ago, but a lot has been rebuilt. There is an uninhabited island called Alofi (see Q. #15)

15. Aside from French Polynesia and New Caledonia, there is another French possession in the South Pacific. What is it? (both parts of the name required) Wallis and Futuna---difficult. Through the yrs the locals on the two main islands have often fought each other, so it is not as much of a tropical paradise as one might imagine. An uninhabited island in the group is called Alofi, same as the name of the main village on Niue.

16. Which island has baseball as its main sport, and a resort area called Tumon Bay? Guam----difficult. In Polynesia, the center of each village is usually the main church in town. In Guam, the center of each village is the park with the baseball diamond!

17. In Polynesian languages, the following words all mean just about the same thing: hale, fale, fare, 'are. What is it? house, hut, etc----medium.
In Hawaiian it's hale. In Samoan the h becomes an f, so it's fale. In Tahitian the l then becoms an r, so it's fare. And in the Cooks, in CI Maori there is no h, no f, and no l --- so it becomes 'are !! [In NZ Maori it's whare, pronounced fare]

18. Name the three islands of the Cooks Islands that are usually uninhabited (1 point each, 2 extra points if you get all three). Suwarrow (or Suvarov, originally), Takutea, and Manuae. --difficult--
Tom Neale, known as the Hermit of Suwarrow, lived alone on that tiny atoll for 15 yrs between 1952 or so and 1977. During one period in the 1960's when he was ill, and living on Rarotonga, an Englishman managed to get a yacht to drop him off on Suwarrow, Michael_____. When Tom was ready to return, a visiting yachtie told him he had stopped at Suwarrow on the way down from Hawaii, and some guy was living on it. Tom's famous words: "I won't go back until the government kicks that guy off. The island ain't big enough for the both of us!!"
The govt sent up a patrol boat, evicted Michael, and then Tom returned to his home.
Takutea is a small island off Atiu, owned by the Atiuans. A few yrs ago an American gamefishing guy tried to set up a gamefishing tour which would be based on Atiu, overnight on Takutea for a couple of days, as it has great fishing next to it. He was going to split the profits with the Atiuans. But it never got off the ground, since the Atiuans fought for several months over who would get what, what they would charge him, and they kept changing their minds, and upping what they wanted. He got so frustrated he left.
Manuae is a beautiful little atoll halfway between Aitutaki and Atiu. If I had to built another little mini-resort in the Cooks, I'd choose that [assuming we could work out a way to get a boat there and back, or fix up the dirt airstrip!]

19. What Fijian island shares part of its name with that of a one-time Beatle's wife? Ono-i-Lau (also accept Ono, in the Kadavu group) difficult. One-i-Lau is probably the most eastern and southern island in Fiji, and most residents of the Lau Group are really of Tongan descent, not native Fijian descent.

20. Aside from the islands governed by American Samoa, what is the only US Pacific island possession in the Southern Hemisphere? Jarvis---difficult. Nothing is unique about Jarvis, except for the distinction in this question, as far as I know!

--------------------------------------------
Well, that's it. Thanks to all who participated. I'm taking a break from quizzes for a while!!! Any others are welcome to do their own version, even if it's just about one country it would be fun!!!

Raro

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>So you have an island in a lake on an island in the ocean<hr></blockquote>

This reminds me of a real oddity in the Phillipines near Manila - Lake Taal - In the middle of it is in an island and that there is another lake with its own island. This makes the last an island within a lake within an island within a lake within an island (Luzon)

Raro said re Nauru:

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>A major source of earnings is housing refugees off ships seized on the way to drop off illegal aliens to Australia. It's only 2 miles long, 1 mile wide.<hr></blockquote>

"Refugees" is the correct term, it's just that if they come by sea, it suits the current Government to label them differently.

The last of one group was finally granted a visa in the last few days, after spending about 41/2 years in detention on Nauru, and another 18 months in limbo in Australia (the last two of this group were moved from nauru after the Government finally realised they were developing serious mental illness - I believe one of them made several suicide attempt).

Perhaps my political commentary is unwarranted here, but there are plenty of thoughful articles out in the ether about the rationale and realities of the "Pacific solution".

Rob

Political commentary welcome!
But you have to realize that I was typing the above sans both contact lenses, as I have an eye infection for the past few days. I was going to wait a few days to do the answers, but Greg Islandboi asked about them. So, I was just trying to get some pertinent info out on many of the Q's, typing pretty quickly, so others could follow up on their own if interested. I wasn't trying to be politically correct. But from the stories I read over the last few yrs in the Austr. press, they have been described as "refugees", "asylum seekers", or to many in Austr., "illegal aliens".

What has appalled me is the treatment of them in that inland prison camp in the near-desert of Australia. From all accounts it is so desolate, that after a year there one would go stir crazy.

The Nauruans at least were making friends with some of them, from what I read. But I think it all should have been handled within a year, if at all possible. It was inevitable that most would be accepted into Austr., NZ, etc.

Anyway, not to dwell on that, I guess it would be good for a whole other discussion.