Timaru has been constructed on rolling hills created from the lava flows of the extinct Mt Horrible volcano, which last erupted many thousands of years ago. The result is that most of the main streets are undulating, a clear contrast with the flat landscape of the Canterbury Plains to the north. This volcanic rock is used for the construction of local "bluestone" buildings.
Rongelap Atoll is an island-atoll located in Micronesia. It is a municipality of the Marshall Islands. The Atoll consists of 61 islets with a combined area of approximately 3 square miles (8 km²). Its lagoon covers 388 square miles (1,000 km²). It is historically notable for its close proximity to American hydrogen bomb tests in 1954.
The United States military conducted atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, including hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific from 1946 through 1958. These tests were primarily in the Bikini Atoll, about 150 miles from Rongelap Atoll. On March 1, 1954, the test of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb generated radioactive fallout which killed a crew member of a Japanese fishing boat, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, and contaminated Rongelap. The inhabitants were forced to abandon the islands, leaving all their belongings, three days after the test. They were relocated to Kwajalein for medical treatment.
In 1957, three years later, the USA declared the area 'clean and safe' and allowed the islanders to return [1]. Evidence of continued contamination mounted, however, as many residents developed thyroid-tumors, and many youngsters died of leukemia.[citation needed] The magistrate of Rongelap, John Anjain, appealed for international help, without significant response.
In 1985, Greenpeace helped evacuate the people from Rongelap and aided their resettlement on the islets of Mejatto and Ebeye on Kwajalein-atoll. Ebeye is significantly smaller than the islands of Rongelap, and joblessness, suicide, and overcrowding have proven to be problems following the resettlement.
In September 1996, the United States Department of the Interior signed a 45 million dollar resettlement agreement with the islanders, stipulating that the islanders themselves will scrape off a few inches of Rongelap's still contaminated surface. However, this is an operation deemed impossible by some critics. Now, however, the Mayor James Matayoshi says on his website that the project has been successful and was telling about a new promising future for the inhabitants and also for the tourists.
Ko Ihumatao he nohanga o te takiwā o Tāmaki-makau-rau, i roto anō i te rohe whenua o Ākarana-ki-te-raki (AK). E ai ki Toitū Te Whenua, he nohanga (he 'locality' rānei ki te reo Pākehā) he wāhi nohoia e te tangata, engari kāore anō kia tae te nui o te taupori ki te nui e taea ai te kī he tāone tonu tēnei. Ko Tāmaki-makau-rau tētahi o ngā takiwā o Aotearoa, kei Te Ika-a-Māui taua takiwā.
In 1859, Palmyra was claimed by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd of the brig Josephine for the American Guano Company and the United States, in accordance with the Guano Islands Act of 1856; however, the company never started mining for guano, because there was none to be mined.
The main problem was the "Goonie" birds. Feasting in the evening, they could be drenched by the rain and become unable to return to their roosting grounds. Being attracted by the camp lights, they stopped over and usually regurgitated their meal all over the camps.
