Atiu

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Aerial view of Atiu

Atiu, also known as Enuamanu (meaning land of the birds), is an island lying at 187 km to the northeast of Rarotonga, in the Southern Islands group of the Cook Islands Archipelago.

1 Geography
2 Human settlements
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Atiu is a raised volcanic island surrounded by a reef from which rises 6-m cliffs of fossilized coral (makatea). This coral cliff forms a mile-wide ring round the island, forming a virtual plateau. Erosion at the innerside of the ring has formed dip of about 30-m into fertile land, which gradually rises again to a central 70-m flat-topped hill.

[edit] Human settlements

It is on the central hill that most human settlements are concentrated. On the 12 March 2003, the population of Atiu is 571. They live in 5 villages radiating out from the island center that give the appearance of a human figure. These villages are:

Teenui Village
Mapumai Village
Ngatiarua Village
Areora Village
Tengatangi Village

Of special interest to tourists could be the Copeka caves situated deep in the makatea, the Atiuan jungle. Atiu also boasts with a bay where Captain Cook originally is said to have landed. Or you can visit the Atiu coffee factory, surely one of the smallest factories on Earth. Or the Atiu fibre arts studio where you can buy tivaivai, a kind of quilted fabric. The coffee factory and the fibre arts studio are run by a German couple, Juergen Manske-Eimke and Andrea Eimke, now already living on Atiu for over twenty years. They also run a small guesthouse.