Iririki

Iririki
Island resort

Iririki Island
Iririki

Location in Vanuatu

Coordinates: 17°46′S 168°17′E / 17.767°S 168.283°ECoordinates: 17°46′S 168°17′E / 17.767°S 168.283°E
Country  Vanuatu
Province Shefa Province
Area
 • Total 0.279 km2 (0.108 sq mi)
Time zone VUT (UTC+11)
Website Official website

Iririki is a privately lease held island, located in Mele Bay, a free 3-minute ferry ride from the Vanuatu capital Port Vila. The whole island is leased to the Iririki Island Resort and no ni-Vanuatu live on the island.

History

Iririki Island is the traditional land of Ifira Islanders, another island in Mele Bay, just beyond Iririki. From 1913, Iririki Island housed the British Residency who leased the island from missionaries for 99 years.[1] The Residency was located at the peak of Iririki (reached by climbing 179 steps) affording it a pleasant view of Port Vila and the surrounding Bay. Iririki also housed the Paton Memorial Hospital through that period where patients were seen for such ailments as broken bones, meningitis, and rheumatic fever, and Pacific islanders were trained in tropical disease management[2][3] At independence, in 1980, the residency was all but abandoned.

Current usage

Iririki, Vanuatu.

Iririki Island is currently a popular tourist resort. Tourist bungalows are located almost around the entire circumference of the island. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to stroll around the island. Michener's restaurant looks out over Port Vila harbour back towards the centre of Port Vila town. It is named after James A. Michener, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific and spent some time based on Efate, the island on which Port Vila is situated.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rodman, M.C., (2001), Houses Far From Home: British Colonial Space in the New Hebrides, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, USA
  2. ↑ Freeman, T.E.A., 2006. Doctor in Vanuatu: A Memoir. Institute of Pacific Studies
  3. ↑ Frater, A.R. 2004. Tales from the Torrid Zone. Vintage Books/Picador

References

Freeman, T.E.A., (2006), Doctor in Vanuatu: A Memoir, Institute of Pacific Studies.
Rodman, M.R., (2001), Houses Far From Home: British Colonial Spave in the New Hebrides, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, USA.

External links