Air Nauru to serve Marshall Islands

[Wirraway]

travelbiz.com.au

Air Nauru to serve Marshall Islands

Air Nauru will begin operating to Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, on July 12.

The new service will operate from Melbourne and Brisbane to Majuro via Honiara and Nauru.

Currently, Australians wishing to visit the Marshall Islands have to take a two-day trip via Honolulu or Guam. Air Nauru’s flights to Majuro will take around seven hours.

Flights depart from Melbourne and Brisbane on Sunday nights and arrive in Majuro at lunchtime on Mondays. The return service departs from Majuro on Friday afternoons and arrives in Brisbane and Melbourne on Friday nights.

The Marshall Islands are made up of more than 1,000 small coral atolls in the eastern region of Micronesia. The destination is particularly renowned for its scuba-diving attractions and fishing.

Air Nauru has released an opening special of $715 return plus taxes ex Brisbane and $735 return plus taxes ex Melbourne. Both fares are valid for travel up to September 3, 2004.

17 June 2004

==========================================

Pic: Air Nauru VH-RON 737- 400

http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=9647

==========================================

[Kwaj mate]

Diving in the Bikini Lagoon has to be the best in the world for wrecks. It has more in numbers than Chuuk (Truk) in half the depth.
So many ships were in the massive "Bravo" test, and sit or lay on the atoll floor in aabout a maximum 150ft of water.
About 20 ships in all, from Japan, Germany & the US ships; mine sweepers to aircraft carriers, are all there for exploration.
In Taroa (not Tarawa as in Kiribati) there are about 20 Zero's burried on the Island, destroyed by US softening up procedures on their way to Kwajalein.
Taroa may have been the most easterly point of the Japanese occupational forces as they were in the Marshall Islands for about 20 years before the attack on Pearl Harbour.
An interesting place.

[mainwheel]

Kwaj,

There is an underlying problem. Bikini atoll. Chernobyl(sp?).

Some punters, and they are out there, may think they'll dive seeing 3 eyed fish and then surface with an extra thumb!

Whats the mail........................

[Kwaj mate]

Bikini is a beautiful and very safe spot.
I have been there often & do not glow a dull warm green at night.
Some scientists have been living there (off & on) for about 15 years. They eat the fish they catch & have had gardens at the camp site for as long as the camp was established.
It is safe & all the stories of rats as big a cats is just to keep everyone else away.
The site of the Bravo detination is very impressive.
A huge 500m round hole on the edge of the lagoon and about the same depth that vaporised 3 islands.
I have never asked what the fishing in this hole is like.
The poor old (ex) land owner has nothing left to charge the US government for lease & rental charges.
There are places I will not go, as I do consider them very dangerous, but these are on other atolls.

[Hudson]

It is nice to see Air Nauru returning to Majuro after all these years. I just hope it won't turn out to be a loss making exercise. In previous years the aircraft was to lucky to have 20 passengers on that route which is over 500 miles from Nauru.

Majuro in those days was a dump and you wouldn't want to overnight there. Hopefully things have changed for the better.

[belowMDA]

Kwaj Mate, where are those hot spots you talk of? Last year I had a trip around the islands there. Went to Rongelap, Bikini and Enewetak amongst all the other atolls. Very amusing the sparkling new terminal and roads at Rongelap and runway capable of taking a 737 for all those tourists that are not permitted to stay there!! Never saw the crater from the Bravo test but have fantastic photos of the crater at Enewetak and the concrete dome covering the radioactive soil which is crumbling away.
I was under the impression that for the week that you spend diving on Bikini there is no risk. Only radiotion risk I heard of was prolonged stays combined with eating the cocnuts etc. Spent two nights out at Enewetak and the difference in attitude there compared to the rest of the Marshalls was startling. They seemed very independant people.
Overall very frustrating though when you look at the potential of the place and think of how much better the place could be.

[Kwaj mate]

The northern atolls are beauiful. Being torn apart today by foreign fishing vessels that are ripping the guts out of the sea life, especially with illegal shark fishing & gill netting operations.
I knew all the specialists that worked for the DOE & they were totally honest with the good, the bad & the ugly for the northern group, in their areas of expertise.
This was a real live US scientific experiment with generations of Bikini people (& others) that are still today just test tube victims of the system.
The US has a real case study that will last the next 100 years or more.
I would never go to the Enewetak concrete dome covering the radioactive soil as it has, as you point out, been crumbling away from the day it was built.
Did you see the sign - come back in 40,000 years? & that is only 'half life' contamination.
Yes, the Enewetak people are different, as have had strong leadership for many years.
There are some very interesting people in that (4 atoll) group. However, the country has changed after the departure of Amata Kabua. He was a great leader of the people and still missed today.
However, the present President is another excellent leader and better times are just around the corner.