Suwarrow

 state, atoll

Suwarrow

One of the 15 Islands that comprises the Cook Islands, belongs to the northern group.

Suwarrow (also called Suvorov or Suvarov) is a low coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is about 1,300 km south of the equator and 825 km northwest of Rarotonga, from which it is administered.

It was uninhabited when discovered by the Russian ship "Suvorov", which reportedly followed clouds of birds to the island on September 17, 1814. (The ship was named after Russian general Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, who appears as "Suwarrow" in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan.) It has been only intermittently inhabited since. The Island name has also been spelled variously as "Souvorow", "Souwaroff" and "Souworoff". "Suwarrow" is the official spelling adopted by New Zealand.

Suwarrow - over 500 miles from Rarotonga, is possibly the most isolated of all the Cook Islands. The name comes from a Russian Captain who passed by the atoll in 1814 in his ship, SUVAROV. 18TH century Spanish galleons have been found wrecked on its reef, and in the mid-1800's, a salvage expedition uncovered a treasure chest containing more than 15,000 dollars worth of historic coins from the Americas.

Author Robert Frisbie brought his family from Pukapuka in the early 40's for a short visit and was caught in the worst hurricane of the 20th century. They were fortunate that they survived, he told about their trials and tribulations in his book, Island of Desire.

Shortly after that , a sailor from New Zealand, Tom Neale arrived on the island. He visited Suwarrow 3 times to live there. His total time living on Suaarrow totals 16 years. He was known as the Hermit of Suwarroww. His book, 'An Island to Oneself,' covers his first two visits of 3 years each.

After the book was published in 1966, he returned to Suwarrow in 1967 arriving there on the 1st of July. He remained in Suwarrow until March 1977 when he was found ill by the yacht "Feisty Lady" and later taken to Rarotonga to hospital. He never returned to Suwarrow and passed away in November 1977.

Mr. Rhys Jones, a bird researcher from New Zealand, was commissioned to make a survey of Suwarrow. Among his recommendations were that an official caretaker should be assigned to police passing 'yachties', a migratory bird sanctuary be established and supervised and that a permanent museum be erected and maintained by the government in order to have a permanent record of its history.

kiaorana.com/suwarrow.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Islands