Paparazzi photo reports

The Most Beautiful & Expensive Private Island in the World

The magnificent island of Vatu Vara is often referred to as “Hat Island” because of it’s unusual shape. The island is reputed by many to be the most beautiful in . It’s unique topography with limestone cliffs covered in dense tropical jungle and the flat summit is like a cross between Bora Bora and “The Lost World” of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. From the top of it jungle-clad 1,030 foot peak, to the bottom of it’s aquamarine lagoon this is 100% pure tropical paradise. All the cinematic clichés about tropical islands are here for real; and to continue the theme you even get Mel Gibson as a neighbour. He owns Mago island just 32 kilometres to the east.
The volcanic and limestone island is nearly 2 miles in diameter at its base. It’s 305 meter summit, the highest in Lau, is a massive truncated pyramid bounded on all sides by almost perpendicular cliffs up to 200 feet in height. The crest of the pyramid is some 40 acres in extent, and is generally flat, although pitted with holes and depressions from 6-30 feet deep, some of them filled with water. At it’s base there is in most places a wide belt of gently sloping land, standing not more that 25 feet (7.5m) above sea level, and forming the brim of the hat suggesting the island’s profile. On the northern and eastern edges of the island the sea breaks against the limestone cliffs, which are deeply undercut; but elsewhere the island is circled by a broad fringing reef, which, off the western coast swings sharply away from the shore to enclose the lagoon. The precipitous sides of the central mass are scored by three shallow terraces, marking pauses in the uplift of the island; but these are not readily observed, being smothered under the dense vegetation that clothes the whole towering structure.
It’s unmistakable shape, and it’s massive peak like that of a vast stone hat, dominates the surrounding skyline and is recognizable over a radius of thirty-five miles (56km) from nearby islands such as Kaibu, Yacata, and Vanua Mbalavu. The limestone cliffs souring above the beaches, lending an aura of majesty that few islands in the in possess. The closest island in appearance is Monu Riki island in the Mamanucas which was the location for Tom Hank’s in “Cast Away”; but Vatu Vara dwarfs Monu Riki by comparison.
It is hard resist hyperbole when describing the island, but the exquisite and cinematic topography of Vatu Vara has even attracted numerous geologists over the years. It is a former atoll, specifically called a “Guyot”. This is an extinct volcano that has become overgrown by coral reefs to form an atoll. The flat top was once at sea level, which is why the summit is flat. The topography of the island is more reminiscent of Krabi in , Langkawi in or the Aru Islands in Irian Jaya.
The island is surrounded by several beaches, nestled amidst the towering limestone cliffs, and shaded by graceful coconut palms, where one can lie on the sand as fine and white as castor sugar and gaze out at the sunsets over the massive lagoon which envelops the island in a turquoise embrace.
From the beach the lagoon shimmers enticingly with a brilliance of light and color unsurpassed. Put your head under the shimmering waters of the lagoon and the real magic begins. Beneath the sun-gilded waters tinged in turquoise lies a submerged landscape of untouched magic and awesome beauty. More than 400 varieties of fantastic fish glint like ornaments of gold in the iridescent waters of the sheltered lagoons, providing hours of enchantment for snorkelers and scuba divers alike. As you lie languorously in the embrace of the ocean, your only company will be a myriad of queer and familiar fish, the occasional curious turtle, and always the company of swift and graceful birds.

Vatu Vara is located 60 kilometres South West of Vanua Balavu, 20 kilometres south of Kaibu at Lat: 17° 26′00 S Long: 179° 31′00 W. The name Vatu Vara is pronounced with an accent on the final a.

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — The 40-year-old Minneapolis bridge that collapsed yesterday was being repaired when it buckled and dropped into the Mississippi River, killing four people and leaving at least 20 missing, officials said.
“A bridge in America shouldn’t just fall down,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said in a local news conference. “We have to get to the bottom of this.”
Divers expect to find more bodies and are focusing on recovery rather than rescue, Minneapolis Fire Chief James Clack said.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate, declined to describe the repairs that were being made yesterday. The governor said several projects were under way, including concrete replacement, guardrail and lighting repairs and work on the joints.
Two years ago, the Interstate 35W bridge scored 50 out of 120 in a federal highway inspection, indicating it was “structurally deficient.” The rating means replacement is needed eventually, not that a bridge is unsafe, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said at the conference.
As many as 80,000 bridges in the U.S. share the rating, said Governor Tim Pawlenty. “There was no call by anyone that it should be closed,” he said. However, he ordered an immediate inspection of all similarly designed bridges in the state.
The six-story span buckled during the bumper-to-bumper traffic in the early evening rush hour, tossing as many as 50 vehicles into the river, officials said. The Associated Press, citing hospital officials, said at least 79 people were injured.

Three Sections Collapse
The eight-lane bridge near the University of Minnesota and the Metrodome stadium, where the Minnesota Twins baseball team was playing, stretched almost 2,000 feet (610 meters). Three of its four sections gave way, collapsing into the water and onto a freight train running on riverside tracks.
“It apparently is just a loading and unloading track,” said Tom White, a spokesman for the Washington-based Association of American Railroads. “It’s not a real busy line.”
U.S. grain and freight shipments on the river are unlikely to be disrupted by the collapse because most cargo is loaded downstream, traders and a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said.
The bridge, built in 1967, was inspected in 2005 and 2006. A March 2001 study by the state’s transport agency found that the approach spans “exhibited several fatigue problems, primarily due to unanticipated out-of-plane distortion of the girders. Concern about fatigue cracking in the deck truss is heightened by a lack of redundancy in the main truss system.”
The agency recommended that the deck be replaced by 2020 or beyond, Pawlenty said.
Bridge Just `Vanished’
South Minneapolis resident Xavier Sose said he was standing in the doorway of his balcony yesterday when he heard and felt a low rumble. He looked toward the bridge and saw dust shoot out of each end.
“The next thing you know, the entire center section of the bridge just vanished,” he said in a phone interview. “Cars were sliding down, and everything was covered in dust.”
Survivors were taken to the riverbank and transported to area hospitals, Minnesota State Patrol spokesman Steve Johnson said.
A school bus carrying about 60 children was on the bridge. As many as 10 were taken to hospitals and the rest released to their families, Ted Canova of the American Red Cross said. He put out a call for blood donors and financial donations.
The Hennepin County Medical Center received one drowning victim, six others with serious injuries and 22 more with non- critical injuries, Joseph Clinton, chief of emergency medicine, said in a televised news conference.
“We in the federal government must respond, and respond robustly, to help the people there not only recover, but to make sure that lifeline of activity — that bridge — gets rebuilt as quickly as possible,” President George W. Bush told reporters this morning.