Second City Origins ~ Oceania

Oceania. Arguably the world's most obscure continent. Everyone knows of Australia and New Zealand, but they're just two of the fourteen nations that comprise this mostly wet continent. Almost entirely made up of island nations, only Papua New Guinea has a land border, scattered around the Pacific Ocean.

Several of the entries in this episode are barely more than villages, in fact, Nauru as a country only has a population of around twelve thousand people. In comparison, the small town in Cheshire I live in has two thousand more inhabitants!

To say this blog will need a little more research would be a significant understatement. A challenge I am willing to accept, for that is my destiny. Wow, that sounded profound!

Anyway, "Eyes Down for a Full House" as they say in the Bingo Hall, here we go with the start of Oceania in......

Lae has the largest cargo port in PNG, and as such is located at one end of the Highlands Highway that runs from the coast to the inner regions. It was important during the gold rush of the 1930s, however following the Japanese invasion during World War II, it became one of the main bases in the region for the Empire of Japan. There is still a labyrinth of Japanese built tunnels in the area.

The origin of the name, Lae, is unclear, however some scholars believe it may come from the Proto-Polynesian words, raya or daya, meaning "headland, cape, or peninsula".

LAE = HEADLAND

Koror City was originally the capital of the South Seas Mandate, a group of islands brought together by the League of Nations and held by the Empire of Japan between the two world wars. It became the capital of Palau until it was moved to Ngerulmud in 2006. Koror is now the main tourist destination of Palau and features many nightclubs, restaurants, and hotels.

Koror City is the main settlement on Koror Island, from where it takes its name. The island's name comes from the traditional beliefs of the native people of Palau and is the name of one of the children of Milad, an important figure in folklore.

KOROR CITY = NAMED AFTER A CHILD OF MILAD

Weno is located in the Chuuk Lagoon part of Micronesia. It has an airport and seaport, but the road system is primitive at best in some parts. Most locals travel around in speedboats. diving is the main tourist activity and the local museum concentrates on the history of diving and the underwater heritage of the area.

There is little to no information about the origins of Weno. I have tried translations in several indigenous and international languages to no avail. I have even sent e-mails to the Public Information Officer in the government and to the College of Micronesia requesting any information they may have. Both e-mails were bounced back as unavailable. So, unfortunately in this case, Weno shall remain a mystery. I will keep looking though.

WENO = ?

Originally an island of the Marshallese people, Ebeye has been in the possession of the German Empire, Japan, and the USA. The Marshall Islands as a whole is in free association with the USA and Ebeye is a popular location for US military personnel stationed at the nearby base. It is currently the sixth most densely populated island in the world.

The name of Ebeye is a corruption of former names for the area. Originally written as Epjā and then written as Ebeje by European colonists, the written "j" being pronounced as a "y" in German. After the US took over from the Japanese the settlement became known as Ebeye. The name "Epja" translates as "making something out of nothing". Well, at least it does according to the elders of the island. 

EBEYE = MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

Denigomodu is home to 16% of the population of Nauru, it houses many of the expatriate community and is also the settlement for the workers of the phosphate mining industry. Denigomodu is a growing tourist destination although numbers are still very small due to the nation's remoteness. The island's airport is only a short distance from the settlement.

Translated from the Nauruan language, Denigomodu means "district of foreigners".

DENIGOMODU = DISTRICT OF FOREIGNERS

Betio is on its own islet separated from the main island that contains the nation's capital, South Tarawa. It is connected by a causeway built during the Japanese occupation in World War II. The area was the scene of one of the war's most brutal battles. Many relics from that war are still littered around the island. The remains of thirty US Marines were discovered in 2019.

Despite the myriad of web pages dedicated to Betio and the Battle of Tarawa that took place there, I could not find one scrap of information about the meaning of the name. As an aside, I read all about the battle, it is a fascinating read, if a little gory, but well worth the time. I have sent off the usual e-mails to various public bodies in Kiribati, but I won't be holding my breath for an answer.

BETIO = ? (Shucks, foiled again!)

I have used a little artistic licence on this entry. Vaitupu isn't actually the second "city" of Tuvalu. This title goes to Asau, a village on the atoll of Vaitupu. However, there is very little information about Asau other than that it is the second largest village of Tuvalu and is on the atoll of Vaitupu. So there you go, I cheated, sorry!

It is thought that the people of Tonga first inhabited Vaitupu in the 13th century, although the Samoans also claim they were first in the 16th century. There was a tragic accident in 2000, when a school dormitory burnt down killing 18 pupils and their teacher. It was thought to have been caused by a student trying to read by candlelight.

The name of Vaitupu means "fountain of water"

VAITUPU = FOUNTAIN OF WATER

Auki is largely underdeveloped for tourism, although there are some snorkeling opportunities. There are regular ferries to the capital, Honiara, and also an air service. As you can see from the above map, Auki is sometimes called Aoke by the locals and is just a variant of the name.

According to the Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia, the name of Auki derives from the name of the bird, the Auk, despite the bird being mainly resident in the Northern Hemisphere.

AUKI = NAMED AFTER THE AUK BIRD

Luganville was a US base, called Base Button, during WWII, and was the main resupply base for the Guadalcanal campaign. The town is home to the South Pacific WW2 Museum, dedicated to preserving the history of the war in the area. The village only received its name when the US consolidated several remote villages into one settlement, Luganville.

The -ville part of the name obviously means "town" and presumably the Lugan- part is a personal name, although I have been unable to find anyone of that era with the name Lugan. It may be a corruption of Logan, or of an unknown person.

LUGANVILLE = LUGANS TOWN

There really isn't enough space here to do Sydney justice. It is a city of around five and a half million people. It is the largest city in Australia that isn't the capital. It is the location of the first European settlement and colony on mainland Australia and has been named in the Top Ten most liveable cities despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world.

The first governor of New South Wales, Captain Arthur Phillip, named the cove around the first settlement Sydney Cove. It was named after the Home Secretary Thomas Townshend. "Wait", I hear you shout, "but his name's not Sydney!", and you'd be right, he was however, 1st Viscount Sydney. Yeah, I know, it's the vagaries of the British peerage.

SYDNEY = NAMED AFTER THOMAS TOWNSHEND, 1ST VISCOUNT SYDNEY

The city is the main hub for the sugar cane industry, earning it the nickname "Sugar City". Due to the large number of migrant workers, Lautoka has a distinct cultural atmosphere that is different to the rest of Fiji. the Port of Lautoka is also Fiji's second largest port with exports mainly of sugar  and molasses.

The name of Lautoka is derived from two Fijian words meaning "Spear Hit", although they are colloquially referred to as "Bull's Eye". The traditional story behind it states that two tribal chiefs were duelling, when one of them speared the other, shouting Lau-Toka or "Bulls-Eye".

LAUTOKA = BULLS EYE

Vaitele is an industrial town that produces, amongst other things, food, drinks, and clothing. It still has time, however, for tourists with vibrant markets selling everything fresh food to handcrafted items. There are walking trails and festivals held throughout the year promoting Samoan culture and cuisine.

According to the Bible College of the South Pacific, based in Samoa, Vaitele means "many waters", it refers to the supposition that all the waters of Samoa end up or flow out of the village.

VAITELE = MANY WATERS

Neiafu is the administrative centre for the island of Vava'u in northern Tonga. It is an important tourist town with yachts mooring in the nearby Port of Refuge. Back in the 19th century, Neiafu was a German controlled coaling station until it was passed to the British in 1900 when it became a British Protectorate.

Despite looking for at least an hour, the only thing I could find was a translation on Google from Tongan to English. Apparantly, neiafu means "night".

NEIAFU = NIGHT

Auckland became the capital of New Zealand on the arrival of the British in 1840, the area was inhabited by the indigenous Maori people since at least 1350 and was favoured for its rich fertile land. In 1865 the capital moved to Wellington. Auckland is today the largest city in New Zealand and the fifth largest in Oceania.

Following the tradition of the British Empire, Auckland was named after a person, George Eden, Earl of Auckland. His peerage comes from the area around Bishop Auckland in Durham, UK. The Auckland part of the name is thought to derive from Old Norse aukland meaning "extra land".

Incidently, the Maori name for Auckland is Tāmaki Makaurau, meaning "desired by many" refering to the fertile land and resources.

AUCKLAND = NAMED AFTER GEORGE EDEN, EARL OF AUCKLAND

Well, that was hard. I struggled a bit with those towns, I even questioned my sanity about starting the project. It all seemed so easy with the European places at the start. Still, I only failed on two out of the fourteen, a percentage of about 14.3, not so bad I suppose, but still a failure. Never mind, worse things happen at sea, apparently!

"So, where to next ?" I hear you cry. (I really must get my hearing checked, I keep hearing voices. Maybe it isn't my hearing, maybe I'm going mad, it must have something to do with my age, I'm 62 now you know. Last Friday to be exact, the 15th of November. My wife bought me T-shirts and Lego. My daughter bought me T-shirts and....wait for it....yup, Lego. I don't know what this says about me, I don't really care to be honest, life just goes on! Oh, sorry, I've gone off on one again....

Next up, South America, starting in the south and heading north. Only one blog episode for this continent as well, one less entry than Oceania, (13 in case you were thinking about checking, I've saved you a job). Hopefully a lot easier to research, it will be a bit of a break before tackling the Caribbean nations.

Anyway, that's it for now, so to quote Charles Dickens from Nicholas Nickleby, “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” 

TTFN