And it also glows in the dark...

The General Services Administration is responsible for US Government property, and for selling surplus property. They have a page offering Johnston Island for sale, describing it as follows:

Johnston Atoll consists of four small man-made islands enclosed in an egg-shaped reef approximately 21 miles in circumference. The wildlife refuge on the Atoll is a habitat for 32 species of coral, 300 species of fish, the endangered sea turtle and Hawaiian monk seal, and 20 species of migratory birds. Johnston, the main island, is 1000 yards long and 200 yards wide. The deed will contain use restrictions because the atoll was used by the Defense Department for storage of chemical munitions and as a missile test site in the 1950's and 60's. The island can be used as a residence or vacation getaway but it does not have utilities or a water supply. The airstrip and the golf course are closed.

What they don't mention is that the "missile test site" hosted several nuclear atmospheric tests in the 1960s, including one failed test that spewed plutonium over part of the island. Later, it served as a facility for dismantling and incinerating chemical weapons, including mustard and nerve agents. The Army has since cleaned up the island, and razed most of the buildings. But I still wouldn't want to live there. Imagine my surprise that the place has been for sale since 2005 with no takers. Interesting history of the place here, and more photos from the atomic years here.

Via Paul Music, who has resumed his reign of linky terror.

Home Now

We're home and we're tired. It was an amazing trip, but don't be surprised if it takes us a few days to get back to blogging.

Heading Home

Every holiday must end, and ours is sadly no exception. It's Tuesday morning at 7 AM, and we're getting ready to head to Sydney Airport for the long trip home. We figure that we'll be traveling around 22 hours, because we have to fly back to New Zealand before returning to San Francisco. Weird how the time works, though; we get on a plane here in Sydney at 11:30 AM Tuesday morning, and should arrive at SFO at 11:15 AM, Tuesday morning, just a bit before we left.

Last night, we topped off the trip with a bit of a surprise; we toured the Sydney Opera House yesterday, and the guide mentioned that there were still tickets to that night's performance. So we saw Kasey Chambers, an Australian country singer. I'm not a big country fan, but her show was really good. And the venue is, of course, amazing.

Off to the airport now; more when we get back home. And Flickr will soon groan under the weight of the electrons I will be uploading.