Raoul Island

Raoul Island (Sunday Island; Māori: Rangitāhua) is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, 900 km (560 mi; 490 nmi) south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and 1,100 km (680 mi; 590 nmi) north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity during the past several thousand years that was dominated by dacitic explosive eruptions, with the largest being VEI-6.

The area of the anvil-shaped island, including fringing islets and rocks mainly in the northeast, but also a few smaller ones in the southeast, is 29.38 km² (11 sq mi). The highest elevation is Moumoukai Peak, at an elevation of 516 m (1,693 ft).

Although Raoul is the only island in the Kermadec group large enough to support settlement, it lacks a safe harbour, and landings from small boats can be made only in calm weather. The island consists of two mountainous areas, one with summits of 516 metres (1,693 ft) and 498 metres (1,634 ft), and the other with a summit of 465 metres (1,526 ft), the two separated by a depression which is the caldera of the Raoul volcano.

Evidence from archaeological sites on the northern coast of Raoul Island indicate that Polynesians settled there in the 14th century. A 1980 publication also suggested a lower layer of deposits dated to the 10th century, but this was rejected by the paper's author in 1991 in favour of the later date. Finds at the sites included stone implements of the Polynesian type, obsidian flakes, shells and charcoal. Obsidian of the same type has been found at early Māori sites at Shag River / Waihemo and Tai Rua, Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. There are also similarities to the Raoul settlement at archaic sites at Houhora and Papatowai. Higham and Johnson (1997) concluded that Raoul was settled from New Zealand but that the Kermadecs were a stepping stone in an early and rapid Polynesian migration from Polynesia to New Zealand and back although the occupation of the islands was relatively brief.

The island was uninhabited when first sighted by Western sailors and was named after Joseph Raoul, quartermaster of the Recherche, when it was sighted on 16 March 1793. Captain William Raven of the whaleship Britannia sighted the island on 6 March 1796 and called it Sunday Island, a name which was subsequently in common usage. Captain Henry Mangles Denham of HMS Herald charted the island in 1854.

The last regular occupants, Tom Bell and his wife Frederica, spent thirty-six years on the island before the New Zealand government evacuated them in 1914. A landing party sent to investigate the island found out how hasty the evacuation of the Bells was – a 1914 calendar was still pinned to the kitchen wall and the family's furniture, cutlery, and child's toys had remained in place. The family arrived with six children and five more were born there.

From 27 May to 16 June 1917, the German raider Wolf, under the command of Korvettenkapitän Karl August Nerger, anchored in the protected bay to undertake engine overhaul and maintenance. During this period Wolf captured the New Zealand steamship Wairuna (3,950 tons) and the American sailing bark Winslow (570 tons), commandeering all cargo and coal from both ships.

The New Zealand government has permanently staffed Raoul Island since 1937 until the evacuation of staff at the beginning of 2020 due to uncertainties around the COVID-19 pandemic. It included a government meteorological and radio station and hostel for Department of Conservation (DOC) officers and volunteers. The station stands on the northern terraces of the island, about 50 m (164 ft) in elevation above the cliffs of Fleetwood Bluff.