The Mercury Islands lie off the northeast coast of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

. They are located 8 kilometres (5 mi) off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula

Coromandel Peninsula

The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...

, and 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) northeast of the town of Whitianga

Whitianga

Whitianga is the main settlement of Mercury Bay on the North Island of New Zealand. The population was 3768 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 690 from 2001. The population is now 4100 an increase of 332 since 2006.-Social:...

.

The main chain of the Mercury Islands consists of the large Great Mercury Island (also known as Ahuahu) to the west, Red Mercury Island (Whakau) to the east, and five much smaller islands between the two (Korapuki, Green, Atiu/Middle, Kawhitu/Stanley and Moturehu/Double Islands). Only the main island is inhabited – the others form part of a nature reserve. To the south of this chain numerous tiny islets lie to the north of the mouth of Mercury Bay

Mercury Bay

Mercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. This bay was named by the English navigator Captain James Cook during his exploratory expeditions. By the Māori it was named Te-Whanganui-o-Hei, the great bay of Hei.On November...

. One lone island, Cuvier Island

Cuvier Island

Cuvier Island is a small island off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the seaward end of the Colville Channel, north of the Mercury Islands and approximately south-east of Great Barrier Island...

, lies 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the north of Great Mercury Island, although this island is not normally considered part of the Mercury Island group. Great Mercury Island is what remains of a Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 rhyolitic volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

.

Great Mercury Island is owned by Michael Fay

Michael Fay (banker)

Sir Michael Fay is a New Zealand merchant banker and partner in the merchant bank Fay Richwhite. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland, St Patrick's College, Silverstream and Victoria University of Wellington ....

, a former prominent New Zealand businessman who now lives in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. The private island, which features two luxurious residences, can be hired for around $20,000 NZD per day. U2's

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 lead singer Bono

Bono

Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...

 and guitarist The Edge

The Edge

David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...

 stayed on the island during U2's Vertigo

Vertigo Tour

The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 2005 through 2006. The Vertigo Tour consisted of five legs that alternated between indoor arena shows in...

 concerts in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 in November 2006.

On November 30, 2009, Great Mercury Island hosted the first successful launch of Rocket Lab's

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab Ltd. is a New Zealand firm that designs and fabricates sounding rockets and propulsion systems.The first launch of the Ātea-1 suborbital sounding rocket was scheduled for late 2009. The 6m long rocket weighing 60 kg is designed to carry a 2 kg payload to an altitude of...

 suborbital Atea-1 sounding rocket

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

.

The group of islands is still occasionally referred to by the earlier name of Iles d'Hausse.

External links

• 'Geology – New Zealand's Geological History', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 2006-09-26. Accessed 2007-04-15.