Motu Rakau, Aitutaki Baby Onesie

This beautiful islet of the island of Aitutaki had been the location of the UK reality TV program Shipwrecked. But Motu Rakau is much more interesting than that, because unlike a typical atoll islet, it has volcanic dark rocks and big trees, instead of only coral rubble, white sand and hearty, wiry atoll vegetation.
Atolls are originally volcanic islands, but the volcanic core had eroded and sunk in the ocean, while the surrounding reef had kept growing to stay near the surface of the ocean, and eventually it forms a ring of islands around a central turquoise lagoon.
Aitutaki is an Almost-Atoll, which later had a second volcanic eruption, building up a higher island again as well as two small islets in the center of the lagoon. The brown-black rocks are tell-tale signs of the fresh volcanic activity and a beautiful contrast to the all-white coral environment, also providing nutrients for different, leafy trees than usually grow on atolls.

Judith Kunzle is drawing dancers in action, paints mountains en plein air, and many other subjects she encounters. Judith lived for 30 years in the South Pacific, mostly in the Cook Islands, two years on Hawaii and six years in California. In 2021 she returned to Switzerland. Judith Kuenzle zeichnet Taenzer in action, malt Berge en plein air und andere Sujets die ihr begegnen. Judith lebte 30 Jahre im Sued Pazifik, vor allem in den Cook Inseln, zwei Jahre in Hawaii und sechs Jahre in Kalifornien. Seit 2021 lebt sie wieder in die Schweiz.