The most remote patch of land on Earth is the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean. Of these islands, Tristan da Cunha is the only one that's truly inhabited with a real sense of community, but smaller Gough Island, 400 kilometers southeast of its archipelago partners, boasts a weather station permanently staffed by a crew of 6. In a sense this station could be considered the most isolated permanent human presence after the International Space Station. You can read more about the island, its history, and the station here:
Gough Island
The Wikipedia article is informative and interesting, but its this gallery that really motivated me to make this post. Learning about remote and esoteric places is a hobby of mine, and I have fun collecting facts about tiny islands in faraway seas the way some people have fun collecting stamps or bottle caps. Seeing galleries like Chantal Steyn's elevate this to a whole new level, though, and make it clear how charged with wonder the universe really is. Out of thousands of miles of trackless ocean, far from the bustling harbors of Africa and South America and even from the glaciered shores of Antarctica, the powers that made the Earth saw fit to lift a tiny patch rock above the waves, and the result is simple, jaw-dropping beauty in every direction. What a world we live in.
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