  We consider a model of the Universe in which the matter content is in the
form of discrete islands, rather than a continuous fluid. In the appropriate
limits the resulting large-scale dynamics approach those of a
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe. The optical properties of such a
space-time, however, do not. This illustrates the fact that the optical and
`average' dynamical properties of a relativistic universe are not equivalent,
and do not specify each other uniquely. We find the angular diameter distance,
luminosity distance and redshifts that would be measured by observers in these
space-times, using both analytic approximations and numerical simulations.
While different from their counterparts in FRW, the effects found do not look
like promising candidates to explain the observations usually attributed to the
existence of Dark Energy. This incongruity with standard FRW cosmology is not
due to the existence of any unexpectedly large structures or voids in the
Universe, but only to the fact that the matter content of the Universe is not a
continuous fluid.
