CHRISTMAS ISLAND 1

 It may seem somewhat unusual for someone like me to head off to an environment that is designed for people who love hiking, love nature, love diving. But I do like gentle walks and manageable nature and snorkelling so the idea of a week on Christmas Island and another on Cocos-Keeling Island for a summer break and a reward for Sebastian completely his PhD seemed like a good one. And of course, Sebastian does like hiking and nature.

The Settlement

So far, a couple of days into our trip, nature has dominated from the red crabs that scuttle across the road to the monstrous Robber crabs that clamber up trees; from the brilliant green Giant Asian mantis (seen) to the equally large blind cave scorpions (not seen yet thank goodness); from the soaring frigate birds that harass other seabirds to give up their dinner to the under-threat flying fox gliding past. It’s all fascinating to watch. 

Robber crab

Giant Asian Mantis

Erica, the 36 year old frigate bird, and friend

Flying frigate bird

And then there are the reef sharks and the giant trevally and the parrot fish and sergeant -major fish plus many others that we saw on our snorkelling trip along the north coast this morning.

In between nature, there are the people. The Muslim Malay women in their black scarves. The fly in fly out folk working for the phosphate mine or the Australian government. The Chinese with their temples at every corner preparing for New Year. The people who came for a visit and then stayed for 10 or 20 years. And then there are the people who aren’t here. The owners of the tavern across the road who have given up. The person who owns the only bakery in town so there’s not bread in the supermarket. The empty detention centre that used to house 5,000 people (compared to a local population of 1,700. Again, all fascinating.