Christmas Island
11 Aug 2013 | Christmas Island, Australia
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Back at sea. There is absolutely nothing between us and Christmas Islands 1000 miles away; the depth of the sea averages between three and six thousands meters, you'd better not loose your watch; the weather proves a bit better with a little of wind so we can finally carry on.
Now that everyone feels more comfortable on the boat, we learn a bit more about sailing and doing general maintenance. Even if we're far from any navigation route (sailors tend to follow the coasts, not just cross in the middle as we do) we make a few encounters at sea.
Land! Finally, after more than two weeks at sea we can see it. We anchor in Flying Fish Cove, which will be our garden for the next two days. First question we ask the customs after clearance: where is the pub?
Christmas Island is a little island, home of 1400 inhabitants, owned by Australia but the population is mixed between Australians, Chinese and Indonesians. Nothing much on the island, 80 percent of it is covered by a tropical forest, a phosphate mine giving most of the employment, with customs and military as the island is the main landing point of refugees coming from Indonesia or Sri Lanka. Peak season for tourism is between November and February, when the world-famous red crabs migration takes place. Perfect place for a quiet rest!