Travelogue: Christmas Island
When you think of an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, you might have visions of wide expanses of sandy beaches, swaying palm trees, deckchairs with small tables holding exotic cocktails and all the other stereotypical images you generally see in travel TV shows and magazines.
And you’d be right if you are thinking of Cocos Island. But this holiday, Jacqui and I are on Christmas Island 1000Km to the east, 2600Km north west of Perth and 1500 Km from the Australian coastline.
Originally it was thought Christmas Island was the remains of an extinct volcano, but apparently current thought is that is based on a vast and ancient coral network and covered with guano (bird poo) hence the local industry of phosphate mining.
There are a few sandy beaches, notably at the settlement of Flying Fish Cove (which is half sand and half crushed coral), Lilly Beach and Ethel Beach, but they are quite small in comparison to the travel show shown beaches. A few others around the island are only accessible via 4WD or a 30 minute trek through the jungle.
And I do mean jungle!
Before we came here, we actually had little idea of the topography of the land or the type of climate. Indeed, as a toss up between Cocos and Christmas, we mentally flipped a coin to make the choice, as the Virgin flight from Perth goes via Cocos to get here in a sort of round trip flight path (it also stops at Learmonth / Exmouth for refuelling but no-one is allowed off the plane at that point due to it being an air force base).
Quick Tip: This flight occurs only twice a week on Fridays and Tuesdays. There are no on-board food or beverage purchases so if you enjoy airline food or like a refreshing ale in flight, forget it. And the total flight time is around 8 hours during which you will get 3 snack packs of a sandwich or crackers and cheese and tea and coffee plus soft drinks or juice. So feed up early at the airport as the plane leaves at 8:15am.
What we did know is that there are a lot of nesting seabirds here, you can fish, snorkel and go sightseeing to various landmarks around the island. Christmas Island is also famous for its red crab population that once a year marches en masse into the ocean to spawn. At this time, millions and millions of them almost take over the island, having been hidden away in the leaf litter inside holes in the forests and jungles for the rest of the year.
Camera and Other Gear
The availability of activities dictated my choice of camera gear as you’d expect, but in hindsight, I did make a few errors.
What I did bring was a GoPro Hero 9 Black in a waterproof housing and attached to a yellow floatie handle for Jacqui to snorkel with, and a DJI Action 4 also with a yellow floatie for myself.
I have never had an issue with the DJI cams and their waterproofing and so didn’t bother with a housing for it. I cannot say the same for a GoPro though sadly.
As a main camera, I have my Fujifilm X-S10 and a 27mm lens as well as a 16mm lens.
And this was my main error. I should instead have brought my Canon 5DS with it 70-200mm lens and a 50mm lens. The reason for this is that a lot of the scenery is very detailed but only viewable from a distance. Additionally, the sunsets here are breathtaking and the longer lens would make a massive difference.
Also in the camera case was a DJI Flip drone. I wrote last week about the trials and tribulations of geo unlocking the drone as much of the island is locked due to its size and the proximity of the airport.
To date I haven’t had much drone time as the winds are quite strong at present, but they are expected to die down later in the week. There have also been quite heavy intermittent showers with thunderstorms also forecast which of course prevents flying too.
Another error I made was only bringing my camera case. In hindsight I should have also packed a small backpack for day trips just to carry the bits and pieces needed for the current sojourn rather than the whole camera case.
In the images shown here, the majority of the snorkelling footage was shot using the GoPro 9 and the scenic shots with the Fujifilm X-S10 and 27mm lens.
Bit of Recent History
Traditionally, since it was discovered, Christmas Island has had a phosphate mining industry, and to work the mines, immigrant workers were brought in primarily from China and Malaysia. As a result, the local population is a homogenous mix of these two cultures as well as Westerners.
In the early to mid 80s, a casino resort was established with the idea gambling mad rich folk from SE Asia would appreciate the quick hop by air to get here. Unfortunately this failed with rumours of money laundering swirling around (and no, Trump was not involved).
Christmas Island also gained a bit of infamy as the drama of the Tampa “children overboard” affair occurred off its coastline (the cottage we are staying in is called The Captain’s Last Stand and is on Tampa View Rd).
More recently of course, Christmas Island was host to an immigration detention centre, designed to hold around 700 but locals tell me at one point had over 3000 inmates. The last inmates were the so-called Biloela family who were finally released in 2021.
As you can see from the photos, Border Force still maintains a large presence here. At time of writing, there are two patrol boats permanently anchored – one large mother ship and a smaller faster patrol type boat.
Scenery
The scenery of Christmas Island is spectacular with the Settlement nestled into Flying Fish Cove where the phosphate terminal is also located. Right behind it, the cliffs rise up 360 meters and at this time of year are absolutely covered with lush green vegetation – as is the whole island – which apparently dies off later in the year before the next monsoon season brings it all back to life again.
Also in the cliffs are thousands of nesting seabirds – different varieties of bosun birds, boobies and frigate birds prevail. It’s mesmerizing just sitting on your balcony in late afternoon watching these birds effortlessly riding on the wind in slow circles, calling out to each other.
One thing I should have brought was a windscreen mount for a GoPro by the way, as with the topography of Christmas Island, driving around means that at some of the most spectacular spots, you cannot simply park and take some shots.
Either way, keep your eyes peeled as some stuff just suddenly pops up when you least expect it, so do have a camera ready at all times! Not too mention that you’ll almost certainly spot the famous red crabs on the road at some point and it is very frowned upon the run over them.
If you have an interest in such a thing, there a few of the old Chinese temples scattered around the island, and all have serviceable roads to get to them, but a number are graded not bitumen. There is also a section on the north side with different cultures’ cemeteries.
Ocean
Although I am a licenced SCUBA diver, a back injury quite a while ago precludes me doing that these days which is a shame as I am told the dive sites here are magnificent, and there are a number of charter dive companies here.
Accordingly, although Jacqui did the majority of them, we were limited to snorkelling in Flying Fish Cove, but even 3 metres from shore in warm waist deep water there are brightly coloured parrot fish, zebra fish and other coral species by the dozens in almost crystal clear water,
As well as the phosphate loading facility, Flying Fish Cove has a jetty ordinary folk can get onto, with ramps and steps leading down to a series of platforms at water level. This jetty is also used for commercial purposes, so access is not always guaranteed, but in our time there, we had no issues.
This jetty takes you about 75 meters out into the cove and lets you both fish and snorkel. Jacqui did a couple of snorkels here on sunny days and the water was gin clear and around 5 metres deep with large shoals of tropical fish.
Fishing wise, to date I have had no luck with various lure types, but I am assured that there are trevally among other fish to be had.
There is a single listed boat charter operator here if going out wide and trolling for tuna, mackerel, wahoo etc are your thing – and it certainly is mine. But be aware I was quoted AUD$1000 for three hours which is very expensive. By comparison, in Australia you’ll pay around AUD$800 for a full day under the same circumstances.
Weather
This is the easiest bit; the day temperature is around 29° and the night temperature is 28°. Also with little variance is the humidity level at 84%. And sometimes it rains – a lot. Then its fine. Before it rains again.
So, if you are originally from FNQ, you’ll have no issue, but if you are from the colder southern states, you may need some time to acclimatise.
At this time of the year by the way, the sun rises at around 6am and sets at …. 6pm.
In General
GST and Duty
Christmas Island is a territory of Australia, but there are a few major things to understand. Firstly, there is no GST or Duty here. Consequently, for example, a can of beer at the local tavern will set you back only $5 and you can buy a bottle of Millbush Irish Whisky for $35 (around $75-$80 in Australia).
There are no duty free options to buy electronics and the like though, but the local supermarket does have a range of perfumes. Its range of wines and spirits is very extensive.
Groceries / Food
Second is that all goods have to be either flown in or brought by ship. As mentioned, there are two flights a week and these carry a selection of frozen and perishable goods, but the majority of groceries – dry, refrigerated and perishable – is brought in by seatainer.
While we are here (so far) the regular ship has been late and delayed at least 3 times. As a major weather feature a few months back also stopped any shipping, a lot of goods are in short supply so potentially expect some limitation on what you can buy in any of the three supermarkets.
The major supermarket is in the centre of the settlement, one “up the hill” in Poon Saan and a third in Kampong near the local mosque which specialises in Malaysian goods.
Prices can be high; 500ml fresh milk, if you can find it, cost us $12 for example and a dozen eggs is $18.50. Which is a little odd seeing the island has feral chooks everywhere!
We couldn’t find steak or lamb anywhere, and fresh vegetables of all kinds including potatoes were almost non-existent. But be sure to try all three before giving up.
Talking with locals, many fly their own groceries in as one of the Perth based IGA stores will pack and ship for you, but the freight is around $13 / kilo.
For a holiday trip like ours, in future possibly we would bring with us dry goods like coffee, sugar, cereals, pastas and tinned goods to save and allow variety not available locally. But I’d also check to see if there had been any shipping delays before leaving.
Update: The ship arrived last night and the harbour has been a scurry of cranes and container laden trucks taking the cargo to its destinations. The local supermarket told me they had 10 containers come in and now have lots of cheese and butter. We are going back this afternoon to see what other goodies may have arrived.
Telephone / Internet
The telephone service here is Telstra only. We are on Belong back home and this would not work, so had to get some temporary Telstra SIMS for the duration.
Not all of the island is covered, but certainly there is good coverage in any parts of the settled sections of the island. The internet is 4G and seems to be all satellite based (as is TV by the way).
Getting Around
You need a car while you are. The terrain is so hilly that there is no way you could see the whole island by walking and there is no public transport beyond a single taxi. Luckily, in comparison to many places, hire cars are cheap and we had a near new Toyota RAV 4 for around $35 a day through CI Hire Car.
Bear in mind though that fuel is $3 + a litre and there are only two servos.
One recommended thing is that if you do decide to go off the beaten track, get an ePIRB, and these are available on loan free of charge from the Police Station.
And if something does go wrong medically, there is a well stocked pharmacy and full hospital facilities here.
Eating Out
There are a number of eateries on Christmas Island and although we didn’t try them all, I can recommend Rumah Tinggi which has fantastic views and equally fantastic food in an undercover / outdoor setting on one the cliff tops. For comparison, Jacqui had a feed of grilled wahoo and I had a 300g scotch fillet steak and this was just under $100 including drinks.
The other place we tried was Lucky Ho Chinese, and by Australian standards this is expensive. A Honey Chicken and Mongolian Beef with a special fried rice was $90, but it WAS damn good!
Other meals are available from the local Recreation Centre on the way to the airport and there a number of cafes around town.
One thing to watch for though is that opening times are all over the place, to the point the local Visitor Centre supplies a print out on a weekly basis of who is open and when.
Speaking of which, the Visitor Centre is a goldmine of local information and will happily give you a map of the island showing all the places of interest.
Conclusion
If you want an idyllic tropical island holiday lying on a banana bed, sipping daiquiris and occasionally going for a swim in a blue pool or lagoon, then Christmas Island is not the place for you.
There are no resorts, no nightlife to speak of or super fancy restaurants or bars. Rumah Tinggi probably the best and would I guess rate at between 3.0 and 3.5 on a 5 star scale to give you an idea.
But if you want somewhere that is utterly laid back, has stunning scenery, great places to swim and snorkel, fantastic offshore fishing (albeit expensive but a party of 4 would make it bearable), like hiking through rainforests, seeing lots of wildlife on the ground and in the air, and doesn’t have a totally plastic “tourist” feel to it, come and take a look.
The duty free aspect is a bonus.
