Christmas Island 10/3/08

Christmas Island 10/3/2008Christmas Island 10/3/2008
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Christmas Island was initially a destination port. We received an email in September that cancelled the stop. Our ship captain, Todd McBain, told us that the area around the island had not been prepared for our arrival. In previous years the ship has stopped there. However without the dredging required our ship could not put the ship tenders into the water. In a previous year two ship tenders ran aground on the sand bars that build up close to the island. Instead we did a cruise up and down the shoreline of Christmas Island. They like to call it an Eden. There are currently 5,000 people living on the island. There is very little infrastructure. The beaches are white with sand and the waters are clear and full of fish. Travelers come from all over the world to bird watch. A French priest is credited with planting the large number of palms. Christmas Island is part of the nation of Tuvalu- a collection of islands spread across two million square miles of Pacific Ocean..

Wayne took some beautiful pictures as we sailed up and down the coast. We did not circumnavigate the island because the opposite side of the island is Bay of Wrecks. It is not navigable.

We had an interesting discussion at dinner. We met a couple from Canada that took an ice breaker around Greenland. They found it very interesting with discussions with scientists. .They also traveled to India and met with a tribe. They were told that they were the second nonnatives that had seen the tribe. .They also traveled to any area between China and Pakistan. Rushgar(sp). They visited a secluded tribe there also.

We are having lectures on Tahiti preparing us for our arrival in Bora Bora.