Merry Christmas

Simon and I commissioned Emma from Cocos (Keeling) Islands to make us a fish using washed-up thongs. She did a Maori Wrasse and it is gorgeous! It is our Christmas present to ourselves.

P&O Cruise Ship

The Pacific Sun is the first cruise ship to stop at Christmas Island.

Off the coast

A pot of gold!

When the rain started bucketing down early in the morning there were a few worried people. But as the first cruise ship to visit Christmas Island came into view, the cove filled with rainbows. You know what they say you find at the end of a rainbow? Well, these passengers were my nice little pot of gold for my business. I did very well.

Megalops

Some of the newly hatched eggs.

Stragglers

There were a few red crabs still spawning this morning, but not many in comparison to yesterday.

Flash enhanced

The flash brought out some amazing colour. The sunrise didn't look this pretty to the naked eye.

Misty Look

A long exposure and no flash created the misty look in this photo. I need to play more with this effect because I was facing the rising sun, so got some overexposure in the sky. I switched to using flash for my other shots to avoid this.

Another Sunrise

This was taken at the boat ramp near Ethel Beach.

Silhouette

Simon was watching bait fish feeding on all the spawn.

Simon greeting the sun

Simon's silhouette adds to the beauty of this sunrise.

Spawning finished

Simon and I went down again this morning so I could get some more sunrise photos. Simon took this beautiful photo.

Jonathan with crabs

This is Jonathan doing his best David Attenborough impersonation :-) He was on the Island with us a couple weeks ago finishing off the Entrepreneurial Leadership program.

Sunrise

Sunrise on Ethel Beach is always beautiful - but extra special with all the female red crabs.

Black water

The tide was low and there weren't many waves washing onto the beach. So the water was black with megalops - newly hatched red crabs.

Allison amongst the crabs

Simon surrounded by females

The red crabs started spawning a couple nights ago, so we got up early this morning (3:45) to go down and watch.

Fine Sailing

Members of VMR who were skilled enough got to sail the dinghies.

Sailing Dinghy

A few weeks ago the Volunteer Marine Rescue launched their new sailing dinghies. A very generous donation from Christmas Island Phosphates covered a substantial amount of the cost in purchasing them.

Eating a leaf

Blue Crab

Now that I have a speedlight, it's easier to get good photos of blue crabs in the darkness of the jungle.

dead dinghy

Crowded house

Red crabs cram into any crevice to avoid the warmth of the sun as the day heats up.

Beach patrol

The boys are on the beaches, waiting for the babes to show up :-)

Tour Guide

Me in my new job as a Tour Guide :-)

Mutant

This is almost an "albino" version of a red crab. I've never seen one this orange before. It was even trying to travel in the opposite direction to all the other crabs.

Shadow Play

When the sun comes out from behind the clouds, the crabs "audibly" pick up pace. You can hear their scrabbling against the plastic intensify - like hundreds of finger nails scratching to get out.

Let the migration begin!

The march of the crabs has started. It might be a bit haphazard as the rain stops and starts, but they are definitely on the move.

This photo shows a plastic guard along the side of the road designed to channel crabs towards a crab grid. The crab grid looks just like a cattle grid and is designed to allow the crabs to cross safely under traffic. Some roads simply get closed to avoid the carnage.

weed

A pretty weed.

hybiscus

This apricot coloured hybiscus grows in our front garden.

frangipanis

My new macro lens arrived this week, and I LOVE it!!! I had fun photographing anything interesting. These gorgeous frangipanis are poking into our back yard from the neighbour's garden.

Historical Train

I'm guessing this was one of the last trains to run (1985 I think) before the line was closed. The Union of Christmas Island Workers (UCIW) fought hard to stop the railway being closed, but they lost. At the time, the mine was under the control of the Australian government (Australian Phosphate Corporation). The APC was arguing that phosphate reserves were running out and were making local workers redundant. But then they were bringing in contract workers from the mainland with similar training to do similar work, so there was a lot of conflict.

Historical Tractor

Also on the side of Murray Rd Drumsite.

Historical Boat

Along the side of the road in Drumsite are these old pieces of equipment. I don't know much about there history as there is no plaque to explain.

Birds Eye Chillies

These chillies grow wild and are only 1-2cm long (hence the name). I'm not game to try them though. The Chinese swear they have the best flavour, but apparently they are extremely hot. You only need 2 or 3 in a pot. In comparison, when they use long red chillies, 20 or more is the go.

Japanese Cherries

It took me about half an hour to pick this handfull of cherries. The endemic Christmas Island Pigeon is a fruit eater and don't miss many. I was disappointed though - this time of year they aren't very sweet. I first tasted them on Cocos (Keeling) Islands and they were delicious. There isn't a very large bird population on Cocos because the Malay hunt them for their cooking pots. So you can always find cherries there.

Paddle, paddle, paddle!!!

Traditional Raft

Even the traditional rafts looked great.

Golden Bosun Raft

This raft was getting hit by flour bombs as it came near the shore. Anything goes in this race!

Red Baron Raft

This raft was still being launched when the race started. Mat decided that half his costume was getting in the way. That's his boot flying through the air in my direction.

Bath Raft

This raft used to be a fridge. We all thought Meryl might have gone faster if she had taken the motor out first though.

Car Raft

Territory Week is an annual celebration of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands becoming part of Australia.

Cove Day is held on the public holiday. The raft race has been a favourite event for many years. Local entries are amazingly innovative.

Ross Hannaford

Ross Hannaford - the iconic guitarist from "Daddy Cool" came to the Island with his current band "Reggae Rock". I didn't recognize much of their music, but it had a good beat that was great to dance to.

Human Tower 2

The whole performance was spectacular. I would have loved to get more photos, but my camera's focusing light was standing out too much so I had to stop.

Juggling

Human Tower

The lad holding all of this up is one of Michael's friends - Nick. He is in yr 9.

Fire Battons

These boys were spinning fire battons.

Fire Ropes

The Flying Fruit Flies are a Circus troupe that comes regularly to Christmas Island. They spend several weeks training school students. Volunteers work to put together costumes. At the end, they put on a spectacular performance.

These girls were twirling ropes with fire on the ends.

SOLD!

This piece sold in the Art Exhibition and gained many complements - so I'm feeling pretty happy :-)

Chennel & Denim

In the same sewing class I learned how to make Chennel material. I made a cover for my diary using the material I created. I made this little purse with the left over piece.

I cut up a pair of Michael's old jeans to make a cover for my little pocket note book. The pocket on the front was the jean's coin pocket. The edges took forever to fray.

Both of these went in the Art exhibition, but weren't for sale. You guessed it - too many hours work and too emotionally attached.