White Turn

These Turns are beautiful. I would have liked to get closer to take a better photo.

Grey Egret

Possibly a reef egret, but I'm not 100% sure.

Ready, set, go!

Hermit crabs everywhere on the beaches, with quite a few large ones like this one as well. Although I was upset to discover that the Cocos Malay use them as bait.

Rufous Night Heron

This Night Heron flew down to drink out of a lilly pond in a front yard (West Island - Cocos).

Feast

Sea Urchins wash up on the Cocos beaches. Hermit crabs go mad over them. It's the one time when they will ignore you instead of withdrawing into their shells.

I have lots more photos and stories about Cocos to post. So stay tuned - more on the way :-)

Purple Crab

These Purple crabs are really hard to find on Christmas Island, so I was thrilled to discover so many on Cocos. This one tried to hide under my bike when I got off to photograph it. West Island is too long to get everywhere by walking so we used bikes, the local bus and a borrowed car to get around.

Ghost Crabs

These Ghost crabs were on all the beaches - mostly smaller than this one. They run very fast and light, so it looks like they are being blown acrss the sand.

Nautilus

I found this damaged nautilus on the coast of one of the Islands we visited while canoeing.

Quad Bike

Almost everyone on Home Island gets around on these Quad bikes. They use them more than they should though because everything is in walking distance.

Fishing boat

A little fishing boat mored off Home Island. The water along this coast was calm like this the whole time we were on Cocos.

Home Island Jetty

There is a lot of boating history within the Cocos Malay community. Home Island is the Island where the Malay live.

DI Jetty

This is the jetty at Direction Island. During school holidays the ferry stops there on Thursday's and Saturdays. It drops you off in the morning and picks you up later in the afternoon. Bad luck if you miss the ferry!

Shark Feeding

I wasn't going to jump into the water while these sharks were being fed chunks of fish. I wasn't taking the chance of them mistaking any part of me for a bit of fish.

Glass Bottom Boat

I spent a day on a Glass Bottom Boat tour. It was a shame that Simon had work appointments so he didn't come with me. It was a great experience.

Swimming with turtles

I was thrilled when I swam into view of this turtle. It took off quick when it saw me.

Swimming with sharks

I never thought I would do this and enjoy it - I swam with this Black Tipped Shark just off Prison Island. Yes it was voluntary - they didn't "lock me up" or "throw me to the sharks" :-)

Feral Chook

Feral chooks were running around on all the Islands. They are good for keeping the centapede population down.

Motorised canoes

Simon and I spent one morning canoeing around the South Islands with a guide and a small group of tourists. We were provided a champaign breakfast at this stop. You wouldn't believe that there was 13cm of rain the night before. The weather cleared up and just left some beautiful moody clouds in the sky.

Cocktail Swing

New friends had a camp site set up on Direction Island next to this swing. Like the hammock it's a permanent fixture.

Cocos Office Chair

Simon had another business trip to Cocos (Keeling). I got to go with him this time so now I know what his Cocos office chair really looks like :-)

Sleepy Head

An exhausted Anthea after a week of adventuring on Christmas Island.

Snorkelling

Anthea has decided that snorkelling is awsome. She thinks the coral looks like castles.

Tiny Crab

I photographed this piece of copper wire before exploring closer to see if it was a living creature. When I looked at the photo on my computer I realised there was a tiny crab hiding in a hole next to it.

Red Eyed Shore Crab

Anthea got to explore the rock pools with me. Unfortunately the tides weren't very low this week. But we did find this cool little crab.

Poo Pile

Anthea next to the big Poo Pile in Daniel Roux Cave. She says that if she looks less than enthusiastic about the experience, it's because it was very sweaty work getting there. In reality, she had a great time.

Hiding

This Little Nipper thought my shoes were a great hiding spot when Anthea got too close :-)

Top of Waterfall

The weather was finally dry enough to climb up to the top of the waterfall. Normally the ground is too slippery.

Waterfall

Anthea standing in front of Hughes Dale Waterfall.

Close Encounters

Anthea was very proud of herself for getting this close to a Giant Wood Spider :-)

Anthea at Blow Holes

Anthea came to stay with us this week. It was an early 21st Birthday present. Here she is at the blowholes - they put on a good show for her.

Refugee Boat

Most of the refugees that come to Christmas Island are intercepted out at sea and brought in by the Navy. Occassionally they make it all the way in to Flying Fish Cove by themselves. This one arrived last Sunday morning.