Day 66 16th March 2011

The ship arrived at Christmas Island about 8am this morning and anchored a mile or so from the entrance to the lagoon. We all had to go and get tickets for the tenders to be taken ashore and mine is 720 which in the normal process of tendering would mean a wait of probably an hour. Today they are having problems because it is low water and the harbour is shallow so they are only taking 20 people at a time on the boats plus each trip is taking about 30 minutes or even more. From our balcony we hear the sailors’ shouts and several boats have touched the bottom so they are being very cautious. It is now 11am and the operation has been underway for 2 hours and they have taken about 150 people ashore. At this rate I will be on a boat in about 7 hours or so. The hope is that the process speeds up as the tide turns and the water gets deeper. The captain has just made that announcement.

We can see the island and there are long stretches of clear white sandy beaches with lots of palm trees but very few building. We are opposite the settlement which is called London and marks one side of the entrance to the lagoon. The others side is called Paris. London may have a population of a few dozen people from my observations. I can see a church and a long low building with a roof covered in solar cells plus two large aerials. A few cars and trucks can be seen. There are three fishing vessels moored with us at the entrance, a few small powered boats and surprisingly two kayaks. The sea is very blue and you can clearly see the surf hitting the reefs. The entrance is not very wide. The sea changes colour obviously indicating the different deeps of water. The water in the lagoon is very green. It is the image of a stereotype desert island.

Finally at 3.30pm I got on a tender, the last one and managed to spend one hour ashore before returning on the last boat back. While I was away the staff contacted Chris and asked her if I was back so making her worried that I had been left behind. The island is very under-developed but the sand is white and the water is azure. It constantly changes colour as the sunlight hits it. The town of London where we disembarked is a few sheds; on one was the sign, Fair Price to indicate the local store. I only had time to post a postcard, walk along the beach and take a few photographs before the crew were calling us back to the boat. It looked a truly remote spot for those seeking to get away from it all. The local people were friendly but obviously very poor. The post office was a table with a briefcase and a folder of stamps. The post mistress stamped your cards in front of you before placing them in her bag.

Next stop Honolulu and we have been told that we have to see the USA immigration staff at 7.15am once we dock so an early start to the day. We are going on a trip to amongst other places Sunset Beach.