We are in the South Indian Ocean making our way from Indonesia to the remote Australian territories of Christmas and Cocos-Keeling Islands (aka Cocos Is). Indonesia was a quick stopover but we had enough time for the crew to fly to Perth and pick-up a valuable piece of equipment and visit family, while the skipper was able to ride motorcycles all over Bali with his old friend Jeff. Jeff has lived in Bali since 1989 and is fluent in Indonesian and Thai. Jeff and his girlfriend Rani hosted Matt in their beautiful villa for three nights which made the Indonesia stopover one of the most memorable of the journey. Their generous hospitality was truly extraordinary. The skipper survived with no injuries or illness which was no small miracle.

Rather than taking the 3 1/2  hour ferry/taxi from Bali back to our boat in Lombok we were treated to an amazing 35 minute helicopter ride. The helicopter took off from Bali and flew over stunning coastline and the appropriately named Whale Island, before heading east to Lombok.

Whale Island

We landed in a cow pasture in The Gili Islands. The mode of transportation from helipad (cow pasture) to boat was by the local motorcycle gang. The motorcyclists delivered us to a fishing boat owned by one of their brothers and we were loaded in and delivered right to Matilda’s deck.

Gili Islands

Transfer motorcycle crew

Christmas Island was our first stop taking 4 days to sail there from Lombok. It was an uninhabited island discovered on Christmas Day 1643 by the British vessel Royal Mary, part of the East India Company.

The discovery of phosphate on the island  led to its annexation by the British Crown in 1888. Phosphate mining began in 1899 using indentured workers from Asia. During WW II the island was occupied by the Japanese and in 1958 the island was placed under the authority of Australia. Today there are 1700 residents on Christmas Island  in 52 square miles.

View of Flying Fish Cove Anchorage

The people of Christmas Island gave us a very warm welcome and the local tavern did a booming business the night we arrived. Christmas Island is beautiful and is home to some very rare birds and impressive red crabs (aka robber crabs) and blue crabs.

Christmas Island Red Crab

Our afternoon tour around the island was stunning and highlighted by an unexpected rescue of a fledgling boobie bird stranded on the ground. Our stay in Christmas Island was a brief 32 hours which had us departing at night bound for Cocos Islands.

Rescued Boobie

We are underway right now on our 525 mile journey and enjoying some wonderful trade winds. The Cocos Islands are 2 atolls comprising 27 tiny islands. These islands were annexed by the UK in 1857 and transferred from Singapore to Australia in 1955. They cover 5.4 square miles with a population of under 600 people who are mainly Cocos Malays. The beaches in Cocos have been voted the best in the world and we are excited to get back in the water “sans crocodiles and stingers” and do some swimming and reef exploring.

Christmas Island and its proximity to other countries