20. C.I. Day 1 - Crabs & Boobies

     

       Despite saying yesterday that it is a relief not to have an agenda, our complete lack of planning brought me a fair amount anxiety. While one part of my brain needs a day off, the other part is telling me, "You've spent time, money, and effort to get here, so make an effort to see as much you can while you are here." To that end, we did a little of both: half our time resting and relaxing and half our time out touring the island we me white knucking the steering wheel of the truck.

     Our first stop was the Visitor's Center, where we successfully signed up for two tours on Monday, rented snorkel gear for tomorrow, and went to the grocery store for snacks. We bought peanut butter and jelly, but all their bread, frozen or otherwise, was completely sold out. Bread was also sold out at the CI Bakery across the street. In the evening we went to the Metro Grocery Store, and they were also sold out of any thing resembling bread but for tortillas and sandwich wraps. What is going on with the bread here?

What do you mean there is no bread?

Purple checkmarks were on our morning self-tour.

Leftovers on the balcony

      Back our room, we ate leftovers for breakfast, cleaned up, and rolled out the door for a drive on the east side of the Island around 10:30 am. Our goal was to see two relatively close beaches that didn't require a strenuous walk to get there. As we turned onto the smaller road leading to the beaches, we noticed the birds in the trees and stopped for a look. It was an experience to be remembered - the silence of the forest but for sounds of the birds flapping their wings as the settled in for a nap or their braying / honking far above in the tree tops.  We were wandered up and down the road three times on our way to the beach to stop and marvel at the birds.

The road to Ethel and Lily Beaches

Heading to Lily Beach...sidetracked by booby-spotting

Red-footed booby

Booby in flight with nesting material

Can you spot the boobies?

Not a booby - a Christmas Island frigate bird

        We were pleasantly surprised by the boardwalk path down to Ethel Beach, where we came upon a shoreline full of pieces of coral, stone, and the occasional hermit crab. Lily Beach was nice as well, but it was starting to rain and there were already three other people there, so we decided turn around and go to a few other places on our list. I was feeling much more confident driving, and fortunately there were less than half a dozen cars out on the road that afternoon. 

Trail to Ethel Beach

Can you spot the hermit crab?

Ethel Beach coral

Lily Beach with two girls swimming

Presumptive Abbott's boobies spotted from Lily Beach

      On our way back to the main road, we finally spotted our first Christmas Island red crabs. Since it's not migration time yet, I was a little worried we might not see them. Oh how silly of me!  Once you realize that their habitat is sandy forest floors where they can dig their burrows and there is plenty of leaf litter to snack on, you see them everywhere. We were originally disappointed with the rain, but red crabs are very sensitive to moisture and the rain brought them out of their dens to the road and road side. During the dry season, we learned that they rarely leave their burrows. When the rains come in November, the magic on Christmas Island begins with a mass migration. Red crabs all over the island leave their homes at the same time and start marching towards the ocean to mate and spawn. According to the Australian Park Service website, David Attenborough has called this one of the most amazing natural events on the planet.  Christmas Island is very protective of these crabs, and have built tunnels under roads, one bridge over a road, and set up permanent and temporary plastic barriers to funnel the crabs to these places so that they can safely cross the road.  Preparations by Park Service personenel begin weeks in advance to protect the crabs in the most travelled areas. Rakes are also an important tool for drivers during this time so that they can get out of the car and rake crabs out of the roadway so they can pass.

Photo of migration time from internet

Close-up in portrait mode

Under-road grid for crab crossing

After we had enough of looking a crabs, we retraced our route back to the Settlement, but this time stopping to look at things we had passed on the way out. This included caves in the road side, a Taoist temple overlooking the ocean, a Chinese cemetary and it's flock of roving chickens, and the Christmas Island Golf Club.

Rock face on Golf Club Road

Ma Chor Nui Nui Temple

Wild chickens, obviously conditioned to run to cars

Headstones at the Chinese cemetery

            In the late afternoon it was still overcast and the rain alternated between a mist and a drizzle. We wanted to see more, so we stayed in the car but went over to the northwest corner of the island to drive by some historic sites. We happened to pass a very cooperative brown booby along the way. By 6 pm, we were done with touring. We made a grocery run during the two hours the store was open in the evening (still no bread), ate the food we provisioned from the grocery stores, and watched documentary videos about Christmas Island. We really packed a lot during this rainy day that we had no plan for!