A Dinghy Trip to Home Island

Cocos Keeling Islands

The winds were down and the sun was bright as we dinghied across the lagoon to Home Island. We skirted around bommies in a zigzag pattern and finally connected with the channel into Home's little harbor. The shallow waters prevent supply ships from entering. We'd watched for two days in the outer anchorage while a ship had unloaded supplies with a crane onto a lighter and a barge and then reloaded empty containers.

We passed the ferry dock and jetty and beached the dinghy on the foreshore. We climbed up to the main road, a brick-paved, single lane thoroughfare which was perfect for the quads and motor bikes that everyone seemed to be driving here. As we approached the jetty, we saw the Welcome to Home Island sign and an info kiosk with an island map.

The map and several signposts directed us to the Shire Council's office. We needed to pay our anchoring fees to the shire … $50/week. Like many other small island communities we've visited, the pace was slow and things were laid back. That said, the payment process was computerized and they accepted credit cards. No complaints.

We had passed the island museum on the way in and inquired as to the opening hours.

“I'll give you the key”, said the young Cocos Malay woman. And just like that, we had access to the museum.

Housed in an old white-washed brick copra storage building, the museum was small, one large room, in fact, but it held some interesting items and provided some background information on the Cocos Malay population. I was particularly intrigued with shadow puppetry which is an entertainment art they're working to revive here. The Clunies-Ross family, the owners of the old copra plantation, did everything possible to maintain the isolation of their workers, forbidding fraternization with visitors or even use of communications. Having left their homeland generations before, much of their culture, including their language, has morphed into a unique Cocos Island culture and only recently have they had the opportunity to explore their roots.

We had also asked the shire office for a recommendation for lunch.

“It's Friday … nothing is open today for lunch”, she explained. “On Friday, we only work a half day and everything closes. You might try the supermarket for some fruit.”

Hmm … all restaurants closed on Fridays and evidently throughout the weekend, because why would anyone want to eat out over the weekend? This is island life. We headed to the tiny Shamrok Supermarket. Though there wasn't much in the way of freshies and the frozen food section was pretty empty, I was glad to see that civilization had indeed come to Cocos … there on the shelf were Hello Kitty and Angry Bird animal crackers. We passed on those in favor of a couple of apples for lunch.

We wandered along well-worn paths, past rows of pre-fab houses with antennas stuck on the roofs.

The Clunies-Ross family had built Oceania House during the heyday of the copra industry. The remains of the building still exist although a new Oceania House, which looks to be a luxurious place, is in the process of being built. The walls of the old estate are crumbling and little is left.

The cemetery was at the northern end of the island and we decided to dinghy north along the shore for a visit rather than walking. The graveyard was a beautiful, serene clearing, well-tended and cared for. Cocos Malay grave markers incorporate an Islamic motif on each grave. Many were draped with the traditional scarf worn by the women. Some had umbrellas and some tiny canopies to protect the graves from the sun and elements.

We also found the family burial site of the Clunies-Ross family dating from the mid-19^th century.

The tide was low and we pushed and pulled the dinghy quite a ways offshore before finding enough water to set down the engine. We passed tiny Prison Island, the island to which Alexander Hare and his seraglio of women were relegated, and thought about a stop there, but the entrance was too shallow at the moment and decided to leave it till another day.

A 20-minute ride around those same coral heads and we were back at Cups, hot and dusty from our little excursion ashore. Once again, the turquoise blue water invited us to cool off and relax. A refreshing dip, a sundowner in the cockpit, dinner and a movie. Really … it doesn't get much better. It really doesn't.

Living on Island Time

Direction Island, Cocos Keeling Islands It's not hard to slip right into island life and live on island time for awhile. In fact, we have! Despite chores to be done and initially feeling stressed about getting things done and moving on quickly, we've taken to island time just fine.

We wake and rise early … with the sun … but the rest of the day seems unhurried. We get things done, it just seems to take longer than usual. A typical day for us at the moment? I'll share, but if you hold a 9-5 job or if you're a high energy sort of person, you might not get it.

Morning chores for me consist of laundry which has soaked overnight in a bucket, dishes from last night's dinner and writing for at least an hour or so. David usually downloads emails from SailMail and picks up the weather while I'm finishing up my chores, then we have a cuppa together in the cockpit. We enjoy the mornings … they're relaxed and quiet. No dinghies zipping around the anchorage; no VHF chatter. We sip a cup or sometimes two and chat and plan our day. This morning ritual can last anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours, depending on our plans for the day or if we're having a good conversation and time gets away from us. Actually, time seems less relevant here.

We've been planning an “excursion” every other day. One day to Home Island to explore; one day for working on the whisker pole; one day for snorkeling on the reef; one day to take down the jib and repair it and replace it with the yankee; one day to take the ferry to West Island; one day for cleaning the boat and getting her in shape for another long passage; one day for walking the Direction Island Heritage Trail. An excursion might last anywhere from a couple of hours to a whole day and we plan chores around this accordingly. On non-excursion days, we still dinghy into Direction Island to walk a bit and take a break from our projects. Sometimes we bring in our breakfast and insulated mugs with tea or coffee and just sit and enjoy the day from another vantage point or chat with fellow cruisers. Sometimes we just walk the beach. There are no rules.

Lunch is something light. If David's working on a project, he'll stop every once in a while for a cuppa and perhaps have a sandwich. We eat when we're hungry rather than a designated time. Sometimes dinner's at 9pm; other times it's at 4pm. We've been known to have just a big batch of popcorn for dinner.

We often take afternoon siestas, especially in the heat of the day when working on deck is just too hot and working below doesn't appeal either. These afternoon reprieves are guiltless and refreshing. Taking a cool dip in the lovely Cocos waters has been a wonderful late afternoon ritual that we look forward to. After we dry off, it's time for sundowners … one of David's homemade brews or a glass of wine. We like to watch the sunsets.

Evenings begin when the sun goes down. In the tropics, that's about 6:30pm. David checks e-mails and weather once again, while I make dinner. We take turns choosing a movie from our huge hard drive collection. Perhaps, we prefer to read some evenings or play a card game or do all of the above. Wind power here has been no issue, so we've been free to use our computers and watch movies and listen to music and run the watermaker to our heart's content.

Soon we'll be back on passage. Three hour watches … 24x7, conserving water and power. About 2,000 nm to Rodrigues Island where we can lapse into island time again for a brief time.

Walking the Heritage Trail

Direction Island, Cocos Keeling Islands

From our new neighborhood, access to shore is pretty easy … almost swimmable. After the initial euphoria of having wifi aboard wore off, we decided to check out Direction Island a bit. We'd only seen the general landing area and ferry dock on our quick trip in earlier, we needed a good walk and some exercise after our captivity.

The picnic area was busy with other cruisers. Some doing laundry; some typing away on laptops; others just lounging in hammocks, or swimming or chatting amiably. We noticed lots of boat signs had been tacked up to the beams of the picnic enclosure and to nearby palm trees. This was right up David's alley and he noted his intention to carve a Nine of Cups' boat sign to add to the others.

We noticed an info sign close by that showed a small map of the island with the Heritage Trail highlighted. Though Cocos Keeling had been primarily noted for its copra production, during both World Wars, these islands were strategic targets due to their location and the communication cable which operated here.

The first stop on the walk was a new gazebo which will be dedicated in 2014, celebrating Australia's first naval victory here when the HMAS Sydney outgunned the German raider Emden, the hulk of which still lies in the waters off North Keeling Island. (Not to be confused with the HMAS Sydney II which was sunk by a German raider in WWII and is remembered by the memorial we saw in Geraldton.) The gazebo will be dedicated in November 2014 with many dignitaries in attendance to mark its 100^th anniversary.

A well-groomed path quickly deteriorated into a palm frond /coconut strewn one that led us along the shore to the west end of the island.

Hundreds of hermit crabs scuttled along all around us, retreating into their shells as soon as we got too close. It appears they're quite fond of coconut and when they were feasting, they seemed oblivious to our presence, foregoing caution in favor of getting more coconut than their neighbor.

Along the path, informational signs provided historical insight into the communication station at Cocos, the Battle of Cocos (Emden vs Sydney), copra production and general life at an isolated island group. We enjoyed reading about the Cocos Barrel and tin-can mail, a unique way of receiving supplies and sending outgoing mail.

The path led us along the rugged northern shore, where the waves were high and the surf was up. We curved round to rejoin the main path back to our starting point and followed another to a viewing platform at the southeast end of the crescent-shaped island.

We walked back to the dinghy along the beach. The water felt great on our tired feet. Along the way, we spotted an elusive ghost crab, poking up out of his hole, giving us the once over before diving back for cover.

Hot and sweaty, we launched the dink and headed back to Cups. It took us a nanosecond to change into swim togs and dive into that invitingly cool, aquamarine water. No great whites to worry about … no stinging jellies … no drag-you-away current. Just luscious, refreshing tropical waters washing away all the heat and cares of the day.