Lachie, Griffin and a couple of friends pulled up outside my accommodation at 0830 and I squeezed into the final spot in the back seat, Lachie handing me a beer before I had even closed the door. We drove a short way along the road until we came to the Grotto. This is a small cave, hidden away in the forest, which connects underground to the sea. The Grotto is therefore full of water, and a picturesque swimming spot. As we hiked down the short track to the entrance I started to get an understanding of just how many crabs I would be seeing on this island; they were absolutely everywhere.

Christmas Island is renowned for its land crabs. The two main types are the Red Crab, and the Coconut Crab. The former is famous for its annual migration, when an estimated 100 million red crabs leave their burrows in the forests and march en masse to the sea to mate and spawn. The latter, also known as the Robber Crab for its propensity for stealing things, is most famous for its enormous size – up to 1m from the tip of one leg to another. I would be running into plenty of both over the next couple of days.

After a short swim we returned to the truck and set out for our next tourist spot, Dolly Beach. As we drove Lachie had to swing back and forth across the track to avoid running over the myriad red crabs that were wandering around. We pulled into the small parking area and set out on the two kilometer walk to the beach, much of which was on a raised boardwalk to keep visitors above the sharp coral, and flood of crabs. Griffin’s flip-flop chose this moment to break, making his walk rather more challenging, but we made good time anyway. Along the way we passed multiple cat traps; there is an intense effort by the government to eliminate the invasive cat population and protect native wildlife. In fact one of the friends we were exploring with was employed to track and shoot said cats!

Dolly Beach is reached by a set of steep steps at the end of the two kilometer track. The beach is absolutely stunning. It is the stereotypical tropical beach, with palm trees leaning out over white sand, and mounds of dropped coconuts piled up along the edge of the forest. The only thing marring this idyllic landscape was extensive waste, washed up from the sea; mostly plastic. Lachie explained that the particular currents in the area, and proximity to Indonesia as a huge source of pollution, meant that unusually large amounts of waste find their way to the island.

The sea state was much too rough for swimming, so we hung out on the beach for a while – I took the opportunity to lie in the shade and read my book for a while, while Lachie built a little driftwood shelter. After a while we started to get hungry so we made our way back to the truck, and drove back to town for brunch at Smash. I was finding that my usual source of information, Google Maps, was incredibly unreliable here; the stated opening hours of eateries were completely wrong for 90% of places, so local knowledge was really the only way to know where to get a bite to eat.

Lachie and the gang dropped me off at my accommodation and I set out for the afternoon in my rental car to see some more of the island. I donned flip flops, as I had realised that I’d left my shoes in the bed of Lachie’s truck, and drove first to Flying Fish Cove. Torrential rain set in, making for some atmospheric views of the supply ship which had recently arrived and was now busy offloading. The ship’s crane would lower containers onto a small pontoon boat which would ferry them, one at a time, to shore where a fixed crane lifted them off and placed them in the yard.

From here I headed south along the east coast of the island. My next stop was the Ma Chor Nui Nui temple. This temple was built by early Chinese workers on the island, honouring the god of the sea. Originally constructed at Waterfall Bay, the temple was moved in the 1990s to make way for a large resort (with 156 rooms and suites) and casino. The temple committee apparently consulted Ma Chor Nui Nui, who did not consent to the move, but it was forced to go ahead anyway. Ma Chor Nui Nui is said to have fated any structure built on the original temple site to fail, and ultimately fall into the sea; the resort and casino was apparently affected by this, as apart from their first year (1994) they operated at a loss every year, and shut down in 1998. The resort now sits abandoned.

I continued south from the vengeful temple, and next pulled in to the Margaret Knoll lookout. I passed multiple unique road signs, mostly related to the crabs, but one claiming that road trains were running. I was used to seeing these behemoths in the Australian Outback and could not imagine them operating on this little island, but as it turned out, I was wrong – I passed several over the next couple of days, hauling material from the island’s phosphate mining industry.

Margaret Knoll is one of many spots around the island with female names, named after wives or daughters of various men in positions of authority in the early days of the island’s settlement. It offers commanding views over the east coast, including a huge scar in the land from the early days of phosphate mining which is now gradually re-vegetating. Phosphate was first discovered in large quantities on the island around 1887, with the British doing what they did best and annexing the island the following year. Phosphate mining began in large scale in the year 1899.

The mining fields visible from Margaret Knoll were mined by the British Phosphate Commission in the 1960s and 1970s. Scrapers were used to remove vegetation and low-grade top soil before clam shell bucket excavators moved in to mine out the phosphate. Over 2 million tonnes of high grade phosphate were mined from these fields.

I carried on driving south to the southernmost tip of the island, which used to be home to South Point Settlement. Along the way I passed a small communications station, with satellite dishes set up on top of containers. Although seemingly active, it was impossible to tell what it was for. Continuing, I came next to the Tze Yun Taoist temple. Tze Yun is known as the “Cloud of Loving Kindness”. Small temples like this are scattered in a variety of places around the island.

All that is left of the old South Point Settlement are a railway station with a few rails, a water tank, and a few ruins. South Point was the island’s most significant settlement for many years, and from 1914 it was the main source of phosphate for several decades. Children would take the train to school in the north each day, the 18km (11 mile) journey taking over an hour in each direction.

As the ore deposits approached exhaustion, new structures were built in the north at the Upper Poon Saan residential areas to host relocated residents. When relocation was completed, the South Point residential area was almost totally cleared so that the ground beneath could be mined, and demolition of South Point was completed in the 1970s.

It didn’t take long to wander around and see the sites of South Point. I carried on to the final temple to see in the area, Soon Tian Kong. This translates to “Temple of Submission to Heaven” and features a multitude of different gods and deities throughout. The highest altar is dedicated to Emperor Gan Tian, an ancestral god to the Chinese of the south. Like the other temples around the island, this was very clean and well kept and it was apparent that someone must come to look after it on a daily basis despite its remote location. Low boards were in place over the doorway of most temples, presumably to keep the crabs out!

When I came to leave the temple, I ran into a problem. The car was completely dead, and when I turned the key in the ignition, not even the dash panel lights came on. This was concerning; there is no mobile phone service on the island once you leave the area of the town and airport, and I had not brought the InReach satellite communicator with me. I rummaged around under the hood for a while and eventually found a loose battery cable. It was clear that maintenance on the vehicles was not great, but I was able to jam it on well enough to get the car started and drive back to the airport. Here I called Lachie and Griffin, and they met me there with tools to try and carry out a proper fix. The rusted nature of the battery terminal made this impossible so I just kept it jammed in place, figuring that if it died again at least I’d know what to do – and I’d also be making sure that I was carrying the InReach the next day!

Dinner that evening was back at Rumah Tinggi again, although with significantly less alcohol! We shared a table with the guy who manages the handling agent at the Christmas Island airport. He was a very friendly man, and apparently extremely kind and generous with the local community. It was interesting to talk to someone who is generally on the opposite side of a fairly adversarial relationship with the light end General Aviation; we typically have no need of handling agents but are often forced into paying them high fees for basically no service.

Christmas Island, thankfully, allowed pilots to self-handle, and this is what we had done; it had been incredibly simple, requiring only a couple of emails and a form filled in. Despite this, the handling manager could not seem to understand why we hadn’t wanted to pay him several hundred dollars to do this for us. He was adamant that we’d be receiving a bill from the airport for $300 landing fees, despite the airport manager having written to me and confirmed no fees were payable. As of two months later, this had not happened…

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On my second, and last, day on the island I set out for another day of solo exploration. I headed first towards the main settlement, stopping to take some photographs of the interesting murals that adorned some of the town’s buildings, as well as visiting the supermarket to buy some drinks for the day, and some snacks for the next flight.

I headed up the hill and stopped at the Zhen Jian Tong Xiu Hui Temple complex. This Buddhist complex features a great variety of statues and altars, two of the most prominent being large crabs, one each of the Red and Robber varieties. These statues are said to be a reminder to people to protect the crabs, and to help their spirits advance to the next plane; Buddhism teaches that all beings, crabs included, can reach enlightenment.

I carried on up the hill through Poon Saan, to Drumsite. The Drumsite settlement was for many years a key element of the island’s industry, being the top terminus of the incline railway which ran down to Flying Fish Cove and transported the majority of people, supplies, and ore which had to travel between the two locations. The Territory Day Park is located here, and I stopped off briefly to visit some crabs and enjoy impressive views over Flying Fish Cove.

From here I headed to the airport and met up with Lachie and Griffin. We collected the flexible fuel containers from Planey and drove in convoy down to the island’s only petrol station, where we filled them up with a total of 20 gallons of ethanol-free petrol. Although we had enough fuel on board for the next leg to Port Hedland, it is always more comfortable to have a bigger reserve than the minimum.

Lachie and Griffin took the fuel with them in the back of the pick-up, to bring back to the airport the next morning. I went off in the other direction, south across the island, to one of the most impressive locations on the island – The Blowholes. The jagged rock shoreline here is riddled with small caves and holes, and as the swell and surf of the Indian Ocean pound against the coast, water is forced up and out of the channels through the rock in a dramatic spray. I was lucky with my timing; the tide was near high, and there was a good swell running, resulting in some incredible views.

The video gives a much better impression than the photographs.

I spent a while at The Blowholes, the only person there. There were a few places to sit, and even a shaded lounger type of seat to lay back on and relax, enjoying the sounds and sights of the sea. Eventually I decided that I should probably continue – there was still a lot to see.

My next destination was the Dales, a handful of small picturesque valleys which run through the forest to the sea on the western side of the island. A trail has been marked through the trees, so I set out to explore it, making sure to take the InReach with me just in case. The heat and humidity were high, and I was making my way quite quickly through my water supply. The walk was pleasant, but nothing special, although it was impressive to see the aftermath of a huge tree which had fallen through, and blocked, the boardwalk up to Hugh’s Dale Waterfall.

On the way back I bumped into a couple of Christmas Island National Parks staff who were busy maintaining a flow measuring station on one of the streams that flow down the Dales. News travels fast on a small island and they already knew who I was – “Oh, you must be the pilot of that little airplane”. We chatted for a while and they told me a bit about their efforts to monitor the water quality and flows; part of the reason behind it was to keep an eye out for any negative effects from the phosphate mining. I said my goodbyes and headed back to the air conditioned comfort of the car.

Not far from the Dales were the lookout at Martin Point, and the beautiful Merrial Beach. The beach in particular is incredibly picturesque; reached by a short trek and scramble down some rocks, the tiny stretch of white sand sits between rocky outcrops. The surf was too high for safe swimming, but a young family were enjoying the sun and sand regardless.

As I started my drive back towards the east of the island I stopped off for a quick look at the Christmas Island Detention Center. This was constructed in the early 2000s to deal with the large number of illegal immigrants who were crossing to the island from Indonesia, taking advantage of the proximity of Australian soil. The facility opened in 2008 but only operated until 2023, being beset by political pressures and violence from those accommodated there. At its peak almost 3,000 people were accommodated there, after a surge of boat arrivals. By the end of 2023, the center was empty, although there are still plenty of staff there; as I approached, a guard walked suspiciously towards me, so I carried on my way.

I stopped next at the Pink House research station. National Parks staff here are working to try and save two endemic lizard species from extinction. Tours are available but only on certain days, and today was not one of them, so I continued to Grants Well.

In 1912 water was discovered in the form of an underground stream, 26 meters below the surface at what would become Grants Well. This became a main source of water for the railway’s steam trains, as well as South Point settlement, supplying water until other sources took over in the 1970s. By 1984 the caretaker’s residence at Grants Well was empty and abandoned, until Kerry Walker and Cheryl Wright were looking for a place to stay at the expiration of their teaching contracts. They were among the first people to stay on the island without ties to an employer and lived there until 2012.

Grants Well is also home to the Guan Di Taoist temple. Guan Di is a “soldier sage” and the temple originally served railway workers, and the workers at Grants Well, being built in the 1920s. In the mid 1980s a ceremony was held to ask Guan Di if he’d like to move to the newly refurbished temple at South Point Settlement, but he apparently was happy where he was.

I was making good time, and there were still plenty of interesting places to see. The next was Greta Beach, not far from Dolly Beach which we had visited the day before. I drove down the track in a rainstorm, which thankfully tailed off as I approached the parking area. The walk to Greta was much shorter than that to Dolly, but ended up with an even taller and steeper set of stairs down to the beach.

Making my way back to the main settlement I filled up the car at the petrol station before closing time. We’d be leaving before it opened the next morning. I also took the chance to visit the visitor center; although it was a bit late to get any tourist advice I could at least pick up a few souvenirs. From here I drove through Flying Fish Cove to visit the old Governor’s residence, and take a few more photos as the cove was now occupied by three large vessels.

Mounted overlooking Flying Fish Cove is a memorial to the Indonesian fishing vessel the SIEV 221, which in 2010 had been stripped and outfitted to transport illegal immigrants from Indonesia to Christmas Island. In terrible weather conditions, the vessel approached the island while experiencing engine trouble. The boat was dashed against the rocks and despite selfless efforts by Christmas Island residents to help, only 42 people survived, including all the crew. These crew were later convicted of people smuggling offenses.

In what can only be described as an act of extreme cheek, a group of survivors tried to sue the Australian government for not doing enough to rescue them; this was dismissed when the court pointed out that the government had no control over the weather, or over the incredibly stupid decision to try and approach the island in those conditions.

As I drove back towards my accommodation I spotted a sign to the Old European Cemetery, and a memorial to the HMAS Sydney II. I was curious so I drove up and parked, to have a look around. The cemetery is small, and a large number of the headstones detail the links of those interred there to the sea, many having held positions on ships. Although I searched for a while I could not find the memorial plaque for the cruiser HMAS Sydney II; this vessel was lost in 1941 in battle with the German cruiser Kormoran. Both vessels were sunk, with all 645 sailors from the Sydney being lost. One crew member, Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark, made it to a life raft but perished before he was discovered near Christmas Island. He was buried for many decades in the Old European Cemetery before his remains were relocated to Geraldton in 2008.

Not far from here was the Christmas Island Catholic church, and I couldn’t resist a quick stop to take a look at the shrines and enjoy some of the views from their beautiful hillside location.

My final visit for the day were the Chinese and Muslim cemeteries close to my accommodation. As I parked up, scores of chickens ran over to me, looking quite threatening. I could only assume that people came here to feed them, and they may have thought I had food for them! They soon wandered off and left me in peace to wander around and admire some of the beautiful memorials.

That evening I drove up to Tracks Tavern, named after the old railway which it sits alongside. Dinner was fish and chips; no other options were available, but that was not a problem, as the food was excellent!

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