Fanning Island has proved to be a pretty neat place here in the middle of the Pacific. After some good sleep (my last blog entry may have been a little incoherent since I hadn't slept at all in 36 hours) we went on a shore expedition to the outside of the island and Dan and I surfed some beautiful waves. It felt great to be in the water getting some exercise and was super fun to have a surf break all to ourselves.
The locals are a little shy, but always have a big smile for us. They do speak English, since the country is in association with Australia, but their first language is Kiribati. On arrival back to our dinghy at the dock yesterday we found a bunch of naked children using our boat as a dive platform and having a grand old time screaming and jumping into the water. The Kiribati culture seems to be pretty relaxed and the place has a nice feeling about it.
Liz and Dan and I went for a short walk on the island today and found ourselves under a huge variety of trees that we couldn't identify, but so much more than just the coconut palms of most of the South Pacific. They may have come from Australia. A small trading ship departed yesterday for Christmas Island after loading (by dinghy trips out to anchor) thousands of pounds of copra (dried coconut meat to be pressed into oil) for export, which is a mainstay of the local economy. Apparently there is
also a huge cruise ship that comes to the island every few months, delivering 2,500 people at a time to shore (local population is 2,500). Since it costs $40/person to come here as a tourist the cruise ship must provide the bulk of the island's income.
MJ and Colin went on a fishing trip in the dinghy this afternoon, but didn't stray too far from the boat as the wind has been blowing really hard all day and the current is quite strong in this lagoon. The Scrabble board was out for a few rounds, as was chess. Colin is cooking us up some tuna right now, and all is well here with the boat nice and flat at anchor.
Our plan is to do some more exploring tomorrow and take off on Saturday to head north.
Driving the customs and immigration officer back to the island after they cleared us into the country.
Our "driveway."
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