Although we slept quite well on the first three nights, Monday night we were both awake for a couple of hours from 11:30pm and awake again at 5:30am. We waited for daybreak before going for our usual walk and jog before breakfast. Jen informed us about the bus leaving for The Barge Art Gallery, which is an old restored boat previously used as a ferry for the islands and now a tourist shop. We were cautious about being with the crowds, preferring to keep the social distancing role of 1.5m so entered to take a look around after most people had departed. I bought some locally made post cards before stopping to watch turtles in the sea. Jen and another lady wanted to walk back along the beach while Vi-Lay and I preferred to take the road to seek out the shade. We stopped at the coconut farm to see if we could purchase young green coconuts to drink but were told the island doesn’t sell them. We kept walking back to the settlement and were asked by a lovely young local if we wanted a ride. We declined, preferring to walk but later when we were hot and tired with very little shade we did try hitchhiking. The first two local work vehicles passed us by with a wave, the third was driven by a woman we had seen working in the pub, Saltmakers by the Sea and Salty’s Café. It seems the locals all work together, helping each other out with work commitments. She happily gave us a lift, dropping us off just outside of Salty’s before it closed so I could get a coffee. I was just putting in my order (with the fussy things I wanted) when Tony called out “is that Salty Sally? Come in and make your own how you like it.” What a blessing. It made me appreciate the high standards of the church barista training and the clean and easy use of our machine.
Our next stop was the supermarket for a Magnum! We have been craving an ice cream for days but nothing was open due to the public holiday. Finding a shady spot outside the Visitor’s Centre, we enjoyed our treat before wandering around the Visitor’s Centre, then on to the post office where I bought a local stamp. Back to our room, we had a platter of assortments that needed eating up. Jen arrived to help with the leftovers.
During our wander around the settlement, we heard some disturbing news, the flight from Perth to Christmas had been turned back to Perth as the weather was too hazardous for landing. This meant that those waiting for the flight back to Perth from Cocos had to wait until Friday, our flight! God willing there would be room for everyone.
That same afternoon, there were police cordoning off access to the front and rear of the room next to ours, which was being used by two ladies, one of whom had definitely tested positive, while the other was still testing negative. We were concerned with another lady who was showing signs of ‘a cold’ with coughing, sneezing and runny nose but her RAT came back negative! It was suggested she call the clinic nurse for a PCR which gives a correct reading.
We also decided we would try to keep to ourselves as much as possible and definitely keep the 1.5m social distancing and masks on when around people. This situation plus the fact that a lot of our group activities had either been cancelled or changed caused us to decide to pull out of the buffet group meal. We discussed it with Neesha, who wasn’t happy with our changes because she had to refund the money to us. Originally the meal had been booked for our visit to Home Island, but the venue had changed to the resort restaurant where we are staying, which we felt was not a good standard. It’s been quite stressful for her trying to rearrange activities, so I can understand her disapproval, but we felt happier with limited contact with those who might be infectious. This precaution was proved wise, as the next day another person tested positive to Covid.
Then in the evening, there were quite a few people sitting around the barricade talking to the ladies in the room next to us. There was also a BBQ set up on our outside wall. We turned our lights out after 8pm for an early night, but what with the loud talking and noisy banging coming from the BBQ, it must have been after 10pm before things settled down and the night was quiet.
We woke at our usual time before 5am, waiting for daylight before we went out for our exercise. Some of the group were taking the bus to the ferry early, others like Vi-Lay, Jen and myself were going to catch the 10:30 bus to catch the 11am ferry to Home Island. We were very disappointed at the choice of food on the island, as it was mostly western; we had been hoping for real Malay food! After an early lunch, we wandered around the island looking in the supermarkets and the museum with the history of the Cluny Ross. We weren’t impressed with the beaches close to town so didn’t bother going for a swim, even though we had worn our bathers. We found the old homestead gates to the grounds, surrounded by an old crumbling wall. Walking into the overgrown grounds we met Raff, a Malay Shire Environmentalist, who gave us a ride, pointing out the old school building which had been bought to convert into more accommodation. He also took us to the old mansion, which had been renovated so that it could be made into a 7 bedroom resort. After he dropped us at the avenue of trees leading to the property, we walked towards the jetty where we met Jen, who had dropped Lyn off at the earlier ferry before continuing her exploration of the island.
The ferry brought home many of the Malay workers, taking others back with us to West Island at 3:30pm. On arrival, we caught the local bus, which dropped us in the settlement. That evening we were entertained, along with our neighbours in isolation, by the Hash group who came with their guitarist for a singalong. Praise the Lord it was over by 6:30pm when the group departed for their buffet dinner, which we heard through Jen wasn’t very nice, with very few greens and lots of meat (which she is not into).
Another early night, this time I took something to help me sleep through, as we wanted to wake at 4:30am to be ready for the 5:30am bus to our motorised canoe safari to South Island. The whole group bar those in isolation went in two buses, which had been hired for our time on the island. The first stop was at the home of the organisers, to let them know we were ready, before heading to Canoe Beach. Here we piled out, listened to the instruction on how to operate the motors, etc, then with Jen at the motor steering, Vi-Lay in the middle bailing (an extremely important job to stop us sinking) and me at the bow to point out directions and drop anchor when needed, we set off into the blue yonder. The clouds were dark and ominous. It was not just the dawn breaking, it was dark rain clouds heading in our direction. Being rather choppy, the sea spray from the bow cascaded over those up front. Vi-Lay and I were getting soaked! I had taken my glasses off, Vi-Lay put her goggles and snorkel on! She could now breathe but not see as they fogged up immediately! It was a long way across to South Island and by the time we arrived, it had started to rain. It didn’t stop all morning, so we were wet from the sea and the rain. We didn’t mind as all of us were in our bathers and rashies. Anchoring in a sheltered sandy bay we disembarked, gathering in a nearby hut. 
There was an illusion of shelter there, as we huddled beneath, avoiding the holes which gushed down water. Leaving our gear there, we went in single file through the overgrown coconut forest. There were a few very old ironbark trees which we’re told were native to this area and had been cleared for building on both Home and West Islands. Our return trek was along the beach, which was a lot quicker, easier and shorter. Back at base camp we were given a breakfast spread of Island-made sourdough, cheeses, smoked salmon, ham, avocado and dried tomatoes. I had brought my own breakfast but also wanted a taste of their sourdough. Off again in the canoes, this time Jen and I swapped positions. The ocean was much calmer as we headed back across the lagoon to Pulu Maraya where we had been the other day. We dropped anchor before snorkelling up to float with the drift around the island. We were pleased to be able to do this snorkel again as this time we knew where to go and what we were looking for. We were also very blessed to see a turtle up close, as it dashed away from the swimmers. I had been praying I’d see one while swimming, as I hadn’t seen one while on Fitzroy Island, Cairns. We saw another one as we motored back to Canoe Beach, where we harboured our canoes before boarding the buses for home. The roads were starting to look like rivers. Vi-Lay and I prayed for a dry afternoon, as we had booked dinner at 5:30pm.
It was so nice to get back, out of our wet clothes and into a hot shower. It was then Vi-Lay showed me what someone had handed to her – my lost sunblock! Hallelujah! I had tucked it into my reef shoes just in case I needed it (which I hadn’t as it was very overcast and raining). When I climbed into the canoe I noticed it had slipped out. I prayed the Lord would find it for me and that someone would pass it in. What a wonderful answer to prayer. Thank you Jesus!
We hung all our wet things up to dry after rinsing them in clean water to get the salt off. My reef shoes I propped up beside the front door. On checking how they were drying I noticed a crab the size of my fist walking towards my reef shoes! Oh! No! You can’t hide in those! It took some persuasion to get him to go another way. I then pegged the shoes on the line, out of range.
After a walk to post my postcard to Kat (my sister in Cairns) we came back via Saltmakers, as we were concerned about having no shelter from the rain at this venue. On the whiteboard outside there is a menu and a sign up time-sheet; on this was written ‘rained out – now at Salty’s’. Great, we had shelter there.
Neesha found us to get our RAT results; both Vi-Lay and I were negative, Jen still didn’t need to submit one. Around 3pm there was a mad panic when we were informed we all had to submit our test results online before 4pm, or else we wouldn’t be able to board our flight the next day. Neesha had people milling around her to use her phone. We asked Noi, a Thai lady I’d met, if we could please use her husband’s wifi connection, but due to the urgency, we decided to see if we could find out if the local health centre would let us use theirs. En route I saw Tony from Salty’s. I thank God I had formed a bit of a friendship with him as I felt comfortable asking him if he knew anywhere we could use wifi to submit our RAT. He very kindly gave us the password for Salty’s. It took several tries for us to submit the form, I was so nervous, I’m glad both Vi-Lay and Jen were there to help me and after many tries on my phone (until the battery showed only 20%) and at least three times on Vi-Lay’s, I finally received an email to say it had been received by the authorities. Praise the Lord. We had so much to thank the Lord for!
In the evening we had our early dinner, but not the fisherman’s basket we were hoping for, as the venue had changed, but a local Malay fish curry and a paratha. It was the best meal we have bought here thus far. Since we had wifi connection, I sent off a few pics to people and asked them to pray that the Lord would keep us safe from Covid and enable us to arrive safely on Christmas the following day. The rain continued all through the night.
I didn’t sleep well, possibly due to all the stress or the very late dinner. I woke Friday morning with no enthusiasm to jog. I also stayed behind while others in the group packed their bags, stored them at reception, and took a coconut farm tour before the afternoon flight. I waited in the room, only packing our frozen food and fresh veg into cooler bags just before needing to vacate our room at 9:45am. I then took them to the reception while I found a power point to complete my phone charge. As I saw people arriving at the airport which was opposite us, I decided to take my suitcase across. When I did, I found an airport trolley which I used to transport all our bags across. I’m glad I did, as there was now quite a queue.
Quite some time later, Jen and Vi-Lay arrived, as I had just advanced to the second in line for check-in. What an answer to prayer for a lovely sunny calm day. We were so grateful to be on the flight heading to Christmas Island. A wonderful answer to prayer. Thank you Jesus.
Photos: 1. Seed pod with bright red seeds 2. Vi-Lay and I at the Barge 3. Me posing 4. Home Island Cluny Ross mansion 5. Rainy canoe day 6. In the shelter with holes 7. Vi-Lay enjoying her sunset walk 8. Selfie on the canoe – Jen, Vi-Lay and myself
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise God we arrived safely at Christmas Island. It was perfect weather for flying, clear and no turbulence. Our prayers had certainly been answered.
Praise the Lord for good health and for the amazing time we had on Cocos.
Please pray there will be no more Covid cases in our group and that we will all be able to fly back to Perth on the 22nd July.
Continue to pray with me for peace in Europe and for all those caught up in the suffering the war has caused, both in Ukraine and Russia.
Please continue to pray for my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat to come to know Christ’s love for them.
Hope Christmas Island is just as much fun but maybe not so wet.