October 16, 2012 Fanning Island, Kiribati

Avoiding Mondayitis

For those who don’t like Mondays, there are probably dozens of ways to avoid Mondayitis. Two that come to my mind at present are to be on a cruise ship, thus avoiding work, and also to skip Monday altogether. Yesterday was Sunday and today is Tuesday as we have crossed the International Dateline. To make up for it we will be having two Wednesdays this week as we pass over the Dateline again. One of those days we will be crossing the Equator but I'm not sure if it will be the first Wedneday or the second Wednesday.

Today we visited Fanning Island, half way between Hawaii and Australia, and part of the Republic of Kiribati, the only country spanning 4 hemispheres. Fanning Island is in the shape of a footprint with only the outline of sand and palm trees habitable and the interior a huge lagoon accessible by a channel with an extremely fast flowing current. I went ashore on the third tender and at the wooden dock the ship’s crew were still screwing down plywood sheets over the wonky planking.

Access to the island is by sea – there is no airstrip – nor is there electricity or plumbing on the island.  The islanders had set up tables selling shell jewellery and lethal looking knives made out of timber and bone and I’m sure Australian Customs would have a field day if I tried to take one home! What interested me more were the islanders themselves, always ready with a smile and hello and groups singing and dancing in the hope of earning a tip. One such group from the local church were singing on the dock to welcome us – and they were still singing when I left a couple of hours later.

There only appeared to be one sandy road around the island and except for a brief tropical shower, the weather stayed fine, though very humid, during the morning while I was ashore. The island could be the poster image for a tropical island with its bright sky, turquoise water, sandy beaches and palm trees but surprisingly no postcards are offered for sale.

It really is a third world culture – but what’s not to like about a country whose official currency is the Australian dollar!

We had been warned not to swim in the darker blue water in the lagoon but I heard later this afternoon that two passengers had to be rescued from the channel. I can’t imagine what they were thinking to even go near that area to swim as you could see how strong the rip was as we went in by tender.

I’ve heard that Holland America is going to start to visit Christmas Island, where the capital of Kiribati is, instead of Fanning from next year so I don’t know what will happen to the island then. Apart from three or four visits a year by cruise ships, their only other income is selling seaweed to Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit though, despite the heat and humidity, as the islanders were charming and the island a natural beauty. 

The Captain has come on with an announcement that due to a medical emergency we will be making an unscheduled stop at Christmas Island at daybreak tomorrow so a passenger can be medically evacuated.

There are actually two Christmas Islands and they both have the Australian dollar as their official currency – so this one shouldn’t be confused with the other one in the Indian Ocean which processes unauthorised boat arrivals into Australia, rather than welcoming cruise ships!