July, 2002
Volume 4, Issue 6

One of our new and interesting stops was Kritimati Island. How do you say Kritimati Island? It's Christmas Island. Apparently the missionaries who brought the alphabet to the island were educationally challenged and did not know about the letter "S" so they used ti for S and thus Kritimati is KrisMas. Captain Cook gave it that name when he found the island on Christmas Eve, 1777. The two major cities there are London and Paris-can you believe? (London isn't quite what I expected it to be.) Jerry says this island could rank up at the top as one of his favorites, only because "there is NO shopping for the ladies there" - shopping being one of his least favorite activities on cruises.

The island itself is primitive and the natives are very friendly. They even invited us to join them for their Sunday afternoon luncheon at the church. We declined as our time was limited. It would have been great fun. (I don't think there are any cannibals left.) No one there spoke English that I could tell, and I am still amazed that some how we do manage to communicate in a limited sort of way. There was not much to see here. It is very tropical: a coral atoll, flat and 15 feet above sea level. During WWII it was used as an air base, and after the war the Americans and British did some atomic testing from there.

We had quite an adventure getting to and from the island. Since the water was too shallow for docking, the ship dropped anchor offshore and we were brought in by tenders, closed boats holding about 100 people. It was a short ride, maybe 15 minutes, to the island. It was a beautiful, sunny day but the water was a bit rough. We all enjoyed the ride and were laughing, even the boatman, as we bounced along and roller-coastered toward the island. It was exhilarating! The natives greeted us with singing and dancing and it was great fun.

BUT!! on the return trip to the ship the waters were even rougher. We started to bounce back, this time against the surf. Unfortunately, the boatman mistimed a wave we needed to bob over, and a BIG wave crashed on us and broke the forward window and frame of the boat. A wall of water engulfed all of us from head to toe, and then some. It was so sudden we did not know what happened at first. (At least the water was about 80 degrees and refreshing-but it was really scary.) There we were, fully clothed with wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, carrying tote bags and cameras and looking as though we had all just stepped out of a shower. Fortunately, no one was injured. After we got our bearings we laughed and couldn't wait to share the experience with our fellow travelers. The captain may not have been amused at the damaged tender, however.

When cruising it is good to expect almost any kind of adventure. There is always something new in every port, or on every ocean.