Grey Nomad on Christmas Island
Read the blog post below the piccies…
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A couple of years ago, friends said to me, wouldn’t you like to be a grey nomad and go round Australia? I liked the idea of seeing Australia, but I don’t like sitting and driving for hours at a time. My hips get sore, I get sleepy when I’m driving after an hour and quarter at the wheel and want to pull over for a sleep, and I think it affects your veins to sit for so long.
After one very long trip of about 8 hours each way, my legs began to retain fluid so I think the veins are not operating so well. A bit like sitting in a plane for hours and cutting off the circulation and ending up with deep vein thrombosis. (Fortunately, I do not have that.)
Anyway, my response to doing a trip around Australia was that I would prefer to fly, and visit our beautiful country. And guess what, that’s what I’m doing now! Except I get paid to work in these places as well. So far, I’ve been to Adelaide, Inverbrackie, Port Augusta, Darwin and now Christmas Island. What better way to Grey Nomad my way around Australia? I can’t think of one actually, unless it is to win Gold Lotto and not have to work as well. Here’s the thing, it is quite expensive to go to Christmas Island so it is unlikely that I would make the trip of my own accord.
By the way, if you are interested in working for IHMS (the company I work for), or Serco, or MSS Security, staff are often needed in a variety of roles so look them up and give them a call. You can mention my name to IHMS or International SOS as to how you heard about them.
Here are a few interesting facts.
The red land crabs are only found on Christmas Island, nowhere else in the world and they are protected, so roads get closed during the period of mass migration when upwards of 40 million crabs make their way to the coast and the water’s edge, to have a dip in the water, then mate, and then the males return to the forests while the females grow the eggs and then they go into the water’s edge to shake, rock and crab dance with arms in the air, and drop the eggs into the water. Later, the baby crabs will have developed and return to land and another migration occurs with the baby crabs going back to the forests, and get this, they go back to where the parents come from!! Or so I’m told. Here’s my question: what if Mum and Dad come from two different areas of the island.
The robber crabs may be eaten on Cocos Islands but not Christmas Island. There is a superstition that they carry the souls of the Japanese who died in the war, and there’s a hefty $5000 fine to discourage you from running over or killing one of these protected crabs.
The Golden Bosun bird is only seen on Christmas Island, and there is a tiny bat (which I didn’t get to see) which only inhabits Christmas Island.
And then there is the snorkelling. Oh my gosh!!
This was going to be posted in December, so it is just a titch behind.
