Our first full day on Cocos Islands started with a bleary-eyed wander around the location area. Narelle was up early to put our names down at the visitor centre for a Malaysian buffet meal on Home Island that only accepts 20 people (or so we were told). Glen and I saw her sitting out the front of the closed visitors centre and asked why she was early. She’d forgotten to set her watch back half an hour due to the time zone change. She was wondering why they were so late.

We went looking for food at Saltmakers, which the flier said was doing breakfast but when we got there it very much wasn’t. We went back home and scrounged through our depleting stores of snacks. Narelle went back to the visitors centre and our name was added to the list of people looking for a good feed on Home Island that evening.

We bundled into the car after that and head up to the northern end of the island to the Art Barge for proper coffee and some baked goods, watching the waves crash on the beach and perusing the artwork for sale. It’s a nice spot, very chill. Coffee was good too.

We then collected our wet weather stuff and started our guided tour for the day. This Motorised canoe tour had been recommended by every man and his dog. We’d booked it a while ago and now the day was here.

We were taken to the southern end of the island, introduced to our two-person Motorised canoe and shown how to use it. Then we set off in convoy across the water. Glen started strong but after a little while the engine started cavitating (new word) and we had to be rescued and pulled behind the dinghy to the other island.

I think it was on this part of the voyage that I saw my first sea turtle for the day (which then became a seen turtle hahaha). Overall I would have seen about twelve and boy, can those things move! No matter how big or old they were they darted through the water with all the sprightliness of a small aerodynamic fish. I was overjoyed.

Our first island stop was to have some snacks and some drinks but also to witness hundreds of red hermit crabs emerge out from the shade to feast on the food crumbled there. And I really do mean hundreds! They were everywhere. Later we raced them. We also took Christmas photos using Santa hats that Narelle had brought (and which proved a hit with our other canoers).

After that we went to an island where the blue-tailed skinks bred on Christmas Island were released. I was surprised when we actually saw them, thinking they’d be far to skittish to stay where about twenty heavy-footed humans were stomping about.

Next was an island with a lookout where we also picked up rubbish. (Sea Shepherd had been out recently doing that same but on a much bigger scale.) From there we stopped near another island where we had some drinks and a very easy drift current kept taking us downstream. And our final stop was for snorkeling, again with an easy drift current and plentiful ledges, coral and fish. I swam with sharks and saw a porcupine puffer fish. All heaps of fun.

We then headed back to West Island were taken home. We were out for about five hours and for $140 per person is was well worth paying to see so much. Definitely recommended.

We had a little while at home to get changed then drive to the ferry terminal for the ride across to Home Island. This is where a large Malay population lives and the vibe and look is different from West Island. 

We looked through the museum and learned about the Emden and Clunies-Ross family, then went for a walk, tempted by many fruit trees. We didn’t see Oceania House because the private property sign scared us away. Voey and I also cracked open another coconut so Voey could sample one.

We returned to the restaurant for our buffet meal. It was big one with about 11 dishes to choose from for mains, followed by about five desserts. Surprisingly nothing was too spicy and it was all delicious and well cooked. One of the desserts was young coconut flesh frozen in a rose syrup. Yummmmm!

We waddled back to the jetty for the 8pm ferry and were falling into bed at about 9pm. Torrential rain came next, raising a question mark over the next day’s activities.