il mio piccolo tesoro: Sunday

It was well over 10 years ago when DH was sent to Christmas Island for his work for about 5 days. I didn't have the responsibilities that I have now, so DH insisted that I come along for fun - only we had to pay for my plane ticket which was an amazing $1700. But why was it so expensive? The place is Australian territory (that's where we flew from and took about 5 hours to get there) and the plane was domestic but why that astronomical sum for a ticket?

Somebody on the Island had mentioned that it was because they don't have a lot of flights to C.I. and not many people travel there (or here, as he then said). Made sense that they should price the ticket the same as what one would pay to travel half way around the world or more! Ha! We also stopped at the Cocos Islands on the way and got a glimpse of some fascinating things but we only got an hour worth of sight seeing.

We arrived at C.I. in the evening, twas hot and muggy and was greeted by a local man that drove us to our hotel room, which was in the Casino. The Casino wasn't functional at that time and hadn't been for a while because of issues they had so it was quiet and serene AND we were the only ones staying there. On the way to the hotel it started pouring with rain and it got even muggier, a type of mugginess that I had never experienced before.

The next morning DH was given a vehicle with a tank full of fuel so we went to first find some food then did some serious sight seeing, as he had some time before starting work. We saw C.I. in it's full glory ; lush, bright and tropical looking. But the most interesting and odd thing was the fact that the place was covered in crabs. Not little cute crabs, these were LARGE crabs and we'd find them crawling on the road, in the bushland, logically on the beaches and funnily enough, one crawled into our hotel room while we had the patio door open.

And the beaches! For one beach, we had to walk through the bush for a good 45 minutes as that was the only way you could get there; we encountered a lovely little waterfall, many crabs and some were intimidatingly the size of my head. When we finally arrived, absolutely no people were to be found so I collected a bunch of beautiful shells without being discovered. Hehe.

We found another spot that one could only get there with a vehicle through the bush and after we discovered why, it was petrifying (although DH found it exciting) to me but I won't go into that because it gives me palpitations just thinking about it. But boy was the danger worth it! This small and desolate beach had no people and instead of sand, it was covered in little white and smooth coral. Now and then I'd find a coloured one and grab it. The water was crystal clear and it was all very magical. This small beach was surrounded by tall and sort of concaved rocks and it felt like we were in some movie. I have a little bowl in the bathroom with coloured coral and a bunch of shells that won't let me forget about those extraordinary, fabulous beaches!

For the great memory, DH gifted me a little gorgeous rabbit figurine in a souvenir shop before we left. It's swarovski crystal and gold.... see photos below.

DH went again for his work a few years after that, but I didn't go because of the insane price of the plane ticket... and I was working at the time anyway. But I've told DH more than once that I'd like to retire there one day when we're old and grey. He hasn't said yes, but then again he hasn't said no to the idea. ;)

I adore my tiny, sweet rabbit. Terribly difficult to photograph and yes, it needs a good clean and polish. I've seen lots of different ones at eBay (the cheap fakes) / the jewelry store / the crystal stores, but I've found nothing close to what mine looks like and I think it's way cuter than any rabbit figurine out there. ;)