Cocos Keeling-Paradise for some.

Pristine white sand beaches and a rainbow of brilliant blues.

After the dry plains of Kakadu in the northern territories of Australia and 2 weeks at sea, we arrived in a blissful anchorage in a group of islands which define the term 'tropical island paradise.'

Barefoot bliss.

Cocos Keeling is an archipelago belonging to Australia 2000 miles off the west coast of that continent. It is populated by a Muslim community descended from the original inhabitants who arrived in 1826.

The first intrepid gentleman settler was one Alexander Hare who wished to escape the tame confines of civilised England and arrived in Cocos accompanied by a harem of 40 Muslim wives!

Keeping one wife happy is difficult enough!

A few years later, a Scottish seaman, John Clunies-Ross arrived with his wife and children, also seeking paradise in the tropics. Clunies- Ross and Hare clashed immediately. Hare ended up on the losing end of the fray and was banished  to  Prison Island. His  wives abandoned him and returned to Home Island where they were integrated into the lives of the Clunies-Ross family and the sailors who had accompanied them to the islands.

The descendants of these colourful gentlemen are charming  people leading charmed lives. Their community is heavily sponsored by the Australian government  but they are industrious and peaceful and the islands are totally free of crime....no doubt the fact that they are devout Mulsims and commited tee totallers has something to do with the peace and order that prevails .

Al and Stephan from Luna of London: Not a beer in sight!

We had a marvellous time in Cocos. We were escorted into the anchorage by a school of dolphins and as our anchor settled in the clear water, a pack of white tipped reef sharks appeared under the boat...apparently harmless but very curious. 

We swam and snorkelled, (in spite of the sharks), dawdled on the beaches and shared barbeques on deserted Direction Island with fellow yachtsmen. 

Happy wife, happy life!

We were reminded of just how blessed we are when a  fishing boat, probably no bigger than Legend IV, was towed into the Archipelago by the Australian coast guard. On board this boat were 80 refugees from Sri Lanka, men, women and children who had paid for a passage to Australia hoping to find a better life for themselves.

They had been at sea for 5 weeks and had only 8 litres of fuel left on board. In essence they were lucky to be picked up by the coast guard. The islands are surrounded by reefs that would have ripped the boat to pieces if they had run out of fuel and ended up drifting onto the coral islands. 

The sad part was that they were flown out of Cocos back to Sri Lanka virtually immediately. Back to the lives they had been so desperate to escape with only a nightmare ocean voyage to show for their investment and their desperate optimism.

Two fishing boats anchored in Cocos Keeling...both recently the home of desperate asylum seekers crossing the oceans only to be sent back home. The boats are impounded by the Australian government.

Other, more fortunate yachts, leave  signs to mark their passage through Cocos and sail away to other wonderful destinations..hopefully fully aware of how blessed we are.

We would have loved to stay in  Cocos for far longer than we did  but home is beckoning and the cyclone season in the Indian Ocean is looming so we lifted our anchor and headed west to Mauritius after just a week...escorted out of the islands by the most enormous sea turtle we have ever seen!

Legend IV heading for home..Cocos Keeling receding into the distance, Al about to launch a customised fishing buoy ( not a bowling ball!) for luck.