Christmas Island Off the Beaten Path Tips by xuessium

This is actually a good shortcut to get from Settlement and up all the way to Drumsite.

"The Incline" was constructed in 1912 to carry phosphate to the wharf. The practice stopped in 1956 with the road finally reaching Drumsite.

In those days, the only transport up the hill was the incline's "rake", an open-sided carriage winched up a single track. It was also possible to drive a vehicle up the paved surface.

A set of steps leads to the start of the incline behind the concrete foundations of the old wood and steam power station from Settlement. It is also stop No.14 on the Settlement Heritage Trail and stop No.13 on the Poon Saan-Drumsite Heritage Trail.

The locals still occasionally use the incline as a short cut to reach the public library at the George Fam Centre, and if you persist, you can climb the incline further to reach Silver City and eventually Drumsite. It gets steeper the higher you go though, so it can get slippery if it's raining.

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There is a massage place on the island, managed by a Steve Watson and his wife, Helen.

He's quite an interesting character, Steve, having spent much of his life as a paramedic in Perth and also in China. Listen to his many engaging stories as you get a lovely rubdown.

Just the place to de-stress or if your old sport wound is acting up again.

Sports/Remedial/Rehabilitation Massage, Deep Tissue Massage (with or without oil) and Swedish Massage are offered.

By appointments only.

The place is called "Massage Logic" and you can find Steven & Helen operating out of a house along Sunset Place, up in Silver City. (Address: PO Box 486, Christmas Island 6798)

Rates (as per circa Jan 2007: A$50 for 1 hour)

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Phone: 61-8-91648020
Other Contact: email: massagelogic@bigpond.com

I stepped into 2007 on Christmas Island.

Considering that the island has only 1400 inhabitants and everyone almost know everyone, the island has its own way of welcoming the arrival of another 365 days onto the calendar.

Flying Fish Cove seems to be the centre of activity for the Europeans and the Malays. (Not sure how the Chinese celebrates it up at Poon Saan)

Many Malay families are out on the beach having BBQs (there are pits for them) while the Europeans were all gathered at the far end, having a party. Most of the Europeans traditionally have their gathering at either of the 2 Taverns on the island, after which they will then move on to the pier for some pier diving to toast the arrival of the New Year. (However, in 2006, the 2 Taverns have decided to not host any party so the celebration became a little more scattered with some Europeans having mini-parties of their own and so the turn out at the annual Pier diving festivities seemed much muted)

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