Christmas Island, Kiribati (CXI) pics

[Will T]

Had the pleasure a couple of days ago of flying an all-daylight QF74 SFO-SYD (yes, it was quite delayed!). We flew right past Christmas Island in Kiribati (PLCH/CXI), one of very few alternates out that way with a runway long enough to accomodate a 747-400. It's around 1200nm due south of Honolulu - plug 1° 52' 0 N 157° 25' 0 W into Google Earth.

Managed to get a few snaps (it's rare to see it in daylight)... I've resized them from the originals, but they're still a little large, so apologies in advance.


Overview of the island, from the south:

http://yssyforum.net/will/IMG_9796.JPG



Southern tip of the island. Note the old guano pits. The air strip on the right is abandoned, and was built and used by the British for their 1950s nucelar testing on the island (in which I believe a number of 'detonations' occurred directly overhead the island, without evacuating the locals!).

http://yssyforum.net/will/IMG_9798.JPG



View of the northern half of the island, including the large lagoon (the actual PLCH airfield is obscured by cloud, unfortunately). :

http://yssyforum.net/will/IMG_9807.JPG


We said g'day to the lady in the tower on the way past, and an Air Pacific 737 was also inbound from Nadi (thence continuing to HNL). No one in the cabin was sleeping, so I made a PA about it, and we had a very grateful passenger in First Class whose father was stationed there during the war. Has anyone ever been to Christmas Is, or stopped off there on the FJ flight? Something I wouldn't mind doing, actually!

Will

[James K]

Thanks for the pics Will. I'm calling there in Oct this year on a cruise from SFO to SYD. Will be interesting to go ashore and see whats there. Not much though frmo what I've heard from others that have been there.

[Rhys Xanthis]

Wow, thanks for the fantastic pics and info Will:)

Looks awesome,

[Mike Scott]

Nice Shots Will, looks like you will have to give me some tips on taking Pics out the cockpit window...all the ones I've tried to take never come out like these..I always end up with some kind of glare/reflection etc...Camera is probably way better than mine (Cannon Sure shot...just a cheap one.)

Photography was never one of my strong points.

MS

[Scott Lindsell]

Thanks for sharing Will.
Something you don't see everyday and glad you made the P.A.
Scott.

[Adam B]

We landed in Christmas Island June 25th on a flight from Honolulu to Nadi. It's a 2hr 50min flight from HNL. Airport is very basic with a hand painted sign saying "Welcome to Christmas Is". About 10 passengers got off with another 10 getting on for the 4hr 25min flight to Nadi. If global warming continues the island will be submerged in around 20 years as it is only 5 feet above sea level. Air Pacific flys there every Wednesday on the outbound leg to HNL and then returns several hours later on the return flight to Nadi. Popular with deep sea fishing and those after an eco experience. We saw live fish loaded into the cargo hold as well as aquarium species. Would say it's an ideal way to spend a lazy week's holiday.

[Will T]

Thanks for the comments, guys! It definitely sounds like an interesting place, and I think I'll have to jump on that Air Pacific flight one of these days and see for myself :)

James K - please take some photos! Would be interested to see what it looks like at ground level.

Mike - unfortunately good photography from the flight deck is a very hard task! These pics I posted give us an idea of what the island looks like, but they're full of window reflections and I'm sure would go nowhere fast on a site like airliners.net . It's also a bit of pot luck as to the cleanliness of our side windows - many a potentially good photo has been ruined by dirty windows!

It often takes a bit of moving the lens around the window to find an area of the window where there's no reflection from the camera itself. You might need a deck log folder or notepad to prevent sunlight from reflecting from the camera as well.

I'm sure someone of AJ's photographic pedigree would have a bunch of tips we could all learn from!

[Nathan Long]

Will,

While maybe not appropriate for flight deck windows (I've never tried), I found the best way to get rid of reflections in windows is to surround the lens with a black (or dark) jumper, blanket, etc.