Keeling Islands - Keeling Islands

Cocos (Keeling) Islands 2017 (10) .jpg
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Coconut islands
CountryAustralia
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Residents
596 (2014)
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Tourist info 61 8 9162 6790
Cocos Keeling Islands
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location
Location map of the Keeling Islands
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Keeling Islands
Satellite image of the South Keeling Group.
Crabs on the beach.
The “palm thief”, a type of crab that can crack coconuts, is also found on the Keeling Islands.

The Keeling Islands, consisting of two atolls, are an outlying area of ​​the Indian Ocean Australiawhose closest territory is the Christmas Island is around 960 km away. As the crow flies it is 2930 km to Perth (Flight time 4½ hours) and 3685 km to Darwin. The total land area is about 14 km².

The local time zone is UTC 6½ i.e. 1½ hours before WST (Western Australia) or 3½ hours before EST (Sydney).

background

Plan of the Keeling archipelago

The archipelago became known on the one hand through the publications of Charles Darwin, who was here in 1836, and through the German cruiser SMS Emden whose crew was able to save themselves in November 1914. About 50 crew members under Captain Hellmuth von Mücke escaped and made their way to Germany, where in the spring of 1915 they were given a heroic reception that was exploited for propaganda purposes.

The islands were privately owned by the Clunies-Ross family for almost 160 years, who still own most of the land today. British since 1857, the atolls have been Australian federal territory since 1955. Almost all residents are ethnic Coconut Malays, Descendants of workers brought here. That's why streets are called Malay Jalan. The population is falling continuously and is currently between 400 and 500. Unemployment was 65% in 2009, so the Australian premier promised support. The most important employer is the cooperative Cocos Islands Cooperative Society with around 70 members who operate the airport, ferry, supermarket, etc.

getting there

The smaller atoll North Keeling is about thirty kilometers from the South Keeling group. This consists of the islands Horsburgh (= Pulau Luar), Direction, South, West (Pulau Panjang) Iceland with the village of Bantam at the airport and

  • 1  Home (Pulau Selma)
Only the latter two are permanently inhabited.

By plane

  • 1  Cocos Island Airport (CCK). Virgin Australia flies twice a week from Perth, sometimes making stopovers at RAAF Base Learmonth when headwinds. That’s in the airport Flying Fish Café..

The airport is an important outpost in preventing refugees from landing in Australia.

By boat

Freight usually comes from Fremantle. Please note that only letters and express items are sent by plane. Parcels and packages from / to Australia (including those that go to the rest of the world by airmail) are initially shipped and have a transit time of 4-6 weeks to the mainland.

For sailors with their own yacht, the usual Australian ones apply Provisions, including registration 96 hours in advance (Australian Customs National Communications Center ☎ 61 3 9244 8973). The first landing has to be in the in front of Direction Island the customs are contacted on channel 20 VHF.

mobility

A ferry connects that

  • 2  North end of West Iceland. (with the airport).Open: Mon-Sat
    – *
    3  Jetty, Jln. Rel. You can only continue to Direction Island on Thursdays and Saturdays.Price: A $ 2.50.

Between Jetty and Settlement runs a bus five times a week for A $ 0.50.

The only country road is the nearly twelve kilometers of the Sydney Highway on West Island. There are actually two car rental companies. The only petrol station by the West Island ferry terminal only opens Friday 1.30pm-4.30pm.

Tourist Attractions

Like most Malays, they hang out too Coconut Malays belief in the Koran, which is why there is a mosque on Home Island.

activities

Beaches and lagoons of the Keeling Islands are wall calendar quality.

Diving, snorkeling and lying on the beach. Direction Island's beach is particularly beautiful.

shop

The tourist office describes the opening times as "irregular". There is a supermarket on each of the two inhabited islands. The Early Bird Bakery opens on Saturdays at 8.00 a.m. (pre-orders [email protected]).

There are no ATMs on the islands, but credit cards are accepted.

kitchen

A restaurants and a cafe in the airport are on West Island, another restaurant that Bunga Melati on home.

nightlife

  • Cocos Club. Alcohol is served here.Open: Sat - Thu 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Fri until midnight.

accommodation

There are few accommodations, all of them in the upper price range. Offers from Perth in the houses mentioned for typical packages of 4 nights in a double room in 2017 were between A $ 1250 and 1750.

Home Iceland
  • 1  Oceania House (B&B). The former "palace" of the island owners. The "first," the only house in the place.Price: A $ 250 p.p.last change: Nov. 2018
West Iceland
  • Cocos Castaway, West Isld.
  • Cocos Beach. 28 rooms and suites. Attached is the Tropika Restaurant.
  • Nintey Six East B&B
  • Cocos accommodation
  • Cocos Seaview
  • The lagoon. Three rooms with a total of seven beds.
  • My Island Home. Two rooms with a total of six beds.

security

The police force consists of two full-time and two auxiliary police officers.

health

Tropical storms can occur from December to April. An increased Cyclone Shelter was built on home. The local health station is not designed for severe cases, these are flown to the mainland.

Practical advice

There is a post office on each of the two inhabited islands.

Australian cellular cards don't work. You can use the Telecentre Rent a device for local use (Mon-Sat 8 am-3pm) (2017: 1 day A $ 10, 1 week A $ 35).

In the Telecentre you can also purchase credit for Internet so that you can log into the hotspots of the accommodations (2017 per device: 1 hour A $ 6.95, 1 day 19.95, 1 week 64.95). The WiFi at the Direction Island yacht jetty must be paid for by credit card.

trips

Please contact the Visitor Center for details on tours and boat trips.

  • North Keeling. The northern atoll stands as Pulu Keeling National Park under strict protection. Only guided tours are possible.

literature

  • Darwin, Charles; Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs: Being the First Part of the Geology of the Voyage of the Beagle, under the Command of Capt. Fitzroy, R.N. during the Years 1832 to 1836; Cambridge 1842; (ISBN 9781107325098 , DOI: 10.1017 / CBO9781107325098)
  • Department of Environment and Agriculture; Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance; Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Suppl. 30: pp. 203-219. Full text
  • Gibson-Hill, C. A .; Documents relating to John Clunies Ross, Alexander Hare and the establishment of the Colony on the Cocos Keeling Islands; Singapore 1953 (Malaya Publ. House), 306 pp. See: Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Soc., 25,4.

Web links

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