Christmas Islands official name is Kiritimati and is found in The Republic of Kiribati. However it is know in fly fishing circles as Christmas Island. The capital of the Republic is Tarawa located approx. 2,000 km. to the west. AUD is the official currency. Christmas Island is situated approximately 2 deg. north of the Equator. It is 6,700km from Sydney Australia. Christmas Island is the first inhabited place on earth to see the Sunrise and to experience the New Year. Temperatures are constantly between 24 deg. and 30 deg. Celsius with little seasonal variation. Easterly trade winds are predominant. Most of the Islands food supplies are imported including bottled water. Because of its remoteness, delivery of perishable foods for the entire island can sometimes be limited. Logistically it is extremely challenging and options are limited. A supply barge comes to Christmas Island from Tarawa every 8-10 weeks with non-perishable items of food plus anything else they can fit on like vehicles, spare parts etc. Don’t worry, you won’t starve however expect that on some weeks the variety of foods may be limited. The locals drink the Islands water which they source from ground water supplies however visiting anglers are advised to drink bottled water. Tourism mainly comprising of visiting anglers provides a substantial amount of income for the Island. They do have a few exports being mainly copra,and small aquarium fish exports. Recently surfers have discovered the fantastic surf on offer at certain times of the year.
