Thursday, 23 March 2023 // Banana / Main Camp
10:08 AM
50.7 km
Banana
At 42 km a truck was coming at me. I was riding on the right side of the road, which was paved 70 years ago by the British. The left side of the road is dirt, and I had to cut onto that.
At 48 km the dirt lane ends, and the road becomes two lanes wide, paved. Paved is SLIGHTLY less rough, bumpy, full of potholes. The road gets worse, from Banana to London, due to use.
10:17 AM
55.5 km
Main Camp
At JMB Store, the only store on the island that gets goods from Honolulu, as compared to Fiji. I stop and chat with, John and Anna Bryden’s son, Bob. Bob runs the JMB store, which he runs with his mother, now that dad, John, is retired.
Bob is tall. One of the tallest I’ve seen here. Then again, his dad is tall. He looks like any other from the island, yet he’s got a Scottish accent as his father is Scottish, both he and his older brother Andrew studied in Scotland. Mom, Anna, was born here.
I just splurged and bought a Coca-Cola, and… 1 can of pineapple. Going to live large.
It is now 10:43 and heading to London.
11:12 AM
London
70.3 km
2.5 hours, including chat with Bob
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<- From Poland to London || Women ->
John Bryden, at the “Mutiny Site.” John left Scotland for London to be a cop. Wasn’t a good fit, and by age 23 he found himself in the middle of the Pacific, not unlike any number of Scotsmen who ventured out that way 100 years earlier. By 1969 he had the exact same role as my grandfather once did — managing the Christmas Island coconut plantations. That venture lasted till he went on to other endeavors on Fanning (now Tabueran) and Palmyra, often in the realm of agriculture, but just as often finding himself on the right side of commerce. After returning to Christmas, marrying a local, he opened what was the first (and only) truck rental business on the island. That endeavor morphed into opening a few general stores, the largest of which is in Main Camp, and outfitting any number of fishing lodges, as well as those on Fanning. The “Mutiny Site,” is where we (John and I, and a few others who are in the loop) believe the mutiny went down, where my grandfather was assaulted, and ended up running for his life. A month later, he quelled the insurrection, but that is a story for another day. This site is on the northern arm of the island, between Main Camp and the NASDA radar station.
Family man John Bryden, with wife Anna, and children . . . The children were sent off to school in Scotland, to enhance their eduction, when they reached the age of _______ . They returned both educated, and with a wee Scottish accent.
The JMB Store, in Main Camp. The Brits were the first to use Christmas Island for military testing — atomic bombs — back in the late 1950s. Then the Americans came in and did the same, through 1963. In all my years I never knew the US did that, and I’m fairly well-schooled in Christmas Island history. So if I am unaware, am certain most citizens of the United States have no idea. The British camp was between the ocean and the main road. The U.S. camp was on the other side of the road, and these buildings were once part of the U.S. occupation. The store was found by Scotsman John Bryden, and he’s since passed operation on to is wife, Anna, a native of Kiritimati and son, Bob. Bob, looking every inch a local, has a Scottish accent, having been schooled back in Scotland, along with his brother.
Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, was a favorite book as a kid. The ship, the palm trees, the adventure! Once back to the States, will send a small stack of these back to Kiritimati, for Tureta and other primary school teachers. Why has it taken me all these years to make the connection between this book, my affinity for palm trees, and this island? My mother reading me this book certainly predates my understanding of my grandfather living here.