One Year on Nauru

A travel blog about the expatriate lifestyle in the Republic of Nauru

[oneyearonnauru]

The Pinnacles of Anibare

Last weekend I spent some time in Anibare, Nauru’s largest district situated on the Eastern side of the island. The beach at Anibare Bay is beautiful — a 2km-plus stretch of white sand and crystal clear waters with a view out to the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

Like all the beaches in Nauru, Anibare Bay is dotted with raised limestone coral outcrops, commonly referred to on the island as ‘pinnacles’. Low tide at the Bay reveals the lower lying outcrops ordinarily hidden by the gentle waves that make their way 40-50 metres from the island’s edge.

What a great place to spend a warm afternoon wading the shallow waters, enjoying the view and getting up close and personal with the pinnacles.

[oneyearonnauru]

The Middle of Nowhere in the Middle of Nowhere One thing that’s struck me since my family and I arrived in Nauru a little over a month ago, is how green, overgrown and jungle-like large parts of the island are.

Based on discussions I've had with other expatriates I know I’m not the only one, but I really expected Nauru to be dry, dusty and brown. It’s not surprising I suppose. If you google images of Nauru you’ll find that there's but a limited selection of aerial shots, the beach, the airline, government buildings and some moon-like landscapes left behind by decades of phosphate mining. Few if any show what the majority of the island actually looks like, which is a shame (but half the inspiration for this blog). 

Quite contrary to the impressions those google images leave you with, if you take the time to explore you come across stunning rock formations, dense bush and long grassy trails just asking to be walked along. The photos you're looking at here are from a walk I took with the Nauru Hash House Harriers just this afternoon. For a populated island of just over 20-odd square kilometres, there were times along this walk when it felt like being in the middle of nowhere in the middle of nowhere. And that was a really cool feeling.

Loving this island!

[oneyearonnauru]

Eating Out in Nauru #1

Nauru has a big 'eating-out' culture and there are no shortage of restaurants catering to this local habit. In fact, along Ring Rd (the main street that runs around the outside of the entire island) you’ll encounter a restaurant or café every 50 metres or so. 

Most restaurants are owned and run by Chinese immigrants and serve Chinese cuisine. I’ll profile some of these, along with some of the other popular spots to eat in good time. 

Today, I hit the Od-N (pronounced Oden), a small Chinese owned café that resides underneath the Od-N Aiwo Hotel in Yaren. The café serves a range of Asian style dishes with the addition of good old fashion burgers. 

I’ve been on the island almost a month now, so when I heard that the Od-N had burgers, there was no question about where I was taking the family for dinner. The meal was great and reasonably priced. A$8 for a good sized burger and chips. The service was friendly and the atmosphere laid back and comfortable.

[oneyearonnauru]

Buada Lagoon, Nauru

[oneyearonnauru]

So, what do we know about Nauru?

It was just a few months ago that I found out I'd be spending 2015 on the island nation of Nauru. Like most in my situation, the first thing I did was try to find out as much as I could about the country, the island and the people.

I was a little surprised to find that there is not a lot of information out there about the Republic of Nauru. And what does exist is mostly historical and spread across different sources both on and off-line. So in the interest of kicking this blog off in the right way, let’s try and put at least the basics in one place, right here.

I’m not sure that everything you’ll read below is 100% up to date (and please feel free to get in touch with any corrections). But, at this point in my journey, this is what I know right now.

Geography

The Republic of Nauru is a Pacific island nation that sits about 4,000km North-East of Sydney Australia and about 50km South of the equator. The Air Nauru flight from Brisbane, Australia takes 4-5 hours and is delightful.

The island is just 21.1 square kilometres. To give you an idea of what that looks like, the night I arrived I drove around the entire island in about 30 minutes. I could be wrong but I don’t know of any other country in the world where you can drive around the entire country in half an hour. 

Nauru has 14 districts and although the country has no official capital city, you’ll find the airport and government buildings including the Nauru Parliament in Yaren.

Environment

Nauru is hot and humid. I read about it, people told me about it and having now been here over a week I can tell you that they’re right! It is hot and humid. Really hot and humid. Being so close to equator will do that.

 As someone with red hair and fair skin, I was sure to bring plenty of sunscreen – and if you’re coming to Nauru you should too! The sun is intense and temperatures regularly sit around the late 30’s (degrees Celsius) in the day and around late 20’s at night. Humidity rarely drops below 85%. 

People

The Republic of Nauru has a population of around 10,000 people, although I’m told that this number could be higher due to difficulties in collecting census data.

There are 12 distinct people-groups or tribes in Nauru, each represented by a point on the star on the Nauru national flag.

Around 90% of the population are Nauruan citizens and the other 10% visitors, long-term stayers and expatriates from around the region and the world.

As a firm believer in the power of citizen created information, I encourage you to check out the Nauru Wikipedia page to find out more now, and follow 'One Year on Nauru' to keep finding out more into the future.