THE LONE COCONUT TREE
25 July 2011 | Morris Island, a tiny coral cay on the East Coast of Australia
david
For days now I have been anticipating this stop - 'Isolated atoll, blue water, tiny spit of land with some scrub, fine sand, one grave and...ONE COCONUT TREE'! A famous coconut tree, so famous that it has now been included on the official map of this area titled and numbered..."Australian Chart 834". This must be the only coconut tree to have ever attained such status and... well, after all, rightly deserved considering its 'against all odds' sort of thing on this tiny spit of land.
So today as I approached starting at about 2pm I eagerly sought the horizon and the small island....nothing. But, then at around 3 pm outlines started to etch into the endless expanse, there it was, the atoll, low lying, barely a few feet above sea level. But where was that coconut tree? Simply couldnt see it....then almost suddenly, as though to defend its charted status, there it was, leaned over from centuries of winds from the east, and yes, all alone. I was in awe as I approached and as we got closer so did the windswept profile of that lone coconut tree with its withered trunk. But I had things to do, so I tore my thoughts away from the reverie, put the anchor down, breathed a great sigh of relief and... immediately returned to the coconut tree, this time gazing upon it from its other side. And then horror struck, NO! It couldnt be. I was aghast, after all this anticipation, all this wonderment, this admiration, there, seemingly nestling up against its leaning trunk was... ANOTHER COCONUT TREE! Im going to call the Australians!