Time in the Jungle

Besta

2011-09-26T17:13:00.001+10:00

I probably should update since my last rant over twelve months ago. We eventually found a gorgeous, wonderful, amazing 'haus meri' called Besta. And she is the best-a! She is a wonderful lady, very giving, generous and a kind and gentle soul. Her only downfall is that she works too hard. I am forever telling her it's time to stop and have lunch, or go home. She had today off. She was telling me last week that her son, Chris who is 12 (i think) had two growths on his eye and was having problems seeing. He saw a nurse here and was fobbed off, told it was 'sugar dust' and sent home. So i took him down to see the Dr, the doc checked him out, he has two opaque spots on his cornea and Doc recommended he go to Madang ASAP. So Besta took a PMV (mini bus, takes 3 hours and costs $20kina each, Besta gets paid about $160 Kina a fortnight to put it into perspective) down last night and they sat for 8 hours at the hospital waiting their turn. The Fred Hollows foundation has a lot to do with an eye clinic in Madang, i presume that's where they went. Thank goodness for the works of people like him. They finally saw a Doctor this afternoon and he has given Chris some 'strongpela' (strong) eyedrops and eye cream and told him to come back next monday. Besta concern was obvious on the phone, from ehat i can gather, they have told her if the cream doesn't work it is pretty serious. I have no idea what the diagnosis is, but i shall find out in the morning, if they know...... I haven't heard back from Ausaid as yet re: my last blog post, but will keep you posted.By 'you' i mean anyone who might have nothing better to do than read my ramblings. I have a 'contact' who is going to see if they can get some old sheets from the linen service company who supply linen to the hospitals in Melbourne. Otherwise, i might just sew some up. My sewing ability is limited to straight lines, so sheets i can do! The lovely Besta.....

Medical care in PNG..... or lack of it.

2011-09-23T21:59:00.002+10:00

Long time no blog..... well i'm back... I arrived back in PNG on Friday, I headed down to the local market to pick up some fruit. There is a small ‘convenience’ store where you can buy a few basic things like flour, soap and a few miscellaneous household items. Not often anything you need, but none the less it is a shop. At the cash register there is a cardboard box. It has a hole in the top and on the side it has written "donations to pay for medical clinic electricity bill" I’ve never been to the public clinic as we have a private clinic within the company we work for. So I went over and spoke with the staff to find out what the story was. The Gusap health centre is the local hospital. It provides medical care for around 20,000 locals in the area. They see up to 1200 outpatients a month, 700 inpatients, as well as delivering around 60 babies month. They are currently without power and have been since February as they owe $34,000 Kina to the power company. The clinic is so basic. They don't even have sheets on the beds that they do have. It is heartbreaking that their medical care is so sub standard, and now they have to do it all with no power. A new sexually transmitted infections clinic was built out the back of the hospital in 2009, whilst building it they used the hospital power and contributed significantly to the power bill. The building was funded by Ausaid so I have contacted them in hope of getting some financial assistance to get the power back on. I had a tour of the hospital and took a few photos. I have to share... Having just delivered a baby in a fantastic hospital in Melbourne, the horrific conditions of the delivery suite really stuck a chord with me. This is the delivery bed. It used to be in a bigger room, but the room has no windows for light, so now they have moved the bed into a small room used for post-natal care.

A makeshift curtain separates a mother who may need to be on the bed from a mother who may have just delivered.

In PNG, their health system is a little different. They have Doctors and they have nurses but then they have something in between. From what i could gather they go to university for 4 years and then do a two year clinical placement and that allows them to administer some medications, and perform small procedures like suturing. This clinic has no doctor on site, just this in between qualification, although they do liase with the drs from our clinic and their sister clinic a few hundred kms up the road. So as long as things go to plan, all is good. If things don't go to plan it is a 2 and a half hour trip by ambulance to the nearest hospital.

Below are medical supplies. Note the instruments sitting in the kidney dish full of water?!

And this, much to my shock, is a purpose made cholera bed. The diarrhea is so violent that apparently catching it under the bed in a bucket is the best way to deal with it.... Thank goodness that outbreak is over and thankgoodness i live in a country where i can walk into a doctors surgery and get immunised against it.

It's hard to see from the pics. But there is a fine layer of dust over everything. The place is stinking hot, it doesn't smell so good. There are plenty of rooms for things like x-ray, dentistry, pathology, but at the moment they are just signs on the door. The rooms behind the doors are empty. The state of the medical care in this country is horrific. It is heartbreaking to see how these people have to live. We are so fortunate to have access to the medical system that we do in Australia. So my latest mission is to try and get the power back on and maybe some sheets for the beds in the hospital.

On a roll.... The Leron Horse Sports Day

2010-10-21T19:44:00.011+10:00

Let me start by saying that they haven't heard of the word Gymkhana in PNG, so it was decided it would be a 'Horse Sports Day"

It was 6 months in the making, and a cracker day. We had flag racing, apple bobbing, a stockmans race, pole bending, face painting, lots of cool prizes and BBQ lunch.

We asked a few big companies in PNG to sponsor and donate prizes and we ended up with loads of t-shirts, caps, tool kits, grocery vouchers, stubby coolers, belts, sunnies, and pocket knives. So the stakes were high!

The day started with a missing truck driver. He went to get fuel at 6 am and was never seen again, he was supposed to pick up 100 workers from their housing compound and drive the hour it takes to get to Leron. But we were determined to start on time, and not run on PNG time. Oh, the truck driver also had half the saddles!!! So we started the first race and had a saddle swap after each heat!

Ready to race..... one slight hiccup.

After the rocky start, all went well...... until the snake. One of the men in the neighboring village found a python five days earlier. He bought it along for everyone to see. But *apparently* he kept the snake for 5 days and didn't give it any food, so shortly after lunch, the biggest dust storm of all time howled through the field, almost taking horses and their riders to Cansas. Mother nature did it, you just ask anyone who knew about the snake!

We had traditional sing sing performances, a theater production on how an abattoirs works right down to stripping the clothes of a small child being held up by his legs, to demonstrate skinning?! The kids had a blast in the sack race and 3 legged race, we would have had a good time on the egg and spoon race, but someone stole the golf balls. They're expensive you know!

Apple bobbing....

The theatre production.....

There were shelters built for all the different Beef departments. Cropping, Abattoirs, Leron cowboys, Gusap Cowboys, Admin, and this was for the VIP guests. lol RSVP:VIP? Same same.

On the way home, much to Tarzan's dismay, a large grazing paddock had been intentionally burt. Apparently its not uncommon, if someone knows that there aren't many people around they'll torch a bit of land.

But fortunately it didn't put much of a dampener on everyone's spirits, here's a happy tribe on the bus on the way home....

Sacking someone.

2010-10-21T19:04:00.002+10:00

Long time no blog. Hi all.

Well so much has happened i don't know where to start, so ill tell you the story of the untrustworthy house Meri.

Once upon a time a new family arrived in PNG, the house came with a house Meri who, as per the previous company's policy came with the house. In her eyes, it was 'her' house iykwim. She knew the house well, and cleaned it within an inch of its life. She washed folded and ironed everything, down to the sheets. She had been a house Meri for 20 years. So when we arrived i was very cautious not to step on toes and pretty much left her to her own devices. When this company took over they gave everyone a pay rise and food was no longer an entitlement. But how could i not feed the ladies that work here (Garden Meri too), when i have so much and they have so little. So i fed them a big lunch, coffee and tea and more often then not cake, biscuit or slice. I bought them both a cooking element for their homes so they didn't have to go home and light a fire every night. I buy them clothes, toiletries, food for their families and little nick nacks from time to time if i see something appropriate.

So over time, Our house Meri's disdain for me became more apparent. She disliked the fact that i made cakes for other people, gave gifts to others and was generally welcoming in my home. She didn't like other children coming to play with the girls, particularly national kids, and when they did come she was nasty when i wasn't looking (pr so she thought!). She said that i shouldn't give anyone to anything except her. She told our garden Meri she was not to pick up the children, to watch them but keep working. When i asked her to watch the girls for an hour i came back to find her sleeping in a chair. When i went to Aus i left food and money for her and the garden Meri, she ate all the food, spent the money and gave nothing to the garden Meri?!

She began to talk about me behind my back and soon word got back to me. As you can imagine i was pretty pissed off. I noticed that there was no money coming back from the washing, she would always check the pockets and bring the money upstairs and put it on the table. We are pretty useless at taking coins out of our pockets, so i was a little suspicious. So i set her up, put money in the washing and then after it was all done Tarzan confronted her and asked where the money was. She pretended to look around and couldn't find it. So i went into their bathroom and picked up another pair of her shorts and the pocket jingled. I asked what it was and she said "Oh that's right i was going to give it back later" Whatever. She was then told she was suspended and to leave the premise. WELL, you should have seen her go. She started yelling and screaming, accusing us of stealing her money from her Bilum and demanding we give her $60. She then told Tarzan that "This is my country, don't mess with me, this is my country! You want to fight me? Come on, Come on Fight me! Fight me!" by this stage i was a little concerned so called security to remove her. She finally left, but not before saying she was taking us to court for testing her trustworthiness?! Nothing would surprise me in this country.

So for the last two weeks there has been an appeal process. She was fired, appealed, making up a letter full of lies, it was reviewed, and then 3 weeks later she was fired for the final time. Si i have spent 3 weeks packing my dacks every time i go to the market, thinking she's hiding behind a tree with a bush knife. I have been assured she is all talk and no action, but i'm not willing to find out.

I can understand her being angry, upset and all of that, she is unlikely to find another job as there isn't a lot around and she is getting older. But she dug her own grave. I do feel a tiny bit sorry for her, but not much and not often. Maybe i'm harsh but she was making my life here pretty miserable. Spending 8 hours a day with someone who is greedy, nasty and fake doesn't make for a happy household. Since she has gone the girls and i have been so much happier. Obert, the garden Meri carries them around the garden, plays with them and looks after them. They love her now, where as before they was scared of her and she was scared of the house Meri and things were pretty uncomfortable. I've been moping my own floors and doing my own washing for 3 weeks now, and i have to say it sure beats having someone here who i didn't really like.

So now we have to find a new lady. I'm a little apprehensive, and will not rush into it. Hopefully we will find the perfect person.
Here's the latest pic of the jungle pikininis.

Compensation

2010-08-04T12:40:00.003+10:00

I just had 'greased banana for lunch', it has fast become my favorite. Cooking bananas cooked in fresh coconut milk with onions, curry and a little stock. It sounds like a terrible combination but i love it. Might have over done it though and feel like i need to hibernate it off.

Sitting here full as a goog, wondering what i can talk to ya'll about. Compensation is on my mind so i'll tell you a little about that.

PNG is all about compensation. Suppose you have an affair with your neighbors husband. The neighbor will come knocking on your door seeking compensation. For shaggin around the price is a few hundred kina.

If you run over someone's dog, whether it is half starving and dying of rabies or not, the price is about fifty to a hundred kina. Suppose you hit a pig in your car and kill it, they will want compensation, anywhere upwards of $1000kina depending on the size of the pig/cow. Now suppose you kill another man, whether by accident of not the compensation is huge. $100,000 kina or there about. If you can't pay the compensation then the 'eye for an eye' law applies and will most likely find yourself or a family member dead.

Killing someone as revenge around here doesn't seem like a big deal. People just accept that's the way life is. It's hard to get your head around sometimes.......

It is very common practice to give you children away if someone in your family can give them a better life than you. But if you decide you want them back, you have to pay compensation to the family member for the money they have spent on food, clothing schooling etc.

A couple i met gave their baby to his sister shortly after birth, as he wasn't working and they couldn't afford to keep him. They now want to get him back but the brother wants $5000. Although this might seem a reasonable enough idea, there is no way they can raise that money in a hurry, so they are just slowly saving to get their now 4 year old baby back.

My friend across the road, had a fight with her husband on Sunday. He pushed her, she fell and cut her arm. Because he cut her arm and drew blood, she wants to kill him. Not in the same way that i say i want to kill my husband because he was late home, forgot the ice cream but didn't forget the beer kind of way either. She told me she is going to stab him. As soon as her arm mends she wants to fist fight him in a 'fair and square' (her words) fight! I tried telling her that killing the father of her 3 children was not a fantastic idea. Besides the fact she might go to jail, he is the bread winner, with a great job, providing for the family and sending the kids to a good school. She would not see the sense in my argument. All she could say was "You can't understand, it's what we do here, he drew blood and now I'm going to kill him" I couldn't change her mind, so i gave her $100 to catch a bus to her 'place' (home town) to cool off for a couple of weeks. She wanted to go but didn't have any money as he took her keycard off her after the fight.

This is probably how she got there...... local bus...

Fishing

2010-07-28T19:54:00.006+10:00

Tarzan has been hunting and gathering and most upset i haven't shared with the world.
We have been to Madang twice in the past few weeks, both times showing friends and family a bit of country side. Madang is a lovely seaside town. We stayed at a little resort called JAis Arben and it was great, ok the food was average, but the accommodation was great! I ordered catch of the day and got a massive calamari hood, un-scored, unsliced in a salty horrible unrecognizable sauce. *spew* I stuck to safe dished after that. ;) Food is not really something people do well in PNG, there is no real cuisine as such, Just food cooked in coconut milk with no fresh herbs and spices except some curry powder, stock and salt sometimes. It encourages me to do more cooking anyway so it's not all bad. When we don't have a takeaway food option....ever someone else cooking is a real treat, even if it is inedible rubber squid coated in a strange sauce.
Now where was i? oh yes. Tarzan, hunting. He wanted to go fishing but the fishing charter boat was busy taking people snorkelling. So Tarzan looked elsewhere. He found a local fisherman who had a banana boat. A tinny type boat with an outboard on the back.

Vincent goes out fishing most days to catch fish to sell to support his family. He uses hand lines and catches all his bait. To catch the first bait he uses hand lines with a plastic bag tied to the hook, or trawls with a small hook with a feather on it. Bait is usually a nice pan sized tuna or similar. Bait i say???? i'll just eat that thanks! Apparently not. So they then put this on a big hook, on the end of a hand line, and trawl. The first trip they got the biggest yellow fin Tuna i have ever seen......
I can't believe they caught it, let alone on a hand line?!

I thought it was a fluke, s when da came over they went out again with Vincent. This time they caught......

A freaking Marlin! My father spent years fishing at Bermagui trying to catch one and never did, now he comes to PNG and hooks one in a banana boat.

And on a HAND line?!

We didn't get to eat the fish, as it was Vincent's livelihood. But second time out, Tarzan asked Vincent if they could catch a few extra 'bait fish" for our esky. They filled it up!

So i cooked up my favorite..... Sesame seared tuna with a wasabi beurre blanc sauce served with a soba noodle salad. YUM!

Bras, bras, bras!

2010-07-26T20:33:00.003+10:00

So the call was put out for any unwanted secondhand bras and undies. The boobs around here are in serious need and they don't mind if they are second or even third hand. ;) A bra is a bra and better than none. Same goes for undies! I was blown away by the amount that were sent to mum and dad's. Mum and dad packed light and filled their suitcases with the underwear, Dad was a little concerned what he'd say if anyone looked through his bag, but fortunately it didn't some to that!
I sorted then into sizes with the help of my brother. He reckons he's an expert in cup size *rolleyes*. We packed them into bags and walked to the village next door. We set up on a big bag on the ground and the word went around that people in need could pop over. They started filing in, mostly too shy to come right over, but with a lot of encouragement we were soon surrounded by boobs of all shapes and sizes to fit all donations. ;-). After a quick assessment i guesstimated a size, there was lots of laughing a bit of trying on, swapping etc. and then they disappeared with their new goods!
The rule was one each, and no hoarding for your friends! There was certainly excitement in the air, people didn't stop saying thank-you, and kissing my leg, which was kind of weird........ but some strage way of showing gratitude here. Everyone was amazed that i had friends in Australia who would donate all this underwear to them and wanted me to pass on their thanks.... I'm not going to kiss your legs, but i will say thanks. :-p

So a massive thanks for all of you who collected, posted and delivered bra's to my mum and Dad's. Your donations made for some VERY happy Papua New Guineans. There is apparently more underwear waiting for me when i head home in three weeks, so i will bring that back and share the love in another village.

Bek- your kids undies were a massive winner. The boys didn't even mind having a pink pair!

Malaria

2010-07-24T13:10:00.006+10:00

I have so much to blog about, but i kind of feel like there is so much i don't know where to start..... just like the washing, i guess it gets easier once you start right?? Might just start with how shitty i'm feeling.....

It's harvest season here, they are harvesting the sugarcane to crush and the mosquitos that used to reside in the cane are now mobile and infecting victims faster than you can say "i've got Malaria"

Tarzan was first to drop, he started just feeling a bit off with a headache so he went down for a test. Positive, but i flew to Aus the next morning and let him ride it out on his own. He seemed to do ok. Then Lu was next. She presented with a fever, vomiting and crankiness, too her down for a test and it too was positive. She got over her very quickly, but managed to perforate her eardrum while we were on w weekend away at the beach. She was swimming and got hit in the side of the head by a big wave. That night she started screaming and wouldn't stop. I took her into the local hospital only to be told "Sorry we don't have an oroscope(thing to look in ears) , give her panadol and come back tomorrow, one of the other doctors may have one" ?! She was much better the next day, so we headed home and she was unhappy most of the trip saying her ear hurt, so we took her to the clinic here and discovered she had a perforated ear drum and an infection in the other ear. So a round of AB's and she's on the mend.

Tarzan came in one morning to tell me she had vomited again. I went in and she was fine. I then went in to LMS's room and discovered she was the cause of the smell. So we took her down for a test and sure as eggs she was +ve for Malaria. She couldn't keep anything down, not even breast milk, so she was given a course of injections and then admitted to the clinic for some IV fluids. She was limp and quiet. Very odd and disconcerting to see her like that. I was thankful that the clinic was there, but far out, you should see the state of it. For a tourniquet they used the end of a rubber glove. I asked them if that was their only tourniquet and they cheerfully replied "no, we have this one" While holding up a strip of tyre tube rubber?! At least all the needles and IV equipment was in fresh new packets and handled well, in a sterile way. They staff are great, but wow, talk about under funded, under equipped, under everything! When i first went to the drs for one of the kids the Dr didn't have a stethascope?! Her's broke and it was a lot of money to get a new one. So my rockin' mum bought one in Aus and gave it to her when she came over. They have an ultrasound machine, but no transducers, yanno, the bit that goes on your body and makes the pictures work? Kind of like having a car with no wheels. It was donated by rotary like that?! Not that i'm dissing rotary, but sheesh, surely you'd look a little more into what you were donating, rather than giving a useless box to someone? Super mum is looking into that too and hopefully can get her hands on some transducers for it.

Anyway, i digress, LMS is just finishing her last tablet tomorrow and has finally stopped vomiting. She had her first solid food after 5 days and is looking much better. Just when i though i might get a nights sleep i woke at 3 am feeling a little off. By morning my body felt heavy and i was weak. I thought i should go and have a test. By the time i got to the clinic my body was aching, my wrist felt badly sprained, my back was aching like i had done a disc, and i had a general feeling that all my bones might explode. Since testing positive and having an injection, i have been in bed, mainly feeling sorry for myself.

I started this post a few hours ago and it has taken 4 shots, between needing to feint and lie down or just spew it hasn't been my brightest day. Although i must be getting better because i'm getting bored of lying dawn, although that is the only position everything doesn't hurt.

Given all that, Malaria isn't as scary as i thought it would be, yes it can be fatal, but so can influenza. Most deaths are because people are not treated adequately or soon enough. Sure there are some exceptions, but they are just that, exceptions. Having Malaria around here is no big deal, infact i feel like a whinger just talking about it on my blog. Most of the Nationals get it a few times a year, take the meds, suck it up and go to work. Occasionally they have a sick day but not often. The Dr did tell me it tends to hit white people harder as our immune systems are weaker than people who grew up here. Maybe she was just trying to make me feel better.....

I can't get my brain to work well to incorporate some pics into text, so they are all just here.... this is the clinic. 3 beds available. hope you don't mind sharing. ;) (the last pic is of the tourniquet they used to put a cannula in LMS)

I'm going to lie down.

Journalism...PNG

2010-06-30T21:48:00.001+10:00

This was in the national news paper here. Unrelated to any article, just a stand alone photo?!

2010-06-30T15:35:00.004+10:00

Check out what i got.....

Just because i am living in the jungle doesn't mean i can't shop! there is always a way. I ordered this, with matching ear rings and i love, love, love it.

I met this lovely lady when we were both pregnant with our first babies. In my spare time i like to sleep, sometimes cook, but mainly sleep..... in her spare time she creates masterpieces. Check out her cool blog here

I though i was pretty clever when i threaded a few beads on some string and attached a clasp, but this is a whole new level of beading! Her stuff is really impressive and worth a look.

I ordered this, with matching ear rings and i love it.

It looks great in the picture, but is even more stunning IRL. Thanks so much B.

Disturbing post, contains swearing. Don't read if you'll be offended!

2010-06-16T01:18:00.003+10:00

You know those nights when you just can't sleep. The last time it happened to me i was 9 months pregnant and i think my body was trying to prepare me for a lot of months of little sleep. ;-) But tonight i ain't up the duff and my kids are sleeping through the night. I am lying in bed thinking of the fuckedness of living in this developing nation. (is that even a word, it somehow seems more acceptable if the word isn't correct?! whatever, i'm frustrated at life here.)
The compensation system here is pretty harsh. A 17year old girl, studying at bording school, year 11. Got mixed up with a boy who apparently already had a girlfriend. She phoned her mother and asked her for $150. She had to give this to the boys girlfriend as compensation for fooling with her man. Her mum said no, don't be ridiculous. 2 days later she was found hanging in her room. Whether she took her own life or not is in question, but regardless of that, it is fucked. Either she was murdered or took her own life for fear of the repercussions of not paying her compensation. And not to mention how her mother must be feeling.
A young man with 3 kids died of bowel cancer on the weekend. If you live out here and get cancer you basically die. Unless you have money there is no medical imaging, there is no radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, there is nothing. Pretty much a panadol, some antibiotics and a teaspoon of harden the f up. How is that fair?
A six year old disabled boy lives with his mother, grandmother, baby brother and Aunt nearby in a one room shack. He can't walk, talk, feed himself, he is incontinent and they have no support, no money no nothing. They take it in turns to care for him, carrying him around and tending to his needs. The grandmother is the bread winner, but she is old and isn't all that well. They seem happy enough, but how tough does life have to be? They think they are lucky to live in a little house with one powerpoint!? And what will become of them when she is dismissed for reaching the ripe old retirement age of 55? (pretty sure she's well past that but most people round here have no idea when their birthday is so they make it up)

It's great that the simple things here make people happy it really is, because if they didn't find joy in the simple things they really would have nothing. I used to wonder how people living in such conditions can believe in god, why on earth would they prey and worship someone/thing and give thanks for what they have?! It infuriates me that they donate so much money to their church when they have none. But i now i realise that everyone needs a little hope, and if going to church and donating money gives them a little light then good on them. Not to say i'll be going in the near future, but i can understand why people here chose to go.

I don't want to become desensitised to life here. So many expats are. I don't want to be like that. Already my perceptions have changed a little, i've had to wise up a little. Generally i try and see the best in everybody, but in a country where there is nothing, petty crime is rife you need to be cautious. If i give too much to my house staff their friends and family get jealous and fights begin. If i give something to someone else my house staff get jealous and say i should be giving it to them. (not to my face, but gossips travels fast here. ;-) ) In a world where there is nothing, something as small as a biro is a prized posession, so i can hardly blame them for they fights, but i don't want to cause them....

Anyway, i can't sleep, so thought i'd have a bit of blogging therapy. Might give the sleep thing another shot. Night. x

2010-06-02T13:49:00.016+10:00

Fallen off the blogging band wagon a bit of late, so thought i'd better pull my finger out and tell a story. LMS has been a bit sick with a virus and not sleeping so well, so i've got a bit slack..

Anyhoo....

Last Sunday we went for a hike. It was a 5 hour return trip, mainly uphill, in the searing heat. We needed to leave at about 11am in order to get to our destination and back in time before dark which meant walking in the middle of the day. Oh man, i though i was going to die. It was HOT, HOT, HOT and very humid. Tramping up hill for 2.5 hours sure got the sweat pouring off me. We were hiking to the base of Shaggy Ridge a razorback ridge in the Finisterre mountain range, the main position of defense for the Japanese during WWII. The track we followed was the original road from the war used to access the base of the Ridge. During many parts of the hike you could recognise where the road went, but others were just thick scrub and a single file track.

A few precarious river crossings....

Kooni grass out of control....

After two hours of steady climbing we came to a 'road house' Man was i happy to see it. A small spring gushing, crisp, clear, fresh water, and a couple of rocks to rest my sorry arse and adrenalin filled legs on. When there is a good clean water source, you generally find a little set up like this one...

A few bananas...

Banana and paw paw trees a plenty, although i'd never take a banana from the middle of the bush in PNG, it more than likely belongs to someone. Peoples' gardens are all over the place, mostly hidden about an hour or two walk from their homes. We had lunch and refueled. One of the guys hiking with us is staying the guest house where we live. The guest house provides 3 meals a day. As Cameron wasn't going to be there for lunch he asked them to make him a sandwich. The kitchen staff told him they didn't have much, he replied "peanut butter or vegemite will do" Not really to his surprise but to our amusement he had 2 sandwiches, both with peanut butter AND vegemite. Yummo.

I thought i was done with the hike, but after a rest i was rearing to go. The goal was to get to the base of shaggy ridge and check it out for the future hike when we overnight and climb the actual ridge.

We arrived at the small village at the base of the ridge and were met by a few friendly locals. The village was lovely, clean and tidy with some nice little houses. They had a beautiful new house that had been recently built, it was the biggest house i've seen here in a village, 4 bedrooms and up on stilts. No one was living it it, and from what i could gather this was because when you build a new house here you have to have a big feast and a 'sing-sing' before moving in. Either that or it was purpose built for the hikers that camp there before climbing shaggy ridge.

Esta took us down to the Faria river for a look, where we had another rest and shared a bag of lollypops with the kids who were enjoying a swim and helping out with some washing.

The kids from here walk about 4 hours on a Monday up the river to their school, they camp the week there and walk back on Friday. There is also a small hospital apparently. I'd like to check it out sometime, but leaving the kids overnight is a bit hard. Maybe when the olds visit?! :-p

Esta was keen for us to return and stay the night. She said we could bring the kids. yeah right. She might walk 7 hours to get to the market with 30kg's of food on her head, and her kids on her back, but i am soft and aint carrying my two ratbags 2.5hrs up a mountain!!!

This is a picture of the first part of Shaggy Ridge, as i am no photographer i wasn't really able to capture the incline very well, but let me tell you it is steep, it looks like you'd fall off while hiking up it if you didn't have spikes on. ;)

The hiking crew.....

And the best part of a hard day hiking? Beer of course.......

The garden

2010-05-18T17:00:00.005+10:00

Thought i'd share a few pics of the garden today. We have some amazing flowers as well as a small market garden. Having a few problems keeping the kids out of the seedlings, but we'll get there.

We're currently growing Sweet potato, taro, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, watermelon, bananas, spring onion, pawpaw, basil, coriander, lemongrass, parsley, capsicum and pumpkin i think?!

The garden monster...

Ouch

2010-05-17T11:07:00.004+10:00

So the board of directors flew in for a few hours yesterday, it was a bit of a big deal apparently and everyone was running around cleaning sorting and organising. Except me that i is, i remained blissfully unaware and continued my own running around after my nude children. Yes plenty of comments on the lack of clothing there, but i know you are all just jealous, who doesn't want to run nude all day eh??? And you Melbournites are seriously jealous as you couldn't run around outside in the nude even if you wanted to.

Sorry, slightly sidetracked. So there was a big lunch yesterday, steak on the menu, so Tarzan sat very nervously as the directors cut into their steak. Turned out it was great so he was quite chuffed. I decided i should do the supportive thing and celebrate the lovely steak, so i got stuck into a couple of bottles of wine with another lady here and needless to say i am somewhat slow this morning and my head is pounding. Oh i know i wont get a lot of sympathy for any of you lot, but i am feeling better already just being able to whinge about. :p

It's a lovely day here today, about 28 i'd guess, a slight breeze, a few clouds around.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of months. We have lots of friends and family coming to visit. We're also heading to west New Britian via Port Moresby on wednesday. Tarzan has a few meetings, so we're going to support him and hang out in the resort!

For anyone who is not on facebook, here is a pic of us swimming. LL is loving the pool these days and insists on swimming by herself, and LMS seems to think she can swim by herself too. Not matter how many times she goes under and comes up spluttering, she is straight back down for some more?!

I was always unsure whether or not to use floaties on kids, but it has been the best. Lu has so much more water confidence now. I'm sure she will ditch the floaties when the time comes.

Lunch, nap. Yeah!

Mothers day

2010-05-10T19:02:00.008+10:00

Mothers day in PNG involved a dinner dance for Pacific Mummas. The dress was 'Toana" which is pacific wear. So every one spent the days before whipping up lap-laps (sarongs) threading frangipanis and helping decorate the hall. I kindly made Tarzan's outfit, a grass skirt. Much to his disgust! I sewed two kids skirts together to fit it around his waist. My dress was 3m of material wraped and secured with 2 pins.

LMS had a mini sarong and the whirlwind had her grass skirt from Fiji.

Shortly after getting dressed, Lucylu proudly exclaimed that now she had boobs too so she could feed LMS!

The feast was fantastic, lots of traditional dishes from the pacific. Kokonda (fish marinated in lime juice with coconut milk), sweet potato and (something else) in coconut cream, chicken curry, sago, stir fried local greens with chilli, coconut rice cooked in coconut leaves, taro ( not my fave, kind of like sucking on chalk) followed my a mothers day chocolate cake.

We had 'live' entertainment. A dodgy Aussie from Lae with his guitar who wouldn't get a gig at the local RSL in Aus, but is some kind of small star here. But after a few drink i couldn't care less who was singing, as long as there was music! We danced up a storm. Lucylu danced from about 7pm till 11am with anyone who was interested, she had a ball. And LMS did her fair share of boogying too.

This is the lady who organised it all, she is the hear of HR. She is from a part of PNG where people generally have really dark skin. She is always joking she's going to take LMS back to her hometown and pretend she is hers. Talk about ebony and ivory! She is a lovely lady, used to be a TV presenter here and won miss PNG a few years back!!

This little guy had the coolest head dress on. It was made of feathers. He is 4 and our cheeky little neighbor across the road.

This is Suniam, the oldest mum's in attendance so she got to cut the cake. She gave a bit of a speech (lecture)and was telling all the men that they better make this a good mothers day because fathers day is coming up. Quite amusing really. One of those 'you-had-to-be-there' moments i am guessing.

It was a great evening and a nice way to start mothers day. Tarzan did very well following up with a card made by the girls, flowers, pancakes with sauteed pineapple, banana and passionfruit, and a steaming hot latte.

Hope you spoilt all your mothers out there, as for my mum i hope she'll take an IOU. ;) xxxx

Monthly trip to Lae

2010-05-01T20:18:00.002+10:00

We just got back from our monthly shopping trip to the big smoke. A 2 hour drive away is Lae, quite a big city with big supermarkets and a department store with loads of overpriced stuff just for expats. ;)

On the way down on Friday we stopped in at another ranch to check out some weaners (baby cows, not hotdogs. ) We set off from there and the phone and radio started going. There was open warfare on the road into Lae at '4 mile'. 2 clans were sorting out a disagreement with bush knifes, bows and arrows, spears and fire. When we travel we are constantly monitored by a security company employed by the company. They advised us to turn around and wait for further news. So we did, and not long after we were told it was safe to continue on, police were on site and the waring had stopped. Regardless of that incident we always get an armed escort for the last 30 miles into Lae, it is notorious for holdups and the company recommend you use the service. So we continued on and met our escort at '9mile'. Driving through 4 mile got the heart racing a little. The security company wouldn't let us go if it was unsafe, but the remnants of a battle were obvious. Plenty of people either side of the road looking pretty angry. Houses burnt down, about 10 police vehicles keeping the crowds under control. Apparently 3 lives were lost and many homes. Pretty sad really.

We arrived without incident and checked into our hotel. It's a pretty flash hotel for PNG, it's no park Hyatt but it's certainly a little luxury for here. I even booked into a hairdresser for a hair treatment and blowdry. The soft dull of the hairdryer was a nice change from the not so dull 2 year old! :p

We had a promotional night on at the Lae Yacht Club. The company beef was cooked up and the company supply prizes for a raffle. N0t how i would have chosen to spend my wedding anniversary, but better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick i guess. The yacht club is full of expats drinking, talking crap, while kids run around and create havoc. I loved it as there were plenty of other kids to keep mine entertained!

Shopping is a real mission. It's not safe for me to go alone, so we all go. Yep, a 2 year old, 1 year old and a cranky husband who's not into shopping doesn't make for the best day, but i am so excited that i can actually spend money i don't really mind all the whinging and carrying on. ;)

We went to the three biggest supermarkets where you can buy most things you'd want/need.

I paid 40c for half a kilo of beans and $16 for a tub of yoghurt, $20 for 1kg of tasty cheese?! So you can see it pays to eat as the locals do.

We (well, i) bought so much stuff we had to off load some into another car traveling back. A nissan patrol full of shopping is a lot of food.

I'm in the middle of unpacking it all but decided i needed a break. A beer and a bit of blogging while Tarzan watches his beloved Hawks seemed totally appropriate. Essendon is currently 10 points ahead. I think i'll go to bed now.

My new kitchen appliance...............

2010-04-29T17:50:00.006+10:00

Hand made, local crafted for 25kina. Any guesses?

It's a coconut scraper. Janet gave me a lesson on how to use it. First you grab your bush knife (which all men, woman and children carry)

Clean the coconut, whack it 3 times with the knife and it magically splits open. I have a feeling if i was doing it, things wouldn't go so seamlessly.

Then you sit sideways on the stool and holding the coconut firmly you scrape the inside flesh over the metal scraper.

It is actually much harder than it sounds, as you know coconut is quite tough so it takes a bit of elbow grease. I clearly wasn't cut out for it so handed the task over....

The flesh was so good, sweet, crunchy, sensational! The girls couldn't get enough. So much better than the dried up old crappy coconuts you can occasionally get in Victoria.

I asked Janet to show me a traditional PNG dish. I bought some cooking bananas, these are not sweet, more like a root vegetable in taste really, but these ones look like lady finger bananas. The bananas were not quite ripe, quite firm, perfect for cooking apparently. I peeled them and cut then into segments and then boiled them in water for about 20 minutes.

While that was cooking i made the coconut cream. After adding a little water to the coconut i squeezed the flesh with my hands for about 5 minutes. Then drained the liquid using a strainer.

The result was lovely thick coconut milk......

and left over flesh............

The flesh tasted like wood chips, no flavor left, so that gets thrown. We drained the bananas and added the coconut cream, some onion, ibeka (a green, something like spinach but totally different) and a little curry powder. Cooked it for about 30 minutes.

It was delicious! I must admit i was a little surprised.

Foxy Roxy has landed

2010-04-24T20:02:00.002+10:00

After 6 months of dealing with a useless dog shipping company, Roxy finally landed in PNG yesterday. The kids were VERY excited to see her. Although i suspect the feelings weren't returned with as much enthusiasm. Roxy the super dog was burned in a bushfire last year, so now she wears her super coat everyday.

LMS hasn't spent too much time around dogs and was very excited by it all. First she thought a bit of paw holding was called for....

She couldn't get enough............

Although i suspect Roxy could........... this high pitched squeal sent her over the edge i think.

Tomorrow, being Anzac day, we are heading up the road, (as in 200m) for a dawn service at 5.30am, followed by a rum BBQ breaky and a cricket match. Aussies v's the rest of the world. I've never dragged my sorry arse out of bed for a dawn service before, claiming i had to look after the kids, wax my bikini line or perhaps SLEEP! Tarzan has been on his own a few times, so given it was in our backyard i thought we'd all go. So i'm off to bed.

What to blog when you can't blog...

2010-04-21T18:49:00.006+10:00

Well i was going to Blog, but it is absolutely bucketing down outside and the internet connection keeps dropping out so i can't upload any pics. So i'll just tell you about my day instead..... lucky you. :p

Had a good day, a group of local ladies from a woman's group came to our house to help in the garden. They are raising money to go to some conference up in the highlands in September. I didn't ask too many questions, something to do with their church. I try my hardest not get involved with any church activities anywhere in the world, but particularly here, everyone is so passionate about their religion. There are 17 churches just in this community. Plenty of passion, competition, and rivalry. In a country where there isn't a lot, church is everything, it gives these people some hope and something to look forward to every week. I am not meaning to get into a religious discussion here. Anyone who knows me, knows i am not in the slightest bit religious, but i don't have issues with people that are. :D Anyway, i digress.

For $25 kina about 15 ladies will come to your house and clean your garden, weed, sweep, whatever you like. It is the church my house meri Janet belongs to and i wanted to support her, so i got the ladies in. Although security would only allow 6, not the 15 they wanted to offer!

We 'lost' our gardener this week. Poor old Nicholas kept not turning up to work and causing dramas with the pay office and HR, so he got sacked. He has gone back to his home to be looked after by his 'wontoks' or family. I feel sad for him, but he is old and getting a bit senile and will probably benefit from being with his family. So the ladies came and raked the grass and pulled out the weeds nicholas missed because he is mostly blind!

I made them a huge pot of soup, fresh bread, pikelets with jam and some ice cold water for lunch. They insisted they had come to work and didn't want food, but i insisted more that i wanted to feed them! I don't back down easily, as you mostly know. So we all sat around under the house enjoying 'kai-kai' and 'talktalk'. I am surprised at how quickly i am picking up pidgin, i can't speak that well, but enough to get by and i can understand about 70% if people talk 'isi isi' (easy easy = slowly). Every day Rita and Janet teach and correct my pidgin.

The ladies were very wary of me to begin with. But after a few laughs and me getting my hooters out to feed LMS, we were all good friends. ;)

They told me no white meri had ever cooked for them like that before, which made me sad, but on the other hand happy to have made their day and filled their bellies. Like all developing nations there is a massive contrast between the rich and the poor here. The poor are often treated as second class, particularly by the wealthy nationals, but unfortunately by many expats as well. All of the ladies i have met here would happily feed and help people, but within the community it is not widely done. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of fundraising and donations and most people feed and cloth and help their house staff but not a lot of sitting down in a group with local people offering them food and having a chat iykwim. (for all you old people, and mum.....iykwim is an acronym for "if you know what i mean") I guess there are so many people to help?! I dunno, i figure helping some is better than helping none. Maybe i'll start a new trend........ The ladies picked up 3 more days work today, so that's something.

In other amazing news, Rita's boy had his first hearing on Monday and has been granted bail, set at $500kina, so, thanks to all you lovely people who have bought or ordered 'Bilums'(bags) from Rita, it certainly helped her and her husband raise enough money to post bail. Rita and her husband caught a bus to Madang tonight and they will return with their son tomorrow.

I think we are having 1m of our 3 year rainfall, and someone told me the dry season was starting?! I have bored you all to sleep by now, so............ going to climb up my vine to the treehouse. aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgrgrgrgrgaaahhhhhhhhhh. *best Tarzan yodel i could muster*

Ride 'em cowgirl.

2010-04-19T15:48:00.003+10:00

It nearly killed me.......... but i made it.

2010-04-18T19:36:00.000+10:00

Second time lucky. Made it to the top of K1. Very challenging. Am absolutely shattered tonight. The last bit of the hike is so steep, you are almost rock climbing up. To get down, you ski on one foot under your bum, trying to control your speed by grabbing onto the grass.

The view from the top was amazing.

Just to prove i did it. :p

A few other random pics. It was hard to capture pictures of the ridge. It really is a ridge, and drops away very dramatically either side. Not a place to hike if you are afraid of heights that's for sure.

This is the tiny stream that turned into the raging torrent last week.

This is the flattened grass from the swollen river.

Body aching, mainly from running down as sunset was fast approaching.

Beer, bed.

Yes, nothing better than a cold beer after that achievement.

Night.

The postman wasn't lost after all, perhaps just resting under a tree.

2010-04-12T15:30:00.000+10:00

I know, two posts in one day, my fingers may just fall off, but i was very excited to receive our first piece of mail today! Mail is not very reliable here. A friend received a parcel 9 months after it was posted and many go missing. So i was stoked to get this pressie from Em for little sassy.

It is an absolutely divine reversible skirt. Beautifully made and gorgeous colors, having to put up with me whining on many occasions, Emma is well tuned into the fact that i don't really like pink. Well, that's not exactly true, i like a little pink, i like vibrant pink, but i don't like my babies to look like someone vomited that sickly, pale, girly pink all over them. So thank you so much little miss emma! xxxxx Ya'll can checkout some other funky things she has made on her blog or website. Very cool minky blankets. ;)

LL wants a piece of the action, LMS not having a bar of it.......... Then she succumbs and finds plenty of joy in the wrapping paper.

Conquering Everest

2010-04-12T14:10:00.000+10:00

Out the back of the compound, through about a kilometer of sugar cane lies a small mountain range. The first goal is K1, then K2 and finally the furthest peak locally referred to as Everest.

It can be seen below in the background.

Yesterday arvo i set out with two friends to concur my first hike, K1. It is generally a two hour return hike which is a bit of a rock climb at the end, revealing an amazing view of all the surrounding jungle.

We trekked through the cane with ease, hopped across the creek, past a little village and headed up the ridge. About 20 minutes into the hike there was an almighty lightening strike and a clap of thunder that shook my bones and caused me to quickly duck down to check that my shoelaces were tied. ;) They of course were, so we continued on. Then the rain started, nothing much, a bit of a spit. We had the discussion of trekking on or turning back. Being my first hike and feeling like i had something to prove, i voted to go on, as a little rain wasn't going to stop me reaching the top. A lightening strike might, but not the rain! So we continued on and the rain got a little heavier. Another strike and an almighty crash again sent me to me knees. Walking up an exposed ridge was not really the most sensible thing to be doing in a lightening storm, so we sensibly decided after the next strike we'd run for the first shoulder, down the other side and shelter for a minute or two?!

P, the mountain goat tour guide set off first, easily bounding up the steep slippery track. I went next, slipping and sliding and fumbling my way up until, C, who was behind me yelled "snake". I packed my dacks, realising i just stepped over it, and leaped ahead a few bounds leaving C to deal with the slithery creature on her own. By this stage P was over the shoulder and sheltering the grass. The snake was not so keen to move on, but eventually did and we too headed for shelter. This was shelter.......

The side of this ridge drops VERY steeply down into the valley. So whilst hiding behind a blade of grass, being pelted by the now very heavy rain, we stupidly discussed how dangerous our predicament was. Landslide, earthquake, lightening strike, flash floods, snake bites. None of which were out of the realm of possibility. P was very surprised at the snake, in his 20 years of hiking these ridges he has never seen one. Lucky me, my first trip i nearly stood on one.

Given our predicament, we decided that it was a good time to head back.

(Just to prove i was there! :p)

So we headed down the track, which was now a small creek. We slipped and slid our way down, as we approached the small village at the bottom of the hill, i became apparent that the small creek was now a torrent of water and certainly could not cross where we had skipped across only an hour before.

before.....

after....

As we approached the river a lady came running from her house, very concerned we were going to try and cross the river. "No can cross" she kept yelling.

Her husband came down from tending to his sweet potato and offered to show us the only route across the river now. We gladly followed him, through his field, across his yard to where the river splits into 3, making it more easily passable. Kids came running from everywhere to see and laugh at the white people stuck on this side of the creek. The water was raging, and yet children about 10 years old were rolling and playing in the rapids. The kids and adults alike all wanted to help us. They showed us where to cross, held our hand and ensured we weren't washed away. The first crossing was ankle deep but running fast, you had to watch your footing.

The second one was knee deep and required a little assistance. As long as you walked with the current a little it wasn't too bad.

The third one wasn't wide but was waist deep and we really needed a bit of help to get across this one.

Here are our rescue crew this side of the third crossing. They are standing on the edge of what was a peanut crop only moments earlier.

So we crossed the creeks and finally returned home, right on dark. We were drenched, tired but also pleased with the adventure we had. I only made it half way up to the top, so i am hoping to tackle this again in the next few weeks. P1 is not going to beat me! I have to conquer K1, K2 and Everest before i am allowed to tag along on a shaggy ridge hike, a famous war site, home of many world war two battles located just down the road.

It's time to talk about the elephant in the room- PALM OIL

2010-04-07T07:08:00.000+10:00

With easter about and the awareness of Palm Oil production issues being promoted on Aussie TV, it is time to talk about our employment. Although Tarzan is managing a cattle operation, his employer is New Britain Palm Oil.

Palm oil production in other parts of the world is having devastating effects on forest and Orangutang populations, more info here . It is disgraceful and should be stopped before the Orangutans are wiped out entirely.

When i first heard that the job was for a palm oil company i was a little concerned. Seeing the publicity and hearing about the Orangutans i was very hesitant to work for a Palm Oil company. I was pleasantly surprised that not all Palm Oil companies are managed in the same manner. NBPOL has been independently assessed and certified to be farming in a sustainable manner. The company has been certified by the ISO 4001, and the RSPO- Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil. The RSPO is supported by over 380 members including the WWF and Oxfam.

The RSPO define how palm oil should be grown and verified in a sustainable manner, as well as demanding traceability of the product throughout the entire supply chain. The RSPO criteria requires compliance with not only environmental factors, but strict social and economic criteria as well.

NBPOL and all its operations are the first Palm Oil producer to achieve the certifications. After discovering all these facts, i was much more comfortable working for NBPOL. There are many things about living and working in a developing nation that do bother me, but the companies production ethics are not amongst them.

So like all produce, i believe the origin of the product should clearly be displayed. So consumers are able to make informed choices. I also hope that more companies join the RSPO and put a stop to their devastating farming practices.

More info and references;

NBPOL

RSPO

http://www.investegate.co.uk/article.aspx?id=200809261000453985E

Madang

2010-04-06T19:24:00.000+10:00

Well easter was going to be a surf trip north of Madang, but we gave Rita and her husband a lift up to Madang on Friday and as a result couldn't fit our gear in the land cruiser. Rita and her husband were going to visit their 14 year old son in jail in Madang. He has been in jail for 3 months awaiting trial. A heartbreaking story that Rita allowed me to share on my blog. Her son and his friend were wagging school and playing down by the market. A drunk man (20-ish) came by and started picking on the two boys. They got into a scuffle and trying to push the man away her son's friend stabbed the drunk man with a small knife. He died as a result of the wound. The two boys were arrested and are now waiting in a prison in Madang. In PNG, there is a fairly serious 'eye for and eye' system in place. The families were asked to pay $100,00 kina as reimbursement for the boys death. There is no way that would be possible. If you can't pay the requested amount then it is usual that one of your family members will be murdered. As the boys were arrested the police went and spoke to the victims family, telling them things were now in the hands of the police and they were forbidden to carry out any revenge attacks.

If we didn't drive them, the other option was for to catch a PMV(private motor vehicle- small coaster type bus), which would be $50 kina each return, about as comfortable as Fred Flinstone's floor-less car, with a high probability of having to get out and push it when it got stuck on the less then fantastic road to Madang. They have engaged a lawyer which will cost them every cent they have and some they don't, (anyone interested in buying the bags Rita makes, i have pics on face book. )

So we packed them in with us and dropped them in Madang with their few belonging and a chocolate cake tucked under their arm. (your prize winning recipe Karen. Thanks. :D)

The trip there was not as bad as expected. 120kms, 3.5hrs. The road crosses the finistares ranges, winding up and down, with many river crossings. The road is pretty badly damaged from too much rain, too many trucks and no upkeep. In many places there is little more than mud holding the road together. The road is the only one joining Madang to the country south of it.

A comforting sign to pass............

This is a 'good' section of road, but the bridge got washed away, it is currently being repaired but for now the river has been diverted the road detours through the river bed.

There is about 25kms that looks mostly like this. Washed out, big potholes, i have no idea how the little buses even make it through.

This is two PMV's meeting on a hill. Luckily it was still dry at this stage. The bigger PMV started spinning it's wheels a little further up and had to reverse down and give it another crack. Don't ask me how they guy on the roof managed to hold on for the 3 hours journey?!

This was taken after only about 5 minutes of rain, you can imagine how bad it is after a big rain. Some weeks it is impassable, other times it takes 5+ hours. It used to take an hour and 45 minutes!

We approached one very precarious section of road that had slid away. The local villagers had fixed the road with stones and mud, once again making it passable. They created a blockade to stop the vehicles and ask for a fee to reimburse them for fixing the road. I was a little terrified initially, we came around a bend and were confronted with about 50 men wielding serious faces, a few stones and a couple of shovels. We were told they wanted reimbursement of $20kina per vehicle. We handed over the cash and were waved on. I was quite happy to pay them for their trouble, if it wasn't for them there certainly wouldn't be anyway of passing through that section of road.

There is a Nickel mine half way along and the company have recently put in a huge pipe line from the mine to the ocean where they are going to dump millions of liters of their waste in the ocean?! Not only have they seriously contributed to the degradation of the road, the story goes that they made some dodgy deal with the government that did not include them fixing the road up. Apparently the pipe has been stopped, for now. But i'm sure it wont be long before the big company pays the government enough to finish the pipe and the pollution of the lovely seaside town of Medang begins. Read more about it here.

We stayed at the Madang Resort , which was lovely. The balcony of the room hung out over the ocean. It was nice to be by the sea again.

We look pretty happy about it..... wouldn't you say???

It is the first place i have ever stayed where they had sleeping instructions.............

Lucky they told us. Who knows where we might have slept.

The resort has a little market selling local crafts. LL took her change purse and bought a necklace, the lady took a liking to her and gave her another necklace as a gift. So LL gave her a little easter egg. Each lady selling things then came and gave LL or LMS a free necklace or anklet hoping for an easter egg!!! Fortunately we had enough for one each. ;)

We took a trip up the coast on Saturday to a small village with a great little snorkeling spot. The villagers ask for $10 kina / per vehicle to help them maintain the area. It is a great little sheltered cove with a natural rock wall providing a sheltered area for swimming and snorkeling. Lots of fish, friendly folk, warm tropical water meant a great day was had by all.

You never know where you're going to find spiderman.

The only problem with this place was dragging LL out of the water when it was time to go home......