All work and no play (well, very little!) ...

Last week Steve ran a Spreadsheet Basics training course - 6 hours over 2 days.  It went very well.  I was his assistant.  It's a gig I want to keep, as then I'll get to go on his (potential!) work travel trips to run the course at the other research centres.  

My training course on Soft Skills - communication, team work, problem solving and the like - for the staff is being fine tuned and hopefully it will also run with the HR team assisting.  I have the packs of cards and paper clips all ready for the activities.  And no, there will be NO trust exercises in any course I lead!  I am also working on Leadership training and getting OH&S closer to Australian standards.  The Extension Resources web site (AGDEX-PNG) might happen in time for me to present a paper about it at a Food in PNG Conference in July, or it might not!  So work goes on.

Our International Volunteers Day extravaganza made the national papers, 7 weeks after the event.  It was a nice write up if a bit belated.

There was some 'play'.  Last weekend we attended an Australia Day BBQ put on by the Consulate-General Lae.  It's not a day I would normally celebrate but it was nice to get out and chat to new people.  There was a big mix of locals and foreigners there.  I chatted with a lovely young German chap about his travels in PNG and ours in Germany. (Liz, Sophie and I had 4 weeks there 10 year ago!)  I talked with a young Australian mother from Queensland who has just come to Lae with her husband and three young children.  He will be working at the international school. I think they are so brave - it will be an adventure!  We heard from a group of locals who are about to head to Australia as part of the PALM scheme - Pacific Australia Labour Mobility.  They are very excited to have the opportunity but I think are also very brave!  The tour guide who was organising today's birding was there.  We checked all was going to plan.  Yes!  Just awaiting our confirmation of permission.

And now, today.

February has started with the same frustrations that always dog volunteers.  We're in countries where things just don't work!  But then the voice of reason whispers, that's why we are here!

Friday after work we always head up to the 'mess'.  This is the bar and dining room where the residents of HBS village - mostly men, either single or here without their partners - have their meals.  Not a lot of drinking seems to happen and it's never 'rowdy'.  There are a few Aussies and a Kiwi we often see there and have a chat with.  But usually we sit there, debriefing on the week and contemplating the forest that we just can't get in to!

This weekend, after several months of negotiation, we thought we finally had the birding nut cracked!  The tour guide and assistants were organised, permission sought and gained, transport booked, lunch (and satellite phone, emergency beacon and personal tracker) packed.  

This morning early we were at the HBS gate waiting for a 6:30 am pick up.  6:40 came and no car.  Steve rang to find what's happening.  "We're waiting in Eriku (half an hour away) came the response."  Eriku is where the other AusVols live.  Steve -"We're at HBS 11 mile!"  "On our way" says transport/security.  7:15 and still no car.  Steve rang the tour company to say we'll be late.  The transport company are not answering their phone or responding to texts about whereabouts of the car.  Steve has steam coming out his ears and swearing is happening.

I ring the transport company.  "We booked a car for 6:30.  It isn't here" I calmly say.  "It has a slow leak in the tyre" comes the response. "I've dispatched a ute to replace it".  ""Will the ute take 4 passengers" I ask.  "No. it's single cab."  "Well that's not ok.  We are 4".  "It's all that's available".  "Then we will have to cancel".  "So you don't want to be picked up now?"  "No, I want to be picked up an hour ago, in a car that takes 5 people" I don't say. "No, cancel the pick up" I say, and that's the end of the conversation.  Steve texts the tour company and we come back inside to sulk!

I hate being made to feel unreasonable (the transport company) or unreliable (the tour company) but that was the position we were put in.  There's no alternative for transport and there's no spontaneity - everything we do has to be approved before hand.

This is not a one off.  Something always comes up to put a spanner in the birding works.  The restrictions on what we can do, where we can go and what transport we can use are onerous.  We knew they would be before we agreed to come.  But living it is hard!  It may be a good thing that my passport is in Port Moresby for a new visa and Steve's replacement passport has not arrived from Canberra yet or I could be  tempted to book a ticket home!

I have found the last fortnight difficult.  Our daughter Liz in Hobart has had major surgery and we were not there for her.  Our son David was doing the negotiations on buying a flat and we were not there to look at it.  A good friend in Hamilton has died and we are not there for the communal grieving.  Fire and weather conditions in Victoria have been trying and we were not there.  We know all this, and all the similar scenarios, can happen, but it's hard.

In 2014-5 I had 12 months without Steve in Arusha volunteering at the Umoja Centre.  I enjoyed the year of independence.  I don't think I'd do it now.  The world seems a darker and more dangerous place (Thank you Donald J Trump!) and I don't think I am as resilient.  Though if Tony Abbott was ever PM again I might find the courage!

Facebook is always reminding me of where I was and what I was doing 3, 10 or 15 years ago, and it seems that late January is the time to run training.  Here are two pictures to finish up this self-indulgent post.  One from Katoke Teachers College in Tanzania in 2011 and one from Katuuso Primary School Uganda in 2017.

DIY Snakes and Ladders Game - what are the positives
and negatives in how we teach.

More positives and negatives - teaching about
integers using bottle caps

Feedback always welcome, Jenny xx

January

We've been back in Lae two weeks now and in two more weeks we reach the half way mark of our assignments.  Hard to believe!

Just as the work place was decorated for Anniversary of Independence, so was it decorated for Christmas.  Receptionist Anna has her Christmas seasonal wear!  I did my bit for Christmas Spirit with a red and green paper chain that said Happy Christmas.  HR Manager Lina organised a small end of year morning tea with pizza and cake (it was Jasmine's birthday).  Steve and I have been coopted into the HR Team - we don't seem to fit anywhere else. 

 

Then it was home to Australia for two weeks R&R.  We opted for a night in Port Moresby on the way to Brisbane rather than risking missing connecting flights - Airniugini is not known for its reliability! - and all went well.  The EV we had hired for the two weeks on the Sunshine Coast was ready and easy to drive.  Also very cheap to fuel.  It was lovely to see so much family - my sister and brother-in-law met us on the Gold Coast along with their two grandchildren for a catch up before Christmas, then our three plus one grandchild arrived on Christmas Day.  They were all exhausted from working right up to Christmas Eve so we had a relaxed time reading, eating and sleeping.

       

Christmas Lunch - still working on the Selfie!

The boys only stayed three nights but we had the girls for a week.  We had a trip up to Eumundi Market (plenty of earrings!) and a day in Montvillle and Maleny.  The girls had a day at  Australia Zoo.

Last time I was on the Sunshine Coast for Christmas there was a cyclone!  This is us at Auntie Lil and Uncle Don's house in Montville Christmas 1963. 

Montville - in the 60s this was the General Store with a very grumpy owner.

Also it was lovely to see Steve's cousin and her husband.  They had lived in PNG when Col worked for the PMG in the late 70s.  I think Jan was very brave coming here with four children, the youngest just weeks old!  It was interesting to talk about what is still the same and what is so different.

Mostly we enjoyed the freedom of being able to walk and drive wherever we wanted!  And we enjoyed being in the bush and at the beach.

Liz and me at the beach

 

A beautiful coastal banksia - don't know which species

I love the buttressed roots of many rainforest trees - I so wish we could get out into the forest here in PNG!

Orchid at D'Aguillar NP

As promised, a story about fruit and vegetables.

This is the story as we heard it from locals.  Between Christmas and New Year trouble with raskols at the 9 Mile Market increased.  They have been coming in with automatic weapons and threatening stall holders to steal money and goods.  Police were called but when the officers came some stall holders hid the raskols from the police because the raskols were "our people".  and of course violence erupted.  People were killed, the stalls were destroyed - knocked over by vehicles and then burned.  Now the market area - about a hectare - has been totally cleared.  We have heard it will reopen soon but nothing yet.  This morning as we drove past there was quite a big crowd just hanging around and a few stalls set up on the track at the back that leads to the illegal settlement village up in the forest where the market community mostly live.  

So for now we get our fruit and veg at Main Market which is crowded and bustling on a Saturday morning but stall holders are always cheerful and friendly, and I try to buy from many stalls to spread the Kina around.  Main Market itself is just a temporary arrangement, the former Lae Central Market having burned down a year or so ago.  The Australian government and the New Zealand government have committed funds to build a new one and work has begun, though planning is not quite finished.  

The crayon drawing is the side market at 9 Mile where we used to shop - it runs along the footpath of the Highlands Highway and so was easy to park.  There's always plenty of variety there - though not always everything on the list! 

Today's fruit and veg from Main Market

9 Mile Market on the Highlands Highway

On December 10 we learned how to hand pollinate Dragon Fruit and barely 4 weeks later mine was ready to eat.  It was very red!  And delicious just chilled and sliced.

Pollinated Dec 10

Harvested January 9

Eaten January 12

 The work continues, extra slowly at the moment with so many people still on leave.  I am waiting for feedback on most of the documents I have prepared - revised training manuals and training workshops.  There is a certain amount of frustration - I don't want to push too far ahead if I then find out it isn't what is needed.  But that's the life of an Australian Volunteer!

We're looking forward to an Australia Day BBQ hosted by the Consul-General Lae next weekend and then we'll be almost into February.

Always happy to get comments and feedback, Jenny

International Volunteers Day

 

The last two weeks have been busy!  Our longer than expected trip to West New Britain meant that planning for International Volunteers Day was rushed.  Invitations were supposed to have been issued before we left but that didn't happen.  There is so much stuff around protocol and the right way of doing things that I just don't get! In the end invitees only had 3 days notice!  Luckily all the other Australian Volunteers in Lae knew the event was happening and had planned to attend with representatives from their partner organisations.  Representatives from the Consulate-General Lae for the Australian High Commission had been pre-warned too so were present.  Each section at NARI HQ and the NARI Research Centre across the road sent representatives so we had a lovely crowd of around 40 and two hours to fill before lunch.  

We started right on time with a prayer.  The most senior NARI officer around at the time - the strategic advisor - welcomed everyone.  I spoke about the volunteer experience.  All the volunteers and their partners had the chance to speak, and the C-G's rep spoke too.  That was half the program! 

It's not a celebration without balloons and bunting and we had both.  The bunting was hand made.  Each participant at the event had to write something in praise of volunteering on a little coloured paper flag and they were attached to crepe paper streamers.  It did look festive!

Steve ran a 20 question multiple choice quiz.  The questions were about the Australian Volunteer Program over its 60+ year history, the special Australia - Papua New Guinea relationship and Rugby League.  Tables of 5-6 people had to come up with answers by consensus.  They were very competitive!  The winning table had 16 correct answers.  The lowest was 12 correct answers so everyone passed!

The last activity was cooperative poster making activity, again on the positives of volunteering, not just the AV program but in all spheres of life.  Groups worked hard and earned their lunch.  The buffet provided by the NARI Western Region Guest House was the best I've had in PNG!

AusVols and C-G Lae

All up it was a great event - well worth all the effort and stress that went into it.

This last week at work I have been preparing staff training materials on "soft skills" - time management, communication, problem solving & co - while Steve works on training materials for the vocational skills the scientists need.  We are both learning a lot ourselves.  Next year (next month!) it will be full steam ahead with training days hopefully all up and down the country!

Saturdays we always do the weekly shop at one of the supermarkets in town.  Mostly they have all we need though for the last two months no Saladas, no Ryvitas and no Cruskits.  They are Steve's lunch staples and he has had to manage with cream crackers which evidently just don't cut it!  Sometimes a little gem appears.  Today it was fresh mushrooms, excellent as this afternoon Steve is making pizzas for expected visitors tonight.  We'd had a discussion on potential toppings.  I still think the choice of Brussels sprouts (Arusha 2019) was inspired.

A bonus today was a Christmas market at Eriku near the supermarket for small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs to sell their wares.  It's my favourite kind of shopping.  My purchases today were (clockwise) a fan from Bougainville, a bilum from West Sepik, a small handbag from Morobe and a bilum from Manus Island.  My collection of bilums is growing.  Not sure yet how I will smuggle it all home.

Next Saturday we fly to Port Moresby then on to Brisbane on Sunday for our two week holiday on the Sunshine Coast. 

Jenny

West New Britain

We arrived home today after nearly a week in West New Britain - the first 4 days planned, the last 2 not so much!  I'll save that saga for the end of the post.

We flew from Lae to a small provincial airport, Hoskins, near Kimbe on the northern coast of West New Britain.  It's about an hour and a half by plane.  We were picked up there for the hour drive to the resort where we were staying.  The road has some Botswana level potholes - large, deep and close together! - but little traffic so mostly avoidable.

The resort was lovely.  Extensive grounds with lush gardens.  The best thing was having the freedom to just walk around.  The pool was  great and the view out to distant volcanos and small coral atolls was there even when the birds weren't.  The owner is a (mostly) retired agricultural scientist so we had lots of chats about agriculture in PNG and the oil palm industry in particular - her field of interest.  The rain season is just starting so we had some heavy rain at various times but it didn't slow us up.

  

There were always fresh flowers everywhere.  Frangipani flowers all year around and the hibiscus is beautiful.  Our bungalow had excellent views out to sea and there were always amazing butterflies to look at.

I had quality time reading and relaxing by the pool but also went snorkelling, circumnavigating an atoll about half an hour out by boat.  The fish were colourful and plentiful, also sea cucumber, sea stars and shells of all shapes and sizes.  The coral is looking a bit sad - bleached by high sea temperatures over the last few years.  My only problem was sea sickness - not on the boat getting there and back, but while snorkelling, because of the swell.  I didn't even know that was a thing.  Anyway, the fish enjoyed my beef burger and chips.

We had an early morning walk through a local village and part way up a small, dormant volcano.  We walked through cocoa orchards and past food gardens in clearings in the forest.  

There were some huge old trees and lots of interesting fungi.  There was a spot where we could see out to the bay through the trees.

 

Naturally we did lots of birding, some of it in the oil palm plantations and adjacent forest.  Steve and the guides found some of the birds he wanted.  The megapode was not at home but we saw the nest holes.  The oil palm industry is a huge employer in WNB.  We saw the nursery where new plants are grown.  The new varieties start producing fruit when they are 9 months old!  Many women are working picking up fruit that is left behind after the main harvest goes through.  These 'Lus frut Maris' are paid by the kilo for what they collect.

We had a great time but had to be back at work on Thursday so packed up to leave Wednesday morning.

Getting home was a saga taking three days instead of 90 minutes and involving lots of time in airport waiting rooms.  Wednesday we were in plenty of time for our flight with PNG Air direct back to Lae.  The check in officer asked had we checked in on line.  Yes, we had, and had electronic boarding passes to prove it.  "Good" he said, telling us the plane was full because schools were just closing for the year and there were plenty of people on the move.  We moved on to the boarding lounge and waited.  

Steve has a Flight Radar app.  We watched our plane approach and almost land, we watched it circle above us, and we watched it fly off towards Lae.  We, and a dozen other very cross passengers, headed back to the check in counter to find out what was going on.  "Weather" we were told, meant it couldn't land.  The more likely explanation was filling our seats with other passengers in Rabaul and no space for us.  We were told to come back at 9 the next morning and we'd be on the shortlist for any unfilled seats on the next day's plane.  The resort driver was still at the airport waiting to see if we'd successfully left before leaving himself.  He took us back to the resort as we did not have AVI permission to stay anywhere else. 

The next morning we were back in plenty of time - the resort got us there at 7:30 - to be told they wouldn't know until 12 noon if there were any 'no shows'.  Midday came and we were told to be patient.  One o'clock and we were told no seats.  An email had come from PNG Air to say we'd been booked on to the next available flight - on Sunday Nov 30!  Not OK!

We'd had a discussion with the Air Nuigini check in officer about flying home via Port Moresby.  Tickets and seats were available she said.  We booked our flights and also booked a night at the Sanctuary Hotel in PM because the return meant an overnight there and an early start on Friday morning.  We were upgraded to waiting in the business lounge which meant a cup of coffee and a sachet of Scotch Finger biscuits.  

Boarding time came, and went.  No plane.  Our friend who sold us the tickets said yes, yes, it's coming; until eventually, no, it's been cancelled!  Steve unbooked the Sanctuary Hotel and I sought permission from AVI to stay at the grandly named Hoskins Airport Resort which is not very grand, certainly not a resort and its greatest crime - Dry! - so no beer or wine to drown our sorrows.  Still, it was fine for just the one night and we were back at the airport at 5 am this morning.  The security team were so used to us that they didn't bother screening our luggage any more - a manual job of poking around in the bags as no X-ray.  The plane in from Port Moresby was late - naturally! - but it was still a relief when it landed.  

Of course we missed our connection to Lae.  We were told at Hoskins that they would email and phone ahead to explain our troubles and I don't know if that happened but at Port Moresby airport a "Protocol Officer" found us as we neared the Customer Service desk (which was mobbed!) and said he would get a woman named Ronny to sort us out.  And she did!  She produced new boarding passes, found our luggage, took us to the front of the queue at check in and made sure we got through into the departure lounge.

Another 3 hours of waiting, hearing 4 flights cancelled and 2 delayed, and our boarding call finally came, over a half hour late but so welcome!  We finally arrived back at Lae airport about 2:30 and were home by half past 3.  Next job is explaining it all to the travel insurance company.  I was totally exhausted  but a swim and a beer at the bar have sparked me up and I am enjoying a magnificent sunset.

We have a busy few weeks ahead.  Will tell you all about our International Volunteers Day event in my next post.

Leave a comment if you can , or email me.  We love to hear from friends and family. Jenny