Country Club

Last friday I was taken to the “Country Club” for a quiz night to rescue me  from my usual low life – all wealthy ex-pats and a few rich locals drinking, slapping each other on the back, reminiscing about the good old times and planning for their next golf fixture and bowls event. Like going back in a time warp to colonial days!  Still I guess they are a part of the community we are planning for and many have become PNG citizens and make a contribution to the local economy.

Saturday I caught a little boat from the harbour to visit Siar Island which is less than a kilometre across, had to take my socks and shoes off to wade ashore where I was met by half a dozen children who insisted on showing me round the island after I had taken their photos. Lots of decaying Japanese remnants of the war, bunkers, bits of planes and ships, graves etc but all overgrown in the jungle – amazing how jungly a little island can be. Little sandy beaches, a girl catching fish with a spear and then a coconut to drink and catching a boat back by waving one down that was passing by from further up the coast.

In the office its all change as my boss has served the normal two years as acting town manager and is now replaced on instructions from the Provincial office by his deputy, Philip – a manager whose management style is to shout at people or he thinks he is not doing his job. We will see how we get on fairly soon I guess.

 more noisy bats

 Uninhabited Island

 Siar Island