Its been a while...

I have an apology - its been some time since I have updated my blog - my only excuse? Work, study and limited time on the internet....

But I recently wrote a small piece about our village truck ride into town. Life really cant be more different then the comfortable life I live in Australia!

You have to get up earlier when you go to town, a half an hour before normal time, so 5:45am you need to start preparing for the trip into town if you’re travelling by PMV (or the village truck) and not by boat, by 6:45 you need to be on the road walking to the next village to get the PMV. We wait at the boarder of the village until we can hear the engine start up. The outcomes Kiwa in his open tray truck which at the fullest would fit, maybe 30 people in the back – sometimes more I am sure. These trucks are the life line for people to get from the villages into town. They are the only form of transport for many people, and their only way to get into town with their garden vegetables to sell. You see them driving very fast down the road, crowded up with people on the back of them, from all parts of the island. The Southern cars that head to Buin or Siwai usually are 4WD enclosed 10 seater cars, the trip from Buin to Kokopau takes up to 10 hours! I can’t imagine, sitting all that time, squashed – it’s bad enough from Arawa which is 3 hours away.

It’s an adventure!

And one I love in the morning when the time Kiwa leaves is reliable (within an hour or so) – we have been known to wait in town for hours for him to return home. Thankfully today I don’t need to worry about that....

So we climb up – usually I sit in the middle – less chance of falling off the truck – but this morning I sat on the edge (which always makes me a bit nervous), but we had the best seats on the truck, the ones next to the cabin so you have something to hold onto and something to lean on. So I felt safe. Occasionally they offer for me to sit in the cabin, but there is already 2 or 3 men in the cabin and I would prefer to sit on the back where I can watch the villages and the scenery.

Off we go – the locals love seeing me travel this way – I and the sisters are always greeted with big smiles. It’s nice, and makes you feel like a part of the community which is nice.

As we head off, it’s about a 40 minute trip and I wonder what drama we will have today – it seems the every time I jump onto a village truck something happens, they run out of diesel, flat tyres, oil leaks – you get my drift - it’s also a great time to reflect and watch as the landscape passes you by. The side road we start on makes its way to the main highway passing plantations, gardens and villages on the way. It’s amazing, the landscape shows very clearly the scars from WW2, bomb holes all over the place, where trenches and dug outs were is still evident and the occasional gun or piece of armoury is still tucked away in the bush... As the landscape shows the scars from WW2, I think about how the people still show the scars of the conflict.

The bush is full of vines and smaller trees, and then now and again you pass the most amazing huge tropical trees – always covered with vines and all sorts of plants living off the host tree. They are amazing and look like they have been there since the beginning of time.

Today, as I sat and watched the world pass me by, I thought of how different life is here than the one I know at home – and how different the landscape is to where my friend Kerry is – she’s in Kabul with the UN. I love her photos, they are just such a contrast from mine – Afghanistan being in the desert. It looks incredibly dusty, and baron. Whereas where I am, if you don’t continually cut the bush back, it takes over in a matter of weeks!

Both are a far cry from Australia, where our garden is our Supermarket just down the road.

We hit the highway. Kiwa makes sure he stops at villages, picks things up and doesn’t miss anyone out. Even though we are so close to Buka, he is the only village truck in the area that services us. If we miss Kiwa, and the boat isn’t going and the sisters car isn’t up to going, good luck with the 2 hour walk into town in the searing heat!

Kiwa also picks up a lot of the local students hearing to Hantoa – a 2 hour walk from us in the opposite direction from town. As the truck fills up, I start to wonder how many of these people are going to pay? Petrol isn’t cheap – especially these days (which makes me wonder why more people aren’t using Coconut like they did during the crisis....). We reach the school and half the truck climbs off – no one pays – they are students and can’t afford the 4kina ride one way. Kiwa doesn’t seem to mind, he is a community service (when he isn’t a PMV, he transports Copra, and suspect that’s where he makes his money!). With the kids off, there is a lot more room to spread out which is good. We continue on our way, the highway is in good condition lately which is great, makes the ride smooth.

We pass more villages, the kids always wave and I always wave back. Sister Isabel sits next to me and nods off – I suspect she didn’t get much sleep last night. She is going into town to her computer training – which I am very very pleased about. She’s always a good companion.

Another 10 minutes and we are in town, all dusty and ready to hop of and get into the boat. I love the trip, it gives me a good look at villages, some tucked in the forest – others take pride position on top of the cliffs that lead into the sea. It really is a diverse land, and a diverse people.
We get into Kokopau – Sr Isabel and I jump off the truck – Jane is also with us today. I can’t read Jane, I think she’s – well lazy is the word that comes to mind. She seems very unenthusiastic about everything – she’s also getting computer training, although she’s also 6 months pregnant to a boy in the next village (they are due to get married at some point).

Anyway we all jump in a boat with things to sell at the market, I have my computer and all my text books and clothes for 2 nights to stay in town. I start to walk up to the exit where we stay, but am picked up on the way which is usually the case. Today it’s my friend Gloria who is also heading in my direction so I jump on board. I arrive at the exit (our Buka accommodation – called EXIT – initially set up to allow desperate women needing to EXIT their situations quickly and quietly to do so) and to my surprise Sr Josephine hasn’t told me that in fact Sr Lorraine is still in town and has decided not to go to Port Moresby. The entire purpose of my trip was to keep Josephine company, as she didn’t want to sleep alone in town. So now we have a dilemma – with Jocelyn who works out of the exit, there are 4 people, 3 computers and 2 work stations!

Hmmm!

I spend a few hours trying to start on this paper about airline automation and the effect on pilots stress level... Yeah, it’s a little hard to concentrate with people coming and going, sitting on a bed, so I cut my losses and when Sr Isabel turns up after class I pack up and decide to come home with her. This angers Josephine a little – she would like me there and can’t understand why I have to go and can’t just stay the night.... But some days you have to just cut your losses and run!

Sr Isabel and I start to walk back into town – again picked up by a friendly stranger on the way so we don’t have to walk far – which is very fortunate – text books can get very heavy! We pick up a few things in town and make our way back to Kokopau to jump back into Kiwa for the 2pm trip home, seems today has been drama free which is good. In fact today – he leaves at 1pm – fortunate that we were early.....

And, for those of you wondering what the connection with airline automation and the effect on pilots???? There isnt any with where I work, with where I live, but its my final subject of my Grad Dip in Risk Management.... Yep - I am also studying!