11th February

Another day, more sunshine, It’s not as bad as Auckland has been the last few weeks, probably about 30*C, slightly steamy with the water evaporating out of the drains and creeks, rivers running through Honiara.

Sorted my bank account at the ANZ in under 2 hours, almost a record according to Steve. Now it’s going to be a month or more till my access card arrives from Port Moresby. I should have gone for the cheque account, although the stamp duty and fees on that would have negated any benefit. I’ve got an account number anyway, it’s just a matter of getting to the bank when there is only a small que.

The crowd gathers outside from 8.30am, till opening at 9am, then it’s a general scrum to get inside and get a ticket, then sit and wait for a teller. There is a separate side door that a few people use, it’s meant to be for business and Govt people, but it’s available if you know about it. The big plus about the ANZ is that it’s air-conditioned, take a book to read while you’re waiting, water or soft drink, and it’s a pleasant way of spending 2 or 3 hours waiting.

Toktok lessons today. I can almost make myself understood in a few sentences.

Nem blong mi Warren. Mi hapi tumas fo mitim iu. Mi waka long Botanic Gardens. Mi wanfala advaesa
Name belong me Warren. Me happy too much for meeting you. Me work at the Botanic gardens. Me one fella advisor, how it sounds.

My name is Warren, I am pleased to meet you. I work at the Botanic Gardens. I work as an Advisor,

Some of the vowels are different to English, but once you see it written, it’s almost as you see it.

Questions are asked with a rise towards the end of the sentence, nam blong iu hu?

Name belong you hoo?

iu kam from wea? You come from where?

Pijin came about in the late 1800’s when a lot of the Solomon Islanders were used as field hands in the sugar cane industry in Queensland, and a common language had to be developed to cope with the hundreds of dialects and languages in the Solomons, Bouganville, and Papua New Guinea. Eventually it spread through the islands as the workers returned, initially it was only the men who spoke pijin, it has only been since WW2 that women have learnt it. The men used it as a secret language for many years, only those that knew pijin could get work in Australia, so on some islands it caused a few problems if only one or two villages had pijin speakers. They would get the employment, and the money and trade goods,

Enough of that for now, full day tomorrow at SEB, meet and greet, find out where everything is, and start getting my head around what and where

Picked up the work truck this morning as well, and joined in the semi controlled chaos that is the only road in Honiara. I think it is 2 lanes, but with the potholes, washouts rubbish it becomes a matter of driving off road onto verges/centre strips/oncoming lanes to dodge the assorted perils. I’ve got a small 1 ½ tonne Toyota flat bed, diesel, it has seen better days, probably a few years ago, and not in Honiara. Flat bed trucks are constantly on the move here, driving through town with a crowd of smiling laughing people on the back, holding on where ever they can. Most do deliveries from the wharf to the businesses, so you’ll see empty trucks with 8 – 10 people on going through to the wharf, then coming back laden down, with the same 8 – 10 people scattered over the load hanging onto ropes, packages, driving and lurching along King George Drive. 2 abreast into oncoming traffic, around the roundabouts, if they have tray sides, then you’ll see 20 or more people sitting with bags and cages taking or bringing stuff from and to the Central market.

The mini buses are constantly going, $2 for anywhere they go, they seem to go to Bengebi beach to the north, and some go as far as White river to the south.

I heard laughter coming from the treetops earlier, looked out and the neighbours daughter, about 15? 16? was sitting in the fronds of one of the coconut trees, about 20metres up, singing and swaying back and forth in the little bit of a breeze we get in the evenings. Which was quite a pleasant sight, then her sister threw her up a machete, none of this OSH rope and lift it up stuff, this was a full toss 20 metres straight up. If anyone ever teaches them to play cricket, she’d be my first choice of
wicket keeper, caught the machete by the handle, and proceeded to trim a few fronds off, till she could reach a few ripe coconuts.

Then slid and climbed back down. No ropes, harness all that stuff, bare feet and hands, carrying the machete. It can be disconcerting watching the pikininis, 5 – 8 yrs old with machetes as tall as they are, trimming logs and branches for firewood, bare feet, shorts, not a safety inspector in sight.

The frangpani (Plumeria) trees here are huge, I’ve only seen white flowered varieties so far, the scent hangs heavy in the air around my house in the evenings and early mornings, the mango trees are full of fruit, I’ve had to clean out under the house after the weekend rains, a lot of very very ripe mangoes were quietly decomposing in the mud and damp.

My gecko from yesterday has a family. There are 3 small, about 1 ½ inch, geckos above my head at the moment running over the ceiling.

Picture for today is the coconut palm beside my house