Saturday 25th September

I’m getting into another depressive state again. The frustration level is getting past my limit I think. We can get the parts for the mulcher, in maybe a month or possibly six weeks. They’ll be coming from Melbourne, via Port Moresby, then another ship to here. And please don’t ask about air freighting them. I know it’s only a 12 inch piece of metal and a drive wheel about 6 inches in diameter, but the airfreight worked out to be more than the parts cost to start with. I think we’re doomed to remain a developing country for the foreseeable future.

Al sent me a couple of cds, they arrived yesterday, thanks Al. One of Julie Fowlis, I vaguely remember her at RunRig in Scotland, before I ended up in Inverness Hospital, great cd, cuilidh, 3 disc special edition. And the Screaming Orphans, Circles cd. And Al got it signed by the Orphans as well!!!! Now I have to get to the USA to see them live and get another few cds.

Julie Fowlis cuilidh cd.

Screaming Orphans CD cover, Thanks for the note girls.

Al and the Orphans, Milwaukee Irishfest.



I don’t know how Solomon Post works, they are totally different to any other post office I have ever dealt with anywhere. I’ve had parcels sent to me in Australia, Ireland, and all picked up with no bother. Here, you get the third degree, “what’s in this?” “I don’t know” “Who Sent it?” “can I have a look at the return address?” And then they charge you for it as well. The parcel Mum and Rose sent up last year for my birthday got spread out, they wanted $40 duty for each packet of cigarettes, (2) then they charged me $38 anyway, when I said they could keep the cigarettes, I can buy them cheaper in Honiara. I have no idea what the charges are for, I used to think the postage covered everything, but not here. Anyway, $15 later I got the cds off them.

Needless to say, they have been playing most of last night and today.

We still haven’t heard back from Japan about the funding for the building, due to Planning changing it. And no one in Planning is prepared to put anything in writing about the decision either, so we are at a stalemate. I can’t see it going ahead before my contract expires, which isn’t helping my mood. I’m meant to be running classes this month till December, we haven’t water, toilets, books, classroom or something approximating a classroom. And the open sided event tent is not a classroom for 18 people. It won’t hold 12 people let along 18 plus tables etc. I can’t see the classes happening either at this rate. We can get a toilet put in for $26,000SBD< but that wasn’t acceptable and we were told to price a portaloo, like the construction site and event ones. Which from the local guy costs $800 per day, but we got a special price, cleaning only for $500 per day, $15,000 per month, which we would need till the building went up, so there is 4 months minimum if we started building now, or $60,000 gone anyway and nothing to show at the end. So we priced buying one from Australia. Remarkably cheap, it came to $7,000SBD, plus freight. But then, it has to be emptied everyday, so we are back to the $500 per day cleaning charge.

The $26,000 gets us a small building, on a platform, with an inground septic tank, and it’s ours. We’ll need one in the nursery anyway, I can’t see the nursery crew, the office staff, and the trainees all sharing the 2 toilets that are going into the office block.

But I can’t see agreement being reached on that in the near future either.

I may have the nursery structure in place before February, after that, I think I’ll leave it for someone else to organise, I’m just worn out dealing with the delays, frustrations and general lack of responsibility for anything here. Not having water to the house for the last week hasn’t helped either.
At this stage of the contract I’m meant to be at the completed and taking time out to oversee, instead I’m still dealing with the same problems that were here when I arrived. Nothing seems to get resolved, it’s all a lot of hand waving, toktok, and maybe next week ia? How I’m meant to train nursery staff when I don’t have a nursery is my main concern. There is no way I can have anyone trained in the 5 months remaining to run it. My 2 good ladies have left, the new ones aren’t even up to basic nursery worker stage yet.

I’d go outside and scream, but all it will do is frighten the fruit bats in the mango trees.

The good thing is that it has been raining nearly every day, not the tropical downpour stage yet, but still heavy for an hour or so each evening and morning.