Fireworks for my 200th Post

This is my 200th post and to celebrate I've decided that fireworks are in order.!!

The person who took these photos would like to remain anonymous because he doesn't want his mother or his insurance company to know that he walked up an erupting volcano (Mt Tavurvur, Rabaul), to take these!!! But I am grateful because as far as fireworks are concerned - you can't beat the real thing

This is also the last post I will be doing .........

for a month as I have to travel to Lae and Port Moresby for work, and then to Australia for holidays. It is too difficult putting down 30 or so drafts with phone lines they way they are at the moment and my graphic card problems, so this blog says au revoir not goodbye, for the time being.

Many thanks for all your friendship, loyalty and support over the last 200 posts. See you on April 5.

Sing sing cacophony

This sing sing was held by workers at a friend's factory.

Around their ankles are seed pods that rattle when they move.

Oodles of books on Doulos

The M V Doulos has been docked at Rabaul Wharf for the past 2 weeks. This is the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship. She is now owned by the German charity organisation Good Books for All, and travels the world selling books, running programs and doing charity work.

The queue of people waiting to get on board.....

.....the rest of the queue which continued out of this picture !!

Up to but not including last Friday, 30 000 people have lined up in the heat and the ash on the Rabaul Wharf, to get on board to buy books. We have no library and no book stores in this province so people here are "book-starved". Thanks goodness for this organisation and the more than 300 people from 52 countries who have volunteered to work on this ship. We salute you!!

We were lucky enough to have morning tea on board with the Australian captain Ashley McDonald and his lovely wife Alison. They and their 3 young children have been travelling the world on board Doulos - what an amazing adventure for them all.

Anchored in Rabaul Harbour, with the volcano erupting beside them, will be something I'm sure they will always remember.

Conference in Paradise

My computer (with all my photos) has done a graphic card and we are having trouble replacing it here, so I am having to use my work laptop. I don't have a lot of photos on it which are of use for my blog, but I did find these from a conference I went to at Mahonia Na Dari, outside Kimbe in West New Britain, just a short flight from here.

We stayed next door at Walindi Resort ,check this great web site out, which is a world famous dive resort set on the edge of Kimbe Bay amongst stunning gardens.


Of course as well as working hard, we participated in lots of social activities!!!