You ask to be carried in my arms.Already you're in my arms.
"Do you see
how blue the sky is?Do you hear
what birds are in the forest?
Well, what are you waiting for?
Well? Carry me then!"And where shall I carry you?...
“Voyage upon life’s sea,To yourself be true,
And, whatever your lot may be,
Paddle your own canoe......”
.......or kayak!!
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I’m away again for work, this time to Mt Hagen up in the
No, this isn’t some sort of shrine with prayer messages hanging off it; it is rubbish caught on a rusting metal truck body near the golf course.
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A quiet "reflective" spot on the local golf course, and a cemetery for golf balls.
Rainer & Erika from Germany, are blogging friends who contacted me through my blog when they were thinking of visiting Rabaul. Well here they are. It was great to meet them and this is a photo I took of them at the Bitapaka War Cemetery yesterday.I can schedule my posts to appear on my blog while I am away – it’s like magic. I do think HWDB & Benson are a little miffed they have become redundant though.
This is the island out the front of my place that you see in lots of my photos (last Friday’s Sky Watch Reflections). Chuckeroon thought it was a bush growing in the water so I decided a short walk to the island was needed to clear up the misunderstanding. 
Our girls call it
So I came home and my neighbour ,who comes from
Totally confused by all this, I ditched the recipe on my post and went for a combination of Tolai and Malaysian, and came up with this.
In a wok cook mustard seeds and cumin, then add the chopped flowers (Cut open the flowers and discard all the red leaves. Chop up like an onion).
Add a chopped onion and cook for a few minutes.
Add coconut cream, curry leaves (which grow in my garden, but if you can’t get fresh use dried) and chilli. Cook until soft.
When it was finished it was purple
- which worried me a little, so off I went to my neighbour who said, “No worries it will do that.” She soaks it in watered down yoghurt as soon as she cuts it to keep it white. So next time I will do that.
She tasted it, which was very brave of her, because I wasn’t game enough too, and pronounced it was good but it needed more chili – she always says that!!!
I took it to dinner at a friend’s last night and they ate it all up, said it was great.......
.....yeah well we did have quite a few bottles of wine and we were eating by candle light - it does look horrible doesn't it??
But we are all still alive this morning.......
I must admit I can be quite lazy with Sky Watch. All I have to do is walk down to my front yard every day and just point and shoot. Mother Nature always puts on a wonderful show for me.
It was quite dark by the time I had finished my walk and I had taken a pile of pink/red sunset photos, but this is the one I liked best. This is looking towards Rabaul and yes most of that "cloud" is ash and you can follow it down to the volcano. The ripples were caused by me splashing my foot - I thought it would add to the photo.
This is where bananas come from - a tree. Don't laugh some kids in a class I once had in Australia didn't know!!!!Bananas are a good source of carbohydrate and PNG has the world's second highest per capita consumption of bananas. Banana trees are almost as prolific here in ENB as the coconut palm. Everyone seems to have them in their garden. Buying bananas in the market is very confusing, as there are so many unfamiliar varieties. I didn't buy a banana for months until someone I knew helped me tell the difference between the eating varieties and the plantains that are the cooking varieties.
Hanging underneath this bunch is a banana flower, which are eaten in PNG.
The rounded spike is the male part of the flower and to use it you need to cut away the red petals and use the firm inner part. They are usually eaten raw and can be prepared in the "Philippine way", (I have posted a recipe on the comments page if anyone is interested).
I would ever be in such a desperate state of alcohol deprivation to warrant the effort. However if you are ever going on a long sea voyage in a small boat you may want to ring me before you leave.
With all my blogger friends coming to visit I will need to buy more food!!
Banana leaves are used in mumu (cooking in the ground on hot stones) Here kaukau (sweet potato) is drenched in coconut milk before being wrapped in banana leaves.
I love to use banana leaves to serve food on too - looks so exotic.
This is my house - behind the coconut palms.
Life is tough but some us us have to do it!!
The last of the afternoon sun in the west lit up the top of this cloud, and painted the water and the raindrops pink.
The dark cloud through the centre of this formation is ash streaming away from the volcano Mt Tavurvur.
The cliff face is beautifully textured from the rushing water,
.....which has eroded the banks,
.....and even unearthed a WWII Japanese tunnel.
This water course on the outskirts of Kokopo is filled with dirt and debris from flooding during the wet season. Even the bridge disappeared under metres of mud but now in the dry season the river course it is accessible by vehicle.
Imagine the power of the water that washed this massive tree, roots and all out of the ground
The water course ends a few kilometres up-stream at this wall of rock. Flood waters pouring over this would be a hell of a sight.
This village on the Kokoda Track is set in stunning surroundings; no need to worry about traffic noise here!!!
PS My Vietnam blog is back after the week's break.
This strange coloured sky (no touching up was done) was caused by all the ash in the air - I think? The whole inside of the house was filled with an eerie orange glow - very weird!!!
When your number is up in Rabaul, this man on the Rabaul/Kokopo road would be summoned with his tape measure.
