Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea

I have spent just over a week on this island and I have had a fascinating time carrying out my research. Everyone is really friendly here and I have felt very welcome. There are many issues involved with the mine on this island and my research has involved looking into the suitability of the relocation housing. I will go into more detail about the housing in the next post. I have been staying in the mining camp which has been quite a luxury for me (free gym, swimming pool, good food, coastal walks). There is even an expat triathlon club out here! I have also been lucky enough to receive free accommodation in exchange for a research report. Lihirians are a nice friendly bunch, very ambitious and industrious. They have embraced the opportunities offered by the mine and many hope to continue up the ladder and embark on foreign travel. I did tell them though, that when you live on an island paridise like this, you may be disapointed with the rest of the world! One thing I will not miss, is the heat. Going for a run at 7am and still sweating half your body weight is not fun.

As part of my research I visited Malie Island (a short boat ride away) and the villages of Put Put, Kapit and Kunaiye on Lihir Island. Unless working for the mine, few people venture out this way, most heading to the dive resorts or Port Moresby so I have been able to see a different side of Papua New Guinea, one that is not tourist oriented. Lihirians have a lot of customs such as the mens house (Haus Boi) where only men are allowed (I was not permitted to enter!) and there have been issues with the new types of housing (stilt houses) allowing women to be on top of the men which is also forbidden. Catholic missionaries have visited the island over many years so you can see churches everywhere and crosses and shrines dedicated to Christ. Lihirians have managed to preserve many of their original customs however, which shows the strength of them.

The market in Londolovit town where I bought betel nuts for my field work

there seemed to be some kind of music concert going on which was quite good

This is the office where I worked

It's rainy season which makes the mountains look quite dramatic



Some villagers on Malie Island where I was doing field work




Some cool dudes




Sandcastles are international



Here are some Malie Island people making shell money, they trade this instead of the PNG kina

Haus Boi or mens house is a strong tradition in PNG culture

A bit of a shrine to Catholicism in Clement's (a village chief) house

Looking across from Malie to the mine on Lihir Island

Leaving Malie Island, not sure about that flag



Some cheeky chappies



How about this for paridise

These guys insisted I take their photo they are selling betel nut and mangoes. The betel nuts are the small green things on the left

One of the ladies I interviewed had puppies

Stanislaouse in the stripy shirt who was my really helpful guide and interpreter

A coconut tree that people climb without any ladders or any support to get the coconuts

The kid at the front was so desperate to be in the photo

A church, quite elaborately built

What a life, eh, admittedly this was a Sunday afternoon

Papua New Guinea, The Land of the Unexpected, first up, diving!

Having read all the horror stories about Port Moresby (gangs of rascals, machetes, guns etc) I decided I would stay a bit further along the coast on Loloata Island and Diving Resort. This was a small island paridise. As you can see from the pictures, the water is incredible. I just jumped off my verandah straight into the ocean. It was so still, I could swim out as far as I liked and not get swept away. Nobody has ever heard of sharks eating swimmers out here so I thought it was pretty safe. I went for my first ever dive and saw lots of tropical fish and coral reef. I got down as far as 12m before my ears stopped me going any further. I found it a bit confusing at first, the idea of breathing under water, but I got it in the end. The following day I went snorkellling for a couple of hours, just off the shores of a nearby reef island. I saw even more fish and corals, it was beautiful. We ate fresh exotic fruits every day and there was a nice gathering of people to talk to in the evenings over dinner. I walked along the ridge of the island which was utterly beautiful but at that time of day (4pm) it caused me to arrive back in my cabin in rivers of sweat. Yuck.

Waiting for a boat to pick me up as part of my 'airport transfer'

Loloata Island

Maisie, me and Francis my dive instructor

My cabin and verandah

Some of the fish I saw, in schools just like this

A wallaby!

Beautiful sunsets out here

The little island where I went snorkelling

A pufferfish, looks just like a big overweight fish in real life

I even saw Nemo!

I saw loads of these iridescent with the sunlight flicking off them

View from the top of the island

You can just see my cabin down on the right of the island

Another wallaby



Nice flowers and the hills of the mainland beyond



Another great sunset

Cairns

This is a really tropical climate. My legs are now unrecognisable from sandfly bites (and other things). Mozzie spray seems to do nothing against these pests, or perhaps it is because I am sweating so much the spray doesn't stick! I took part in a help exchange here (work a few hours a day in return for free board) which certainly improved my DIY skills and I learnt an awful lot about paint. I realised my last bout of painting was when I was 15 and paints have changed a bit since then. Help exchange is a really great way to get to know a place and the people in it a lot better than you would do if you were just a tourist. Seva (my very patient host) took me to a local swimming creek which was blessed relief from the heat (English people are just not meant to be in the tropics). She also showed me a bat colony hanging from trees and some wallabies hopping around, one with a joey. Cairns is a nice, friendly relaxing kind of place, shame the insects were not so friendly!

I stayed in Gordonvale just outside of Cairns which had a mountain backdrop

The esplanade, a swimming pool right on the coast and in the town centre

The coast

A papaya tree in Seva's garden

Seva's house, that she has extensively renovated and extended

Nice kitchen with verandah beyond for eating outside