Port Moresby

Almost 1 week since arriving in Port Moresby. As with most third world countries, the capital city tends to be a big mixture of people from all over the country with an added sector of expats. Some of these are long timers, from a variety of nations. All this makes shopping very interesting. Three main supermarkets are available to project people, one has a wide variety of canned and bottled goods, one a very good butcher (meat from New Zealand and Australia) and one is just plain handy and a bit hit and miss on what is available. End result this weekend was spent visiting supermarkets or working.

The apartment I have been allocated is a bit of a mixed bag. Older style, comfortable but other than the historic place we had in Spain is the oldest place I have lived in for about 30 years. That said, it should be fine, size is good and once I get it to feel like home it will be quite comfortable.

The big win on this apartment is the views are fantastic. The hotel is situated half way up a hill over looking the Ela Beach and the wider bay around from the Port. The picture shows the view from the right at sunset.

From the left is an equally stunning view, which includes a lovely island and a jetty which is used by locals over the weekend. It was great watching all the kids diving in from the end, and the families having such a good time together. The tide is very low during the right time of the day and the locals go out at least 300 meters and still seem to only be at waist depth. Work is going well and the new week will see me on a business trip back to Brisbane. Looks like I'll be building up a few flyer miles over the next couple of years

Now for the Next Stage - Moving On

Well after a couple of years based in Brisbane Australia, it is time for the next adventure. Whilst Ian will remain in Brisbane for a while longer, I am moving on to Port Morseby, New Guinea for a couple of years. I suppose one of the issues with working these projects is the number of times we find ourselves in different countries - at least this time we will be in the same hemisphere with only two to three hours flying time between the two areas.

The last couple of weeks in Brisbane have been interesting to say the least. Just before my original sail away date, the city and the state of Queensland was hit with floods which really had to be seen to be believed. The area under water was equal to the country areas of France and Germany combined. Houses smashed with water going through at speeds not to be believed. The damage will take months / years to repair. The house we have in Brisbane is just out of the immediate city area and on a hill - so we were very lucky. Many of our friends were affected with loss of power - but were in apartment blocks - high enough up that they were not affected by water damage. Lots of visitors and several meals were had at the Springhill address to cover off immediate needs until everyone found longer term beds, internet and cooking facilities. Things are quieter now in the CBD but the water has reached the south of Australia and is causing trouble in Victoria. Our wishes and thoughts are with all those country areas now being inundated in that area.

Anyhow, its time to get back to the packing. PNG is a beautiful country and should be a wonderful place to spend a couple of years. It will be interesting to see the progress and potential the governance will make over that time with the benefits it will get from this project. Hopefully it will be strong enough to apply those benefits to all its people.