Muschu Island We had been told this was well worth a visit. So checking with "Lonely Planet" we walked to the beach on Tuesday and looked for George. Asking around, in perfect Tok Pisin, I was told he hadn't come yet. So we waited and eventually George arrived. He agreed to take us to his island after agreeing the price!! But he needed to shop for kaikai [food] first. Off we went in his banana boat. Bit rough but great. One sits on the floor in a banan...

Journey to Wewak On Friday 3 July we left Madang to visit Wewak which is close to theIndonesian part of the Island of which PNG forms a part. We left at 4pm precisely! That is VERY unusual here in PNG but a bit disconcerting to have someone on the quay side telling everyone to behave and then ending with a long prayer for a safe journey! It was great to see the coast from the sea until it got dark. At twilight we saw loads of dolphins and what a performance the...

Another week, more adventures to tell you about! First, we'll start with Ken and his little event last Saturday! We have a new volunteer here from Ireland who we actually did our VSO training with. He was posted to Eritrea but as their work permits never issued they all came home after one month. We heard about it through various BLOGs and here he is. So Ken offered to take him out and about on Saturday. After visiting the market and buying veg etc Ken was carryi...

What a week of rain we've had! You in the UK are moaning about it being too hot whilst here were are fed up with the rain!! It's also very hot. One day the rain never stopped but mostly it comes in the night. Must be because the schools are on holiday!! One day Ken went with Roger and John to go to the island called Karkar. They never made it because of the weather. As they were going to try and following day I went with them. You have to drive for an hour and t...

Another good week. I have had Tok Pisin lessons every morning for two weeks. I just wanted to become more confident so that I could talk to our haus meri [maid] and people that I meet especially at Church. I feel really good now as I am happy to give it a go even on the PMV [mini buses!!] People do really like it and now for the first time I can talk to the nationals especially those on the Tokaut HIV/AIDS programme. So am feeling really chuffed with myself!