Last Friday before Christmas I needed to travel to Goroka to spend Christmas with wantoks (close friends). There were no MAF flights heading that way, but I still had a few options. I could drive La Bestia down the highlands highway, but it was off the road for the first time in eighteen months. Flying with a commercial operator, but it is expensive. By far the cheapest option and most interesting one was to catch a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle – they are privately owned and operated) from Hagen to Goroka for K20 ($7.56 AU).

1. Riding back seat

So Friday morning I made my way to the PMV stop in town. It had been over two years since my last PMV trip to Goroka. Maipson had been on holidays, so he came into to town to make sure I got on a reliable and trusted PMV. I thought it wouldn’t take too long until we headed off as it was almost full. A coaster bus can carry 26 people including the driver. We had 31 people on board, but children not occupying a seat are not included in the total number. We spent roughly an hour waiting for the last seats to fill up. Once we got underway, there were several stops before we really advanced in distance. Picking up peoples belongings, getting fuel, the driver getting food and then stopping to buy oil to top up the engine with were some common delays. Eventually we were underway. I was tightly seated on the back row for the whole trip. Sitting between people chewing betel nut and smoking, which added to the experience. We had an okay trip down, despite coming very close to having an accident at one point. Two vehicle’s pulled out blindly behind a parked vehicle at a local market as we drove through the built up area at full speed, we narrowly missed the second vehicle as our driver braked heavily to avoid the first vehicle (prayer is part of the trip). We also had to go through two police check points along the way which is sometimes an event. It was a rough ride in places (being thrown into the air). I asked the boskru (PMV crew) for compensation for my bottom in Tok Pisin at one point. At first I think he and the driver thought I was being serious, but eventually realised I was joking. I was really busting to go to the toilet later in the trip and had held it for most of the trip. But the trip was longer than I remembered. We stopped at a market just past the Daulo Pass before entering Goroka so people could buy food and go to the toilet. It was such a relieving experience, but that area across from the market is commonly used as a toilet. It was by far the most unsantisied place in PNG I ever been.

2. Stopping at a market just after Daulo Pass before Goroka

It is roughly 200 km’s from Mt Hagen to Goroka along the Highway. That may not sound very far, but any distance to travel in PNG on the ground is a great distance. You travel through valleys and over mountains. A lot of that road is just gravel and some of it is quite bad. But after seeing the landscape by air plenty of times, it was refreshing to see it again from the ground, it was quite a sight in places. In the end I arrived in Goroka  at the market before midday and walked down to Dan and Shannon’s place in town. The trip from my compound to theirs was roughly five hours (Twin Otter takes 30 mins). It was again an interesting and a cultural experience, enjoyable at parts. Next time I am keen to drive it myself.

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Have you ever you been in a situation that you know that is not the smartest thing to be doing  and should say something? Dan and I found ourselves in that exact position in Cape Wom village. It was a beautiful day, but humid as we watched Peter a local villager dig up a WW2 bomb. Timon, Dan and myself were running out of days in Wewak. We all wanted to go back to Wom beach to go swimming and snorkeling. I also wanted to show Dan a village on the Cape where there were still a lot of war relics still lying around. We made our way out to Wom beach on the Friday around mid morning, driving the old column shift manual MAF van that has some history for Timon and I in Wewak. We dropped Timon off at the beach at Wom, Dan and myself continued along the coast along a sandy road cutting through jungle.

1. The Coastal road

As we arrived at the village there were not too many people around, except a group of kids coming out of the woodwork. When they saw us they ran in the other direction to grab an adult. We were greeted by Peter and introduced ourselves. I explained that we were interested in being shown around the area to see the War relics. Unfortanley the guy I met last time in the village was not around. This time he took us in a different direction along the coast and then down the road we had driven along, before walking into the jungle. During this time we asked questions and he had answers. After being frustrated by no one knowing anything about the anniversary of the surrender, nothing about the war and there being no ceremony at the memorial (Dan can testify to my disappointment). It was so good to meet someone who knew something and someone who had learnt the stories from his Father who had witnessed the war. The village itself had been occupied by the Japanese and was a base, with all the nationals fleeing into the jungle. There was evidence everywhere that it was once a base from a barge, old cannons, vehicles, fuel drums, concrete structures and rubbish. There was evidence of Australians occupying it after the Japanese had been driven out of the area. One thing that did stand out to me from all his stories was how the nationals were treated quite well by the Japanese who occupied their land.

2. Peter with an old canon on the beach

Following our tour through the jungle and seeing many things. We returned to the village to see some live bombs. It was the finale of Peter’s tour. As we came back into the village you could see bomb craters everywhere from heavy bombing by the Allies. Another thing that struck me was that after the war the nationals came back to the same spot and started over. With seeing the live bomb, I had expected it to be the same pile of nine live bombs I saw last year. But he explained to me that a few people had taken them to use the dynamite for fishing (which is illegal). So I had no idea what other live bombs would be around. Obviously as the place was so heavily bombed there were quite a few bombs dropped and some that had not gone off. We were led to the side of the village, while one of the boys ran off to return with a shovel. Straight away I could imagine hearing the metal on metal contact, which was not a promising thing. As Dan and I watched, and after some digging and hearing that contact one thing did come to mind. I don’t think MAF insurance will cover this, I know it doesn’t cover Scuba Diving. It would be a stupid and wasteful way to go out. But I was more concerned for Dan who had a wife and three young girls back in Goroka and needing God’s grace in the situation we were in. We didn’t know what to do, to be cultural apropiate and be polite by staying. Or just run away. After sometime of excavating and slowly moving backwards, the bomb was up and out of the ground. He knew exactly where to dig and  what to do. He said that there are quite a few buried around in that area. He seemed to know a lot about the different types of bombs dropped, this one was a Japanese bomb (I don’t know how it got there). This one did not have a denotar, so that made things easier, but the pounds of explosive in that rusted housing was over sixty years old. After having a look and some explanation it was placed back in the ground and buried.

3. Tracing through the jungle

Following our tour they served us fresh coconuts which was really refreshing considering being in the sun and walking through the jungle. Dan and I were running quite late as we had planned to meet one MAF pilot at the airport after lunch to go look at some Japanese AA guns up on a ridge near the airport (which is another story in itself). Which was a shame as a plane wreck had just been discovered down the road in the mangroves two weeks prior for the first time in over sixty years (it still had not been stripped yet, except for the cannons and ammunition which the military had confiscated from some locals who had already claimed it). So we said goodbye to the guys there and thanked them. It was not expected  of us but we did give Peter some money in thanking him for his morning and efforts. We rushed back to Wom beach to collect Timon and headed straight back into town to the airport for the next exploration. It was really an interesting tour with plenty of stories. It was good being able to see things that I had not seen in that village before and helped put more pieces of the puzzle together. It was a little uncomfortable at one point. I now have three bomb stories since being here in PNG, two of which are crazy. After the first two i was asked by my Mum not to go near anymore live bombs, I can not remember my reply. But after this third experience, I can now say that was the last time.

4. Digging up a live WW2 bomb

There is a really nice Kunai Guest House in Cape Wom Village right on the beach, including meals. Contact Peter Kiris for details +675 71562495 or +675 6227101. Other activities are also available in the village.

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The past month or so I have seen three people pass on who have meant something to me. I have found in Western culture that most of the time you are sheltered from death. Where as in PNG culture it is very real and raw, and is commonly part of life. A week ago my Aunty, my Mum’s younger sister, passed away at only 43 years of age after battling with secondary cancer. Something that I have seen so much more of in the last ten years, especially in my family. The week leading up to Sunday I received news that the doctor’s had given her only one to two weeks. Receiving the phone call last Sunday afternoon my heart sank knowing the likelihood of the call. It was obviously sad news and I didn’t feel like doing much for the remaining of the afternoon. I had made the decision before coming to PNG that I would not return to Australia for wedding’s or funeral’s, but only for family emergencies. I guess there are a few reasons for that, but despite those reasons I battled this week  with many factors in deciding whether or not I should return for Aunty Kellie’s funeral on Thursday. In the end I stayed in Hagen, on Thursday it was difficult being in the hangar and not there.

1. Celebrating Nanny & Pa’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2004. Nanny & Pa with offspring, from L to R Aunty Kellie, Mum, Katie, Pa, Kurt, Nanny, Uncle Stephen, Sam, myself & Gemma

With Aunty Kellie being fifteen when I was born, this gave my sister and I a young Aunty. One who was athletic, vibrant and adventurous. She excelled at many sports, mainly Golf and turned down the opportunity in turning Pro (she appeared as a guest on a kid’s TV show on the ABC once, I forgot the name). It is hard to imagine that she was roughly my age and younger when we were in primary school. Different memories came back to me this past week. Two of them which I believe had an influence on the person I am today. Interesting enough both of them are during Christmas with family and the beach. The first one was my sister and I receiving a body board from her for Christmas one year, when we were quite young. Obviously my first, one that would have a long life and catch many waves. The fondest memory I had this past week of Aunty Kellie was her teaching me how to body surf at a beach south of Nelson’s Bay, while away for Christmas with all the extended family. I would of only been seven  or eight maybe, I am not sure. But it is a skill that she passed on to me and influenced my love for the beach. My favourite thing to do at the beach today is to body surf.

Despite not being able to make it to the funeral, to be with my family and have some closure. I am really grateful for the opportunity I had to see and have lunch with her and my cousin Sam at the start of November. If I had not been delayed waiting for engine parts from Canada while in Sydney, it would not of happened. So I am grateful that I was able to see her, the first time in almost four years. I have felt at peace this week about it all and comforted, thankyou for those who have been praying. I would really appreciate continual prayer support for my family during this difficult chapter, especially for my Uncle John and cousin Sam. Aunty Kellie will be missed.

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Two weeks ago we had a Cessna 206, MFO come in for a check 2 100 hourly. Normally we have three teams of Engineers, but at the moment until February we have around one to one and a half. We are mainly down on License Engineers too, I am the only expat Engineer full time in the hangar at the moment. Before coming in for maintenance MFO had a dangerous goods spill a few days beforehand. There are many things that you are not allowed to carry in an aircraft without it being packed and declared properly. One of those things is any type of lead acid battery, a car battery for example. Unfortunately someone did not declare a car battery and it was packed in a sports bag. It ended up being on it’s side in the aircraft. As our pilot was unpacking the luggage there was fluid leaking out of this bag on to his arm which burnt his arm as it was battery acid. Normally batteries like this are stored in a wooden box filled with wood shavings and sit upright. As battery acid reacts and causes any aluminum or steel to corrode, which is not good for an aircraft. Thankfully he detected the dangerous goods after a short sector and was able to neutralize the acid very thoroughly, which took three hours of his Saturday afternoon.

1. MFO returning to service following the check flight

As the aircraft came in for maintenance we new of the acid spill and the surrounding area. Since there were not enough guys of the normal team for C206′s I was asked to help out. Besides working at Mareeba for four weeks this year, I would not of touched one for eighteen months as I normally work on the Twin Otters or Cessna Caravan and if I am lucky GA8 Airvan. I was asked to inspect the acid spill area. Normally that area gets inspected on another 100 hourly check. So we had to remove the seats, flooring and floor access panels. I spent sometime having a good look around the suspected area, it was a small amount of acid split but in a critical area. Thankful the Pilot did a really good job of neutralizing the acid besides spotting it, but despite this any damage had already been done to what ever it had contacted even though it was not too long of a period.

2. Jason at work during the check flight

My main concern was that the acid had dripped right onto some flight control cables which are made of steel. One of these cables were found to have some residue of surface corrosion from the acid and one surrounding steel structure of the airframe. So in the end I had to disconnect the cables at the flight controls to pull them through and have a detailed inspection of the cables. Thankfully there was no internal corrosion on any cable strands (which is bad and would require replacing) and no fraying of cable strands. The light surface corrosion was removed easily and the steel structure treated. I had never rigged these flight control systems on the C206 before, but it was a good learning experience and had some assistance when required (the cables and structure will continue to be monitored).

3. Enjoying the view, one circuit was not enough

It was a big job to carry out a detail inspection of the affected area, treat it, clean the  bi-carb solution off the cables and then rig the system again. Come Friday morning the work was finished and we put together the cabin along with any other work that was needed to be finished on the aircraft. When any flight controls are disturbed in this way, the aircraft requires a check flight after maintenance before going back into service. I have done a check flight on the Twin Otter before but never in a 206 and by myself. So Friday afternoon I was able to go up for a circuit around Mt Hagen with another Pilot to check the operation in flight of the control systems I had worked on. It was really refreshing to go up and a nice afternoon for it, seeing the surrounding area from a different view.

4. Forgetting to smile, concentrating too much on the check flight

Once completing the check flight the aircraft returned to the base (MAF terminal) as everything was good. It was very close to knock off time Friday afternoon. It was a really good way and timing to finish off the week after a few days of work, especially as the aircraft needed to be finished that afternoon. To go flying in the aircraft and see it returned to service. Despite the work being unscheduled and something that should not of happened. It was really good that the spill was detected straight away and neutralized. That we could inspect and rectify the problem. It was a good learning experience for me.

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In PNG you see all sorts of modifications people have done to their vehicles, especially on PMV’s (Public Motor Vehicles). These mods can involve some crazy bush mechanics to some interesting cosmetics. Two standard mod’s that you do see on PMV’s around town are replacements for rear windshields or side mirrors. For the side mirror, a shaving mirror is glued to the plastic assembly. The rear windshield is replaced with floor vinyl or some form of tape. There are also some bling that people add (I don’t know if you can call it bling) from zip ties to their wiper arms or wheel hubs to mounting a small horse figure on the roof. On top of this most PMV’s have a name painted on them ranging from Balus Bus (aircraft bus) , Wok Meri (Working woman) and my favourite Delta Charlie (will try to add a photo or two to this post soon). You get to know after a while which PMV’s have crazy driver’s and which ones that don’t.

1. La Bestia’s new exhaust (now dirty!)

A few months ago I decided to do some work on the Landcruiser (La Bestia). I had not done too much on it since August last year. There is still things that need to be done, but for running around town it does the job at the state it is now in. When leaving Sydney in June following furlough, I received a going away present from my friend Santi. It was a dumper muffler! As my drums arrived I thought it would be the priority job on the Landcruiser (even though it was not). I drove the car out to work planning to install the muffler over two lunch time breaks thinking it would be straight forward. But it turned out to be a big job with different complications along the way. The main problem was getting the thing to fit underneath the car, as Landcruiser’s have their muffler mid way in the exhaust plumbing. I had to cut away some of my rear bumper structure for the muffler to fit without it losing structural integrity. I also wondered  whether to run it straight through without the old muffler or keep the old muffler installed. It was incredibly loud without the old muffler, but sounded horrible of course. If I can get a silencer sometime, I think it would work well and make some more noise. I was able to recycle some unserviceable aircraft parts for the installation. For joining the muffler I used some old engine baffle rubber to wrap around the join and secured with an air bleed clamp. Some more engine baffle rubber was glued onto the muffler with high temp sealant to stop it chaffing on the car. The rear of the muffler is secured to the chassis with old flight control cable with some plastic tubing to stop it chaffing on the chassis.

2. Viewing for Santi (sounds is not the best in the video)

In the end I was able to get the muffler installed after several days and using some time in lieu of overtime. I am quite sure that it is the only one in the Western Highlands. For the rest of PNG I don’t know. But it did arouse some attention from our national staff as they have never seen one before. I thought maybe I would have to make it a bit more secure (steal proof), but so far haven’t had any problems. It did make the engine a little bit more responsive than what it was. It use to sound like an old car, but now sounds a bit beefier with the dumper working with the Holley carby, thanks Santi!

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This year PNG celebrated 35 years since gaining Independence from Australian in 1975, on the 16th of September. Timon, Dan and myself were in Wewak for the special occasion. There was a big opening of a new sports stadium funded by the Chinese Government in town including the Prime Minister being in attendance. Roughly 10,000 people were said to turn out for the special occasion and Independence day celebrations. For the three of us we spent the morning lying around the house on the MAF compound, we didn’t feel like being part of a big crowd and being cooked in the sun.

1. Inside the Japanese bunker (my camera flash was my way of seeing anything)

After lunch the three of us headed up to Wewak Hill to go explore a Japanese bunker on a property owned by the Prime Minister’s son. Dan and I had discovered the bunker the day before, but had no light to go in all the way. With a head lamp and a poor torch we ventured inside the old bunker. It was pitch black inside and I found it a little difficult trying to navigate without any light. The structure involved a stairway in the form of an L shape, followed by a tunnel way of an L shape before entering the actually bunker. There was nothing inside except evidence of someone once living inside. The roof itself had started to come apart in one place revealing how the bunker was originally constructed. It was humid inside and after a little while we worked our way out through the other entrance.

2. The first tunnel

From this property there is a really nice 180 degree view of the Wewak coastline. We sat on the ruins of an old house, maybe pre WW2 and enjoyed the view from one point of Wewak Hill. As we sat around and talked, two boys slowly approached us. For a long time they were standing behind us and even when I greeted them, they didn’t respond. Some time later as we were about to leave, they asked us if we would like to see a Japanese tunnel. Dan and I had a good look around the previous day and knew there were tunnels around, but didn’t find any except else where on the Hill. Next door to this property is the Provincial Governor’s house, and next to that was a house where these boys lived. Some other boys came along too and led us down to the side of the Hill overlooking a village. There was a tunnel entrance that had been mostly collapsed at the entrance. The mosquito’s were quite bad and I was not overly keen to go inside the tunnel at first due to it’s structural integrity. Both Timon and Dan went in to check it out and found that the tunnel opened up. I crawled my way down into the tunnel to find what was the original tunnel constructed by the Japanese. It was extremely humid inside. It appeared that the tunnel had been dug out by hand using pick’s which involved going through rock. It continued inside someway, maybe 20-30m long before it was filled in and was around 2.5-3m high (I have been told by a MAF missionary who grew up in Wewak that this tunnel was for a Japanese hospital).

3. Crawling out of the first tunnel

After coming out of the tunnel, we thanked the boys and headed back to the van. But as we walked back through the grounds, they went to check out another tunnel. It involved climbing down a fallen tree hanging off the cliff by it’s roots being caught. We didn’t bother and drove down to the coastline below to check out the other tunnel entrances we spotted the day before. We scaled different locations through bush, including a steep track that led us up to a look out on top of Wewak Hill. We found several other tunnel entrances, all which have had their entrances collapsed in. We went inside the only one which was accessible to check it out, again it was really hot, humid and dark inside. If any part of it had collapsed while inside, that was it.

4. With the boys outside the tunnel

On our way back to the MAF compound driving along the road of the shore back into town we came to the intersection of the street that the Prime Minister’s house is located. I thought I would drive past to see if he was home. As we drove past his house and not looking too suspicious as there was security around, one neatly dressed man, maybe an adviser or a body guard told me I was going the wrong way as it is a one way street as I smiled and waved. So I had to turn around a little further down the street and drive back past the house. They must of thought I was some white skin who didn’t know much and not a local. After getting back to the compound it was almost six o’clock, but we were so hot from being in those tunnels. Timon and I drove to Boram beach and cooled off with a swim for 20-30 minutes.

5. Independence dinner, still cooling off (excuse the no shirts, no time for photoshop)

As we had eaten out the previous night, it was our alternate night to cook at the house. We wanted to do something special being independence day. So we cooked a Snapper that we had purchased at the market the day before on hot coals outside. Alongside with other sides including fried rice, lamb chops and PNG sausages (yuck!). It was a nice and special meal with the guys. We were able to discover something new of Wewak and celebrate Independence day together. Mixed with some adventure it was a good day, remembering back where I was for PNG’s 35th birthday.

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I haven’t been uploading any new photo albums for a while. Photo albums and videos are a lot of work,  I have only been working on videos recently. Hopefully I will get my back log of pictures uploaded over the next few months. Here are some photo’s from my time in Sydney during October. Click here for the blog post.

Christmas in October

I traveled to Sydney in October transporting engine parts for inspection and overhaul, so I had Christmas in October.

17 Photos

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1. Fireworks display

Sunday night was a normal weekend evening with plenty of ambient noise around as I lied on my bed listening to a pod cast. It was normal until I heard two loud explosions coming from town. At first I thought it might of been a grenade going off in town. After a little bit of time, there were more and I went outside, only to remember that there was a planned fireworks display in town. I wasn’t the only one taken by surprise. In Maipson’s village people rushed towards the church as they thought there might of been Police responding to trouble, but once realising it was fireworks they rushed into town to watch. Also in town people ran down the street thinking a bomb had gone off, but once realising they returned to watch the fireworks. Even Vida my dog was running around the compound in a crazy manner. If you want to create panic in the Western Highlands just have a fireworks display.

2. Fireworks display from the balcony captured on a little phone like camera I am trialling. It was a lot louder than it is in the video

The fireworks were put on by the Mt Hagen Club as an early Christmas celebration, launching the fireworks from the tennis courts (approx 350m’s from our house).  The display lasted for around twelve minutes. Besides the gully between our compound and the Club amplifying the fireworks. I could hear the large mass of people in the settlement cheering and yelling to the display. I was able to stand on my rear balcony outside the laundry and watch the display. It was a really good view, right in your face sort of view. I think the first time I have seen fireworks in PNG before. There was a display last year too, but I was away that weekend. From my parents house in Sydney you can sometimes see fireworks on the horizon coming from Homebush. Growing up in Sydney too, you sort of get over fireworks. Especially comparing anything to Sydney Harbour’s New Year celebration display. But this is the first time that i have had fireworks so close to my own backyard and was entertaining to watch.

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