We've been in Kokopo for a week. Its hot! A busy few days after we arrived meeting (lots) of people.

 

This is the site of former Raboul airport. Now a landscape a bit like the moon; the red sand and pegs mark a hot water vent, flowing into the sea, where we cooked our lunch. The local villagers, charge to people come in and use the facilities! The sea was hot, quite a way, out into the bay.

We've visited the local produce market a few times. A great variety of vegetables and fruit, as well as fish and local pre-pepared dishes. Some prices are low, others high. I wanted a pineapple; good ones are 20 kina (about) $10, so I flagged it. Pawpaw, mangoes and bananas are great and reasonably priced.

Its been difficult to get set up with internet and phone. My phone decided it doesn't like the sim card and wouldn't let me send TXTs. I brought a new sim and it spat the dummy after an hour. I put the sim card from Christines phone in mine and it works ok, so we've swapped phone numbers. Getting any technical input is difficult; its mostly a matter of working things out yourself.

Roads here aren't the best, full of potholes, in urgent need to repair. Like NZ, the regions are cash strapped and there's not much money to maintain infrastructure.

Travelling along the road in a rural area we spotted some kids dressed up in chicken costumes, waiting for the local tourism guy to come and take photos. They were quite pleased to pose for us and then see the results on the camera screen.

 

 So far I haven't started work, although we've visited a few farms. Our job at the moment is to get settled in and acclimatized to the heat. We're a bit out of town, which we can see is going to be a problem, as the only transport is PMV's (vans with seats). There are heaps of them on the road so getting a lift is ok but of course moving large items is difficult. Our location means that Christine when on her own, is a bit isolated. We'll wait and see how things work out.