30th January 2007

Hi dear email bulk mail list, (part 2 after the power failure, apologies if you got this twice).

Jo and I have arrived in Pohnpei safe and well, and all is going surprisingly smoothly so far.

By way of update to those who have no idea what I am talking about, firstly I am sorry for being a crap friend and not keeping in touch about our move. Jo has started a job as a lawyer for the congress of the Federated States of Micronesia. We are now living on the island of Pohnpei (PO Box 2398 Kolonia, Pohnpei FSM 96941 if you want to send luxuries from home, non-starbucks real coffee would be a lifesaver!) We are planning to be here for 2 years (thats what the contract says anyway).

Pohnpei is in the middle of the pacific ocean, pretty much north of Brisbane about 7 degrees north of the equator. Hot, wet and steamy is the best description (and not just because of the huge array of slightly dodgy DVD's for $1 rental...) and things go pretty slowly here. There is a thin veneer of american western culture pasted over a rather shambolic developing country here, but many pleasant surprises have been found. The japanese also have an influence here, as it is their premier diving destination, with some of the best scuba diving in the pacific. Quite a few australians are here for similar reasons. I am hoping to get my scuba licence and get out to the reef, and maybe to Chuuk, which is the next island and has amazing diving.

Food is very acceptable, and the cheapest item is often large slabs of sashimi tuna. It is everywhere and excellent. A whole sashimi set dinner of 3+ courses is just a few dollars (US of course). Booze is temptingly cheap here, they have Kirin and Asahi beer going cheap, and we found Tooheys New and XXXX in a supermarket the other day. We are avoiding Miller and Bud Lite though, it is just too hard to stoop to that level. The fruit and vegetable boat came in a few days ago so their is a gluttonous feast of fresh things going on, but I suspect it won't last. The last boat came in November... There are bananas, mangoes, lime, coconuts and starfruit all over the place here and they are very cheap, so we wont starve or get scurvy. We have moved into our house (in the State of U, which sounds like a psychiatric disorder) just a few hundred metres from the best hotel and bar on the island (no accident there of course) which is an eco-tourism resort from the 70's (one of the first in the world I believe). We had a magnificent dinner to celebrate our arrival there the other night, in a huge thatched room (biggest in the pacific!) on tall poles amongst the jungle foliage overlooking the ocean. There is also a small room similarly positioned but further out over a cliff above the jungle, which I think will very quickly become my favourite place on earth.

One of the biggest influences are the seemingly endless variations on the catholic missionary theme. We are regularly surrounded by (actual) hordes of boys in white short sleeved shirts carrying backpacks doing the mormon conversion spiel. I am waiting to have an actual conversation with one of them to see if they are familiar with the mormon situation in canberra (not sure if it is a myth, but I heard that canberra was the only place on the planet where the mormons gave up after achieving a zero conversion rate in their time there). They are on fire here however, and their fleets of giant SUV's are a formidable force on the streets of Kolonia. If the several dozen other missionary advance forces get their act together similarly it could get quite tense. It seems souls are a hot commodity here...

It rains here every day, a lot. They get 5000mm a year where we live, and more than 10000mm a year in the interior. There are some spectacular waterfalls and the whole place is GREEN. If you stand still for too long something will grow on you, or perhaps a coconut will fall on your head, or a gecko will take up residence on your leg.

Everyone drives everywhere here, and we are going to have to get a car, as it is about 15km from home to Jo's work, and the public transport system mostly consists of walking. The rain makes it a bit tricky to get about under your own power. Everything metal here is rusting, so cars have a very short life. They only cost a few thousand dollars, but people don't bother repairing them and there are hundreds of wrecks along the roads, slowly being consumed by the jungle. Tyres are at a premium, and most local cars have at least one of those tiny space saver spare tyres permanently mounted. Luckily the speed limit is 25mph so the complete lack of grip results in only a few accidents. The usual 3rd world improbably huge buses and trucks are charging around the roads here, and the pedestrians and endless dogs and chickens seem completely oblivious to their impending doom, which makes for amusing driving.