Ahnd Atoll Camping trip

Last weekend, Ben and I and many of our friends went camping on Ahnd Atoll (see some other post from some time ago for the location details......)

It was lots of fun - Friday was a glorious day and the boat ride out was smooth, the water inviting and the sun not too strong.

I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves..... we have a new camera to replace the broken one. Whilst I still mourn the loss of the old one, this camera is possibly the coolest thing ever invented. Yep, even over sliced bread. It is 10 mega pixel, waterproof to 10 metres, freeze proof, drop proof (from 6"), sand proof and even fully Joanna proof (by this I mean that it can take up to 350 photos in one day on one battery). And it has a wide angle lens and panormama stitching and so many others things I never knew I needed but now cannot possibly be expected to live without.

The boat trip back was a little different - I loved every minute of it, leading me to believe that I was, in fact, destined to be a fisherman. Others on the boat did not enjoy the swell or crashing waves quite so much...........

Look! It takes pictures underwater! No case required!


And it takes pictures from in the water to out of the water!


Andit takes pictures of men with beer!
















If you are wondering where I was for all the fun in the sun photos, well, I had a little accident. Due to unforseen and unavoidable circumstances, I found myself smashing into a head of coral at very high speed. And staying there to rub my legs on it for a while. Not great at the best of times, particulary not great when it happens to be a head of fire coral. So named for the firey burning pain it inflicts on one who touches it. Anyway, I'm on anti-biotics and slathering cortisone cream on the wounds, so now they look far less impressive - more like Ben has taken to beating me savagely.







Did I mention this camera takes photos UNDERWATER?!?!!

Return to Oz

In mid-December 2007, Joey and I went for a surprise (for us as well) visit to Australia. Perfect timing, as it was Jo's dad's X0th, and of course Christmas and New Years. Jo returned to Pohnpei in early January (would have been earlier but bad weather = cancelled flights and a four day wait for the next connection to FSM), and I stayed in Canberra to work until the end of February. Many shenanigans were had.

Lake Tuggeranong looking, well, appealing. Odd but true.

It was the middle of summer, but the days were cool and clear, and Urambi Hills behind my Mum's house were greener than our Pohnpei rainforest (a dusty browny green anyway...)

Food and friends. Yum. They have everything on the menu. Wow. First world prices. Ouch.

Christmas in Melbourne with Jo's family.

Christmas morning recycling drive.

Around New Years.
Not Pohnpei. (thanks for an excellent time Rob and Katty)

Cheesy grin. It was very tasty. (again, thanks Rob and Katty)

Fallen Angel.
(it's a cocktail now. Who says booze robs your creativity?)

It's no illusion, that's a costume change.

Best not to ask... Rob is that part of your costume?

How I saw the fireworks on the harbour bridge. A tripod would have helped...the photo.

Zain and Catherine's wedding at Gundaroo.

Nice brolgas Dick.

Yay!

Another North Head camping extravaganza.

Babies everywhere! Isabel...

Amelia...

and Lily.

Armpit freshening pose, Mt Franklin Road, Brindabella Ranges.



Mist is great, but then it turns into rain and hail and lightning. Ouch!

Beyond the Brindabellas...

You made it this far, enjoy a chuckle!

Ben

Damian and Mary

This weekend was a biggie - three parties, a scuba dive and a chick flick to cram in. Given that I repeated the karaoke/3am thing again on Friday night (no duet with the Governor this time, hallelujah) I'm pretty impressed I managed to fit it all in. I blame Mary for the karaoke, by the way. When it's your last week on island you can get people to do anything.......

Which brings me to the sad, sad news that two of our best friends have now left Pohnpei. Damian and Mary are moving to Mauritania. I think they deserve a prize for living in consecutive countries that 99.99% of the world does not know exist.

They are lovely, fun, generous and both have a naughty sense of humour. Anyway, some of us (OK, mostly me) may have been a little unkind at times, teasing Mary incessantly about wearing a burka, sending her the burqini website (I really want one of those, by the way), laughing about the sand sticking to the vaseline you have to wear on your face, mentioning, oh, about 30 times a day that it's a dry country (and I'm not talking about the weather), and pointing out all the great things about Pohnpei whilst wondering aloud "why would anyone want to leave a place like this?", but it's really because we all want to scream "DON'T LEAVE US! YOU NEED TO STAY! WHY ARE YOU GOING? DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG? DON'T GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *sob* *sob* *little sniffly shudder*"

We will miss them very much, and their beautiful doggies, Mali/Molly and Jamaica. We don't put photos of people on the blog without their permission, but Mary said we could, so here are a few.....




Ok, so here is one. I have been trying to upload photos for 6 weekes now, this is the only one that has worked.......

snorkeling the headache away

Last weekend I went snorkeling. Whoopdie doo, big deal, I hear you say. She's always snorkeling. Well, that's true. But this was the BEST SNORKELING EVER. Or, as our little friend Anya would say, BEST SNORKERING EVER!!

Perhaps my senses were heightened by the cracker of a hangover I was suffereing (note to self - do not expect to get off scott free from a night involving singing a karaoke duet with the Governor of Pohnpei and ending with 4 police squad cars despatched to turf the stragglers out of the bar at 3am). Anyways, there I was, feeling mighty sorry for myself, sitting on a boat in the rain. I was kinda over snorkeling, too. I know it sounds like someone complaining they are too rich or too thin (neither of which living on Pohnpei is helping me with) and I sound like a spoiled brat. But, you know. I was kinda over it.

Back to my epiphany. The water was deep, deep blue. Electric, even. My wobbly eyes looked at the reef and I was convinced I was hallucinating because the reef was moving around a lot. Turns out there were so many fish there they looked like a solid reef! The visibility was incredible. We saw a pod of dolphins, I saw a manta ray (thus breaking my pohnpei + snorkeling manta curse. aiiieeee. [insert Miss Piggy chop]. Take that, Manta curse). The aquatic scene looked like those photos of a reef they used to stick to TV sets in shops. It was amazing. It reminded me how special Pohnpei and the FSM are. Sometimes, after being at work, I forget that.

And then I got out, had a beer, and the world was OK again (sorry, Mum, but it was medicinal).

China

I can upload photos now! So here are some taken before our trip to Australia.

I went to China in December, for work. I have never been to China, and when it all comes down to it I realised that apart from watching dragon festivals and eating in Chinese restaurants, I don't know much about Chinese history or the nuances of Chinese culture. Although I have seen Mulan and Mulan 2, which has to count for something.

We were supposed to go to Beijing and Harbin, way up north. A slight problem saw us only go to Beijing, but more of that later. Beijing seems to be brand spanking new, and with its wide, divided boulevards it is eerily like Melbourne in parts (I'm not just saying that because of the trams). Everything seems to be either just built, or under construction. The Olympics loom large, and the frenzy is to complete it all before then. But its not just the physical city that is undergoing 'improvement' - it's the people too. Apparently, the Chinese are not inclined to line up for things (I never knew they were colonised by the French?!). So, in preparation for the Olympics, Beijing locals are being taught how to queue. They are worried that impressionable Westerners will think the Chinese are rude if they don't queue properly. One day a month is designated practice day, and everyone has to line up for buses etc.. There are volunteers in fancy uniforms to enforce this rule. THe campaign slogan is "It's civilised to queue, it's glorious to be polite." I love it.

During the Olympics, every day will be queueing day. I have heard that the queueing practice goes very well, until the bus arrives, in which everyone falls out of line and shoves in the usual fashion. Oh well, they have a few months yet. Personally, I would feel ripped off if I was an Olympic visitor. Pushing is much more fun.

It was my dream trip - a 5 star hotel, 12-16 course meals for lunch and dinner, meetings in which I was not supposed to say anything. But boy, all that eating can really start to get to you. I managed admiably, but when I got sick on the plane on the way home, I genuinely believed it was because I was just too full to take it any more. Turned out to be a nasty stomach flu, but the bright side of my enforced 3 days in a Guam hotel room was that no one wanted me to eat.


Tiananmen Square/ Central Beijing / the Forbidden City.

A little bit of old China remains in central Beijing. I got about 45 minutes to run through the Forbidden city...... It is so beautiful, on an enormous scale... made me a bit sad for all the construction work ripping down the city's past.

One of the old gates to the City


These poor guards were everywhere. I felt so sorry for them, they all looked about 12. It was pretty cold, too. Lucky I had headed to Super Savers, the thrift store on Pohnpei, and got myself a nice warm coat!


Tiananmen Square


Big Hall in the Forbidden City


Terribly arty photos of details on buildings in the Forbidden City






Yes, I am immature.


Chopsticks. I'm quite fond of chopsticks.


One thing I never considered was how useless a moat is in climates with winters cold enough to freeze water.



Accomodations and Hospitality

We were taken to a very expensive Peking Duck restaurant, Quanjude, and treated to 14 courses of duck. Yum.



The hotel was getting into the holiday spirit, spreading cheer and gritings everywhere



The Great Wall

I was told there would be no time to visit the Great Wall. In fact, pretty much the only free time we got was to walk around Tiananmen square and 45 mins in the Forbidden City. However, we turned up to the airport to fly to Harbin to find that our tickets had inexplicably been cancelled. I was devastated, Harbin sounds so cool. But on the up side, there was enough time to go to the Wall!!!!

And, you know, you can't see it from space.



The Wall is actually really, really steep, and I felt very proud of myself being the only member of our group that climbed it. Especially due to the dry freezing air that made my lungs feel they were liabe to explode. But then a man with one leg and crutches headed down past me as I was going up, and I was overtaken by a lady with a very small baby. Oh well.