Letter: from Cairns

Letter 15 / 5 / 84

What a luxury. I'd almost forgotten that such things as peace and quiet existed. Young Alison H is home from Uni in Brisbane, and delighted to look after our two for a few hours. James thinks she's wonderful, and our Alison seems to accept it as long as James is there ... so I have been having a (much needed) little rest while Peter tries to get a "rust job" done on the car.

But let me tell you about our trip ...

Best-laid plans ...

We rang Ron Kuch about the Wednesday before we were due to come, and he told us to be at the airstrip about 1.30pm, and we could bring 50kg luggage. The trip would take only 3 1/2 hours by Aztec. On the Friday there were two funerals on the island, the bodies were flown in from Cairns by (we were told by people around us) "Outback Air". We saved ourselves a few jobs to do on Saturday morning - I got up early and put sheets etc in the laundry sink, they would be dry by lunch time, and we turned the fridge off and waited for the ice to melt a bit. We just sat down to a leisurely breakfast when there was a knock at the door - it was the Kuch pilot!

"Coming?" he asked. He had brought the bodies the day before, slept overnight in the village, but didn't bother to walk down or send someone to tell us about it.

"OK, 10 minutes ..." he said, - otherwise we would end up having to wait a couple of hours or more when we got to Lockhart River because the chap who does the re-fuelling of the planes was planning a fishing trip ...

Rushed exit

Well, we rushed. There are a lot of things you have to do before you go away for several months! You can't really just walk away ... I dragged the washing out of the sink and hung it (still soapy) on the line in bunches, rather than let it just rot in the sink. We put towels around the fridge on the floor, and slammed all the house windows closed, threw our freshly-made toast into my carry basket, locked the door ... and went. No time for any "good-bye"s.

At the airstrip they backed the tractor under the wing of the Cessna and he refuelled using a couple of jerry cans - standing on the tractor trailer to reach. One of the six seats in the plane was missing - they had to make space to carry coffins - so we had a little floor-space for Alison to play on. (And I was glad of it, she was restless and needed room to move.)

Slow flight

They had brought the Cessna instead of the Aztec because coffins fit better - but it meant the trip was now 5 hours long because it's a slower plane. Alison had a tummy-full of something that was making her uncomfortable (or maybe her ears were hurting too), and wriggled the whole time - after two dirty nappies she seemed quite a bit relieved. We were glad to have traveled early - but just wished we had known in advance! It would have been worse waiting on the airstrip for a late plane ...

Cold in Cairns

Our friends in Cairns were rather over-loaded with guests and family at this time, so they moved their caravan out to a caravan park to relieve the congestion - so here we are. It was pretty nightmarish the first couple of days (and nights), but a little better now that the kids are less excited and know the way around its a lot better. Its "so cold" (down to 21 degrees) at night, we all put on winter pajamas and we have made the kids a little nest in the bottom bunk - one at each end - with sleeping bags tucked all around to keep them away from the cold walls. They both developed colds after just one night here.

Our friends wondered what we would "do" for 5 weeks in Cairns ... this is the first time I have even paused. I've been feeling a bit crook - just achy and sort of sick - for a couple of days, so I'm very glad of this little rest. There's heaps of shopping to catch up on after our year away on the island - we only brought two overnight bags with us to get us through the long weekend when we first arrived.

Yesterday we went for our Queensland drivers licenses - we still had our South Australia (Bible College address) ones. We went down to Townsville for a day to visit friends there and to see the Marous - our islander "parents". She has been very ill, and is so thin now.

We found St Vincent de Paul's yesterday and picked up a stack of kids' clothes, especially little dresses for Alison, at 20c - 80c each!

Losing James

Last week we were shopping in a Big W complex, and were just paying for our groceries at the supermarket checkouts, when we realised James had "gone"!

Whenever we get out of the car, as his feet touch the ground, they just seem to gain a will of their own.

This particular shopping centre is marked by a huge concrete marlin (fish!) with its nose pointed skyward, so fearing the worst (he's hopeless in car parks) thought he may have gone back out to look at it. No sign of him.

We put an announcement over the supermarket p.a. but he wasn't there either. Every now and then we heard a kid crying and descended on it from opposite directions - wrong kid.

After about 20 minutes (a long time under these conditions!) Peter made his way to the Big W department store, and there was James, up on the service desk, looking VERY solemn! He'd found his way to the wrong checkouts!

Our Ali and our James

We had some photos done the other day - we'll have to get some copies made. There are some gorgeous pictures of the kids ... I find it difficult to describe Alison - she's a real little grub, loves playing in the dirt (likes to put her tummy in it) - but she has a beautiful smile! Big tummy, sway back, wobbly tumbling kind of walk - typical one-year-old, I guess. She looks sweet in a dress - otherwise people think she's a boy with her little round face and straggly hair. She still has tantrums, but I have a feeling we are winning these days. She puts on a "coy" act with "new" people, but it doesn't last long - she's too inquisitive for that. She goes more readily to a man, and is getting used to white faces.

James needs and enjoys contact with people other than us. He was thrilled to have "big Alison" babysitting. We went to an Anglican church on Sunday and he trotted off happily to Sunday School to the delight of the girls who had charge of him there. "He's so cute! He has such a cute little accent!" they kept saying.

Alison discovered the stairs to the gallery at church, so for me the whole service was a battle of wills. And once again, her constant wriggling finally resulted in a dirty nappy and some relief.

We were invited out to lunch after the church service - that was a nice change being in someone's sumptuous home rather than our tiny caravan. Alison was delighted with the carpet, totally new experience for her ... and fell asleep happily on their water bed!

Letter: Island Style Easter

Letter 23 / 4 / 84

Easter Monday, and everyone is at a bit of a loose end. At least its better than Good Friday when no one did anything, not even food preparation, just sat quietly and ate dry damper and had a 3-hour church service - until 3pm when Jesus was buried. They treated it with all the superstition of a normal funeral. I hope no one smelt our bread cooking! It was a beautiful day after weeks of foul weather and Peter was itching to get the boat into the water!

Rough Seas and scary moment

On Saturday we finally did go out in the boat. Our screen tent was still pitched over on Waier Island so we thought we had better go and get it. We left it there after our little overnight - we left in a big hurry because there was a storm approaching. We had been over there several times since we put it there and no harm had come to it, but these recent storms were too much and the screen part had rotted and was all torn.

It was really calm just out in front of the village here, but we found as soon as we got out of the lee of the island that the SE monsoon is definitely here - it was ROUGH! Its one thing to sit in a dinghy holding on with both hands while it hits the waves with a "bang! bang! bang!" ... Its quite another to perch on a metal seat clutching a wriggling child and trying to "grip with your legs"!

Coming back was much worse. With the direction the waves were moving we had to point into them (they were much bigger than us!) which would take us around the back of the island. Then at precisely the right psychological (or geological) moment Peter swung the boat and we whizzed along with the waves - "Unorthodox, but effective! ..." Peter was saying with a grim smile, and then ... "OH, NO!" Suddenly we were over the reef and the tide was lower than it should have been. With split second timing he spun the boat again - we were glad that we bought a reasonably powerful motor!

I think if this baby is to be born at the right time and place I'll leave boating until we return in the "doldrums" season!

"Nowa" and "God"

The "Nowa" (Noah) book is about ready to print. There was supposed to be a meeting Friday afternoon to make a decision about which name for "God" would be used, but not many people knew about the meeting. The Anglican church has been using the word "Ad" - an old language word meaning anchor or rock, also some reference to "outside" or "other". But when it came down to it, only the priest himself was in favour of it - much to his surprise. There is an older word, "Agud" meaning "the true god" - and not refering to their old gods Bomai or Malo or Waiat. It seems they always knew there was a true God but were unsure how to find him. The professing Christians here believe that is the Christian God. The Western Islanders (Saibai Island etc) use a similar word, "Awgad".

Going to Darwin

Less than two weeks to go - its time I started cleaning and packing. Not a great deal to actually pack, but an awful lot of sorting and planning to do. The S family will look after our fowls - we've been keeping them (the fowls) in their run a bit longer each day to get used to it ... still no eggs. The S family are not looking forward to 5 months without us, especially without James to play with their girls.

Alison has finally drifted off to sleep so I have a precious hour or so to rush wildly from room to room ...

Letter: Nowa Book

Letter 22 / 4 / 84

I'm sitting up in bed writing - Peter is out working again tonight and I always try to wait up for him but no matter what I do I can't seem to last longer than about 9pm.

The "Nowa" book in Meriam Mir is finished, it seems, and he is trying to get it done in Torres Strait Creole too. So he's been working most mornings and nights - in the afternoon he (and James) go and try to catch us some protein off the beach.

Dry dock

The boat is in dry dock - Peter's got the motor on a special stand he built for it (he's getting quite handy at carpentry) and he's just serviced it - book in one hand, grease gun in the other. It took a bit of moving - it weighs 45kg - so he's not keen on moving it again ... but he's not sure if he can last another week without going out in the boat.

The dry season - or SE monsoon - is definitely with us. Not good boating weather. After last week when we nearly came a cropper on the reef, I'm not keen on going out again for a while.

Alison's little limp

School holidays (including Easter) are finished - James was glad to get back to kindy today. He and Ali play so well these days that she does really miss him when he goes to kindy - but she does get a good nap when he is out.

She stepped on a bitie ant or something today. Didn't cry, just grizzled and acted like she had ants in her nappy. It took me quite a while to find the source of her annoyance ... then all of a sudden she came out in hives. Her little foot swelled up tight - it was rock hard! (These ants also make me swell up when they bite me, though it hardly hurts at the time, just itches.)

Anti-histimine and a bicarb paste dealt with the hives but then she was miserable because she wanted to run around and couldn't without her foot hurting. She eventually developed an effective little limp and was much happier.

Mail planes

I don't know whether last week's letter went. Four planes - or the same one four times - came and went, and they completely forgot to bring any mail.

The wretched "Islander" (10-seater) plane has broken down - again - so they were running around in a 5-seater.

As well as the usual passenger quota, it was a doctor's clinic day, and they always bring extras like the bug-catchers from the DPI or whatever, and the S family of 4 plus their 4 visitors were meant to go (at short notice) to TI for a seminar ... it was a busy chaotic day on the airstrip!

Sleepies ...

I can feel 9pm creeping up on me. Bed is not a good place for letter writing when you have an achy back either. Haven't got much packing or anything done yet - I can't seem to get ahead of today's needs, know what I mean?

Once small corner of the kitchen has been sorted through and cleaned. And I've oiled my dear old sewing machine and popped it down into its special hidey hole - I suppose it likes being upside-down. I really do enjoy using it, its somehow more fun than electric.

Going down your leg

Only seven more days to go now - James can hold up his fingers to show how many. He talks about when we go to Cairns, and when we go to Darwin, and when the baby comes out - and seems happy about all of it. He says, "I got two babies now, one inside your tummy and one here."

Sometimes he pokes me and says, "Lookout, the baby's going down your leg now!"

He's very proud of being able to take his own shirt (and pants) off - though buttons are still a problem - and he can put his own pants on!

"Look, this big bottom here!" he says, implying that he has the big bit at the back, though he is often wrong.

"I a big boy now!" he says in his funny Islander accent.

We have little patches of defiance, but he's much more settled these days.

Alison is open and friendly with islanders - especially the men (she's a bit of a "Daddy's girl" these days), but has been very obviously ill-at-ease with any whites we've had recent contact with. I guess its to do with voice tones, and general movements rather than actual skin colour. Peter tends to move and talk more like an islander these days - they have a slow, gentle way about them.

The first duck egg!

On Sunday morning I found an EGG - ducky egg, sort of greeny-brown in colour. We saved it till Monday, but there wasn't another so we ate it - shared 4 ways! Then we found another one after breakfast! Then today there was number three, so there were 2 eggs for breakie - really tasty too.

Creole Translation

The "Nowa" translation in Creole caused some excitement among school kids - they found they could read it straight off. So I guess we'll get some of those printed off too ...

Butterfly man

A naturalist guy, doing some vague study of flora and fauna here, is making a real nuisance of himself - availing himself of our hospitality. Hanging around at tea-time ... then after dark he says he has no torch and asks if he can sleep in our translation house. The fact that he is so unspecific about what he is doing (the fact that he carries a huge butterfly net proves nothing as far as I am concerned) and like talking endlessly about controversial issues makes us a bit nervous ... We hope he's just a social misfit and not up to something more sinister. He is supposed to be camping up on the airstrip or somewhere.

Letter: Snake Tale

Letter 16 / 4 / 84

Friday morning I wandered out to the duck-run, bleary-eyed. They are generally pretty eager to come out once it gets light. My cheery "hello, Duckies ..." was met with stony silence instead of the usual clatter of them flapping and rushing to the door to be the first out to greet the day.

I scraped the piece of tin (the door) noisily out of its slot ...

and there were the chickens all huddled in the back corner with the ducks, all staring at me wide-eyed. (have you even seen a chicken look at you that way - ?!)

In the space near the door where the chickens usually rest was an enormous snake with an unblinking stare fixed on me.

I looked at the fowls again: 4 ducks, 3 chickens. Oh no!

I counted them again several times just to be sure and the answer kept coming back the same: 4 ducks, 3 chickens, 1 snake.

I ran inside and woke Peter, and he stumbled out bleary and confused, grabbing the pitchfork, mattock and chopper (the one we use for cutlet-ing fish) on his way past the shed.

It was hard for him to know just how to attack the snake as he had to duck into the duck-house to do so. He reckoned he had just one chance, the snake would not sit still for a second strike, so he chose the pitch-fork because it had a long handle.

He couldn't persuade the ducks to come out of the run, so he had to leave them there in the back corner.

He jabbed the pitch-fork into the curled-up snake ...

At first the snake didn't react, just looked up sleepily - obviously it had a meal to digest.

Then it tried to head for the back corner where the ducks were huddled ... so Peter set to with the chopper. He figured he might be able to shorten it a bit. (And he had heard that you should go for a python's tail.)

Then it turned and stuck it's head out of the doorway hissing at Peter ... which was when it discovered the mattock, and we all breathed again.

Not wanting to upset James too much - with possible comparisons to his mum's condition (!) - we waited till he went to kindy, then we opened the snake and found the chicken. There it was, feathers and all, swallowed feet first - quite amazing. The snake had viscious-looking poison fangs, so I guess it stuns its victims first.

Peter spent the day carefully patching every single hole in the duck-house so no more snakes can get in.

As it started to get dark the fowls started to get really edgy - food wasn't enough to entice them back into their little house! The chickens were the worst. They seemed to think that our toilet outhouse looked like an inviting place to roost for the night - but at least once they got in there I had a chance to catch them!

School Hols

Today is the first day of the school holidays - we discovered after taking James to kindy and finding it deserted!

Its bird season and a plague of small boys with handfuls of stones like to hang around outside our house (looking up into the huge, ancient almond tree out the front) and they try to hit birds with their stones. Unfortunately, besides the noise they make with their piping voices (while Ali is asleep), they give no thought to where the stone comes back down again.

Then there are the "big boys" or young men with air rifles, and handfuls of little dead birds - and they also give no consideration as to where their rifle pellets end up. But I'm not so game when it comes to sending them packing as I do with the little boys. They seem to have the idea that the (usually very strict) property boundaries don't apply if you are chasing a (real or imaginary) bird.

Translation Work and Weather

Last week Peter had language sessions with three important men - Henry Kabere (chairman), Jack Wailu (councillor) and Fr Nagai Tabo (Anglican priest). Ken Passi was to have come too, but he was drunk. Each gave a version (on tape, then transcribed) of the Noah story to be printed on to a "pre-run" book - a book with the pictures already printed and space to put the words.

On Sunday afternoon they were to have met to discuss the final text ... But it started to rain. And it rained, and rained, and RAINED, all day and all night. Not Sydney drizzle but tropical crashing rain.Today it has gradually eased up at last.

It would have been a good setting for the Noah story, but no one goes out in the rain here. So we don't know what happens next. Will these characters turn up for sessions the same time as last week, or has everything just ground to a halt all over again?

Women's business

This is a very different society from ours. The men and women have very different roles. No way will the women be persuaded to take on language work the same as the men with our SIL methods using tape recorders, practising "drills" etc etc. So I have to work on some new strategies.

They are friendly and nice enough, but its hard to get really close to them. One doesn't just go visiting, apparently. I'm thinking about working on a book about food - bread recipes, recipes using local foods, nutrition advice (!) etc in Meriam to get them into the literacy habit. Books just aren't generally for women. It will give me an excuse to go visiting and call on them, researching the book.

Food and weather

The weather has been too rough for much boat fishing these days. Peter just went and bought us some pork sausages for tea - such things are not usually available, but these came in on a plane on Saturday. (7 sausages for $3 sounds reasonable to us, but maybe we have been here too long.)

We've had no potatoes for weeks - and we are getting sick of spaghetti and rice. I've even cooked damper or pancakes for a change a few times. My sweet potatoes grew nothing but leaves, but we found some cassava growing in our back yard so we tried a piece of that - took a lot of boiling, but I'm not too sure I was using the right method.

Letter: New Ribbon

Letter 26 / 2 / 84

Kids permitting, I thought I'd type my letter this week, and try out our new ribbon. We had to type a report for our administration in Darwin, and they wanted to then be able to photo-copy it ... so they sent us a new ribbon! (no doubt we'll get the bill!) But, this is amazing, you can actually see it. The other one was faint right from the time we bought it. Now all I need to do is work out how to stop the 'a' from jumping ...

Talking of 'jumping', number 3 is busy jumping these days, all very encouraging. A young lady doctor came out this week for a holiday plus clinic (to make up for the missed clinic last week) and she insists that I'm 18 weeks or more. But I feel well. My weight is beginning to creep up, and she has promised to get me a spring-loaded finger-pricker so I can test my blood sugar without doing major surgery on my fingers.

Peter is well, though rather tired these days, its very hard for him to get going.

Alison is full of bounce. Still prefers to crawl (its faster and safer than walking) - but gets around a fair bit with the little wooden trolley.

James has his usual round of problems - a runny nose and cough again. He is going through a little rebellious patch too, feeling insecure again, I guess. Its 'in the wind' that we are going again sometime and he also hears talk of a new baby - we are pretty careful, but he's always quick to pick these things up, and its always hard to discuss things with him and get him all excited when its such a long time away yet. He's got his English talking and Creole all mixed up. We try to insist on good English at home to help him keep it straight. He's just so over-sensitive to everything. He still enjoys kindy, and after kindy likes to go and play with Marissa and Danielle. I don't mind him going, but it means unless I go with him for a chat with Sue, Alison really misses him, and we hardly see him either.

I have a feeling that last week's mail didn't go, so you may not have received our last letter. I may even ring you before you get this, but I'll write it anyway. Our May 5 flight is not definite, but we have to leave it partly up to Ron Kusch (who will be flying us down to Cairns). He usually flies on a Saturday, and he will be influenced by any possibility of other passengers and/or cargo.

We have just discovered (quite by accident) that we can now dial direct to Cairns and its a local call - 20c, talk as long as you like, instead of "3 minutes, are you extending?" every 30seconds - 20minutes (depending on how busy they are at the exchange)! The change was not announced, we are not even sure if it was supposed to happen, but it means we can talk to our friends in Cairns quite readily, as long as it lasts. Unfortunately we have not had any success with dialling direct any further south than Cairns, the phone chokes as soon as you mention an area code. So I will have to reverse charges for now - trying to get hold of enough 20c coins otherwise is nearly impossible, this island always has a cash flow problem.

Its been a good week for fishing, after all the bad weather. The other day Peter caught a 26lb travally! He said his hands and arms were a bit numb and shaky after pulling that one in by himself. That wasn't to mention the three 6lb coral trout he caught as well. And there have been a few sizeable ones since then.

We picnicked over at Dawar Island yesterday, came back all sunburnt. Peter saw some large trevally in a feeding frenzy, several of them being left high and dry flapping on the reef every time the wave went out ... but he couldn't get to his fish spear in time. He threw a line in and caught a nice one for our tea.

I was talking informally to the young lady doctor this morning and she says the head doctor wants to have me in hospital for the last few weeks on insulin - not keen on that! It won't be up to him in the end because we'll be in Darwin, and we hope they can be persuaded to let me come in for a daily test and/or injection rather than languish in hospital for weeks while the family goes up the wall.

Alison is in James's room, up to I don't know what. Soon it'll be time to get James from kindy. Its very sticky today, the ocean has that 'doldrums' look about it. We have reasoned that maybe the best way to catch some language is to spend most of the day sitting in or near the store ... but when Peter got there this morning everyone seemed to get up and gradually dribbled off home. We have some spare mangoes which he offered to someone and they said they would come and get them, but of course they didn't. We keep getting these bright ideas - "Right, today I'll try this..." and we head off all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and come home all disappointed again. And after a few days we don't feel like getting up in the mornings (but we always do, with a little help from the kids!)

Oh dear. Alison has found the box of tissues. They make such a lovely "phut! phut!" noise as you pull them out of the box ...

Letter: Wet Season

Letter 19 / 2 / 84

Sunday afternoon on wet, windy Mer. It started raining on Tuesday, and didn't even pause for breath until Thursday afternoon. Then this NW wind came in. At night there is a full moon, so the extra high tides combined with this wind are chaotic.

Suddenly we are relieved to be on the side of the road away from the beach. Everyone on the beach front builds bamboo fences and buries all their rubbish behind them to protect against these tides - but it didn't do any good yesterday.

We decided to spend part of our 'day off' shell collecting ... until we found the water was right up in some peoples' shade houses and there was no beach to walk on. The ocean is pounding and roaring - its usually so quiet!

We are missing the fish in our diet too - its not exactly good fishing weather.

Our Ali

Alison has found her feet - but she still needs a little more confidence. She charges around with James' trolley. Sometimes when she thinks no one is looking she'll quietly walk half a dozen steps ... but as soon as we look she sits down.

She is so "talkative", we'll be wanting to put a cork in it when she learns the words.

And climb! She almost climbed out of her cot this morning, her foot was right up on the edge.

Our James

As for our little James ... Peter constantly checks his language, tries to make him speak English at home. He has so many quaint little sayings.

He's constantly asking when "our plane" is coming and when he'll see all his cousins - but he especially wants to see Uncle Mark. He's really taken a shine to Mark, just from photos. (I think its mostly the one of him holding a fish.)

Exocet chickens

I got tired of chasing our chickens with James' grasshopper net every time they flew away.

They love to fly about head height, straight at me like a missile, and then I would reach out with the net and phht!

So Peter clipped their wings, and we put them in with the ducks.

At first the ducks hissed at them, but in no time the chickens had taken over, running between the legs and under the bills of the ducks and stealing their food.

When things had settled down a bit, we opened the gate once more, and in no time the chickens were pecking around outside with the ducks following. (The ducks wouldn't even come out before.)

At night the chicks pop into their flour drum inside the duck hut, and the ducks huddle in their favourite corner.

Its all very pleasing ... except for the present lack of eggs.

Baby news

The doctor didn't come for his monthly visit this week due to the inclement weather.

Our baby is moving about already, and that along with size would indicate I'm about 18 weeks, but I think I'm about 15 weeks. It would be nice if I'm wrong about the date, but its probably just another jumbo, or two.

Anyway, I feel really well, sickness cleared up a couple of weeks ago. James commented this morning, "Big tummy, Mummy", so I guess he could start asking about it soon when it occurs to him.

No fish

No fish for tea tonight. Peter and Peter S braved the wind for a quick outing yesterday, but although they claimed a number of "good bites", they all got away.

Friends on TI sent us a packet of dried prawns, I guess I'll try and create some sort of a meal with those.

Never on Sunday

A plane came in a few minutes ago loaded with all kinds of fresh fruit - pity it's Sunday and they won't open the store!

I hope the rats will leave some for us to buy tomorrow.

Letter: Hot Weather

Letter 4 / 2 / 84

Hot, sticky Sunday - today must be the first day in a couple of weeks that it hasn't rained.

They say the wet doesn't last very long - I hope it hasn't gone already. Oh, well, when it does, the SE season can actually be quite pleasant.

Language work

We are very busy these days - that's good.

We asked Fr Tabo for some advice about people not coming when they promise to. He thought about it and decided it was laziness, so he gave everyone a sound telling off.

Since that we've had some good informal sessions with Sam Passi, George Passi, and Jack Wailu.

Jack looks like developing into quite a good language helper. Unfortunately, as soon as the season changes he is moving around to Las, around the back of the island. It's not that far away, but compared to anywhere else on the island it seems so.

He has a sizable piece of land at Las, and he has said he would be happy for us to build a little holiday shack there for a break every few weeks ... lovely place Las, really rugged and "free"!

Babysitters

I still can't find anyone suitable to help care for Alison. She's a delight, and people enjoy her, but no one wants to be responsible for her.

Island babies aren't allowed to crawl etc, they sit quietly between mum's crossed legs ... this one is hopeless! I guess I may have to offer decent wages - we get a subsidy for language helper wages, but not for babysitters - even then I may get no offers.

Our "big Aunty Kathleen" would take her but she is employed in the clinic 9-12 each day, which is when I'd like to do language work rather than afternoons. Besides, I'd like to use Kathleen as a language helper somehow.

Climbing baby

Our Alison is very much a climbing baby.

We had an old foam rubber mattress and we cut it into four, and made bright covers for these scatter cushions which we arrange and rearrange around the room. Often we make a little sofa, two cushions high with another one for a back rest.

Ali loves climbing on and off that. But she took me by surprise yesterday when I found her sitting up on top of the upturned play cubes (you know, those plastic crates) which we were using as a baby gate. So much for that idea.

Later I found her up on top of the potty chair with her little pink feet firmly wedged in the potty.

Dumb ducks

Still no eggs from our ducks - all we need now is for someone to tell us that ducks won't lay when they live in the tropics.

But we are enjoying them. The drakes were so aggressive, but the ducks are so timid.

We've been leaving their gate propped open all week. It took about three days before they would even venture out after food. (And ducks are such greedy critters, worse than chooks).

Then they finally discovered that in the afternoon the long grass of our back "lawn" is cool and shady ... but then we went and cut the grass.

Damp chicks

Our four chicks are doing well - we found two of our six were roosters (you can tell by the wings!) and got rid of them.

But they have no sense in the rain. They will not shelter, would rather stand and "cheep" insults at the rain as it hits them.

The other day they got so wet and cold we wrapped them in tissues and put them in a little esky until they warmed up a bit.

Dinner time

Well, its time I started cooking some tea. The evenings go so much better for us if we can manage an early tea.

The Islanders don't generally eat until 7 or 8 pm, and some of their kids just don't make the distance.

Alison eats - or at least tries to - just about everything these days, un-mushed. She loves fish.

Trouble

Did I tell you about Margaret getting beaten up? She's coming back on Tuesday ... she took 8 yr old daughter, Bai, and 9mth old baby, Helen, with her to the hospital, leaving Wilfred to cope with Kakam (3), Melpal (4) Dadaboy (5) and Lenwat (2). Its been a good experience for him, I guess. But he has palmed them off onto us a few times - what a nightmare! The "story" is that Margaret will return accompanied by two white police - but that's probably not true. They will tell something as if it's true if they really want it to be so.

Beer

The Melbidir is due Tuesday.

Everyone thinks it will be carrying 400 cartons of beer, and I guess some of the men will have their tongues hanging out ... but we have heard via the white grapevine (the Islanders don't know yet) that there won't be any beer on board at all.

It may be to do with the recent trouble with Margaret, though we don't know if drink was actually involved there.

"Progress"

There is a chap here to build a new clinic, complete with living quarters so doctor's visits needn't be a rushed 10am-4pm job but they could actually stay overnight. And its rumoured to be going to have a new super-duper bed with everything that goes up and down - even TI hospital isn't equipped thus. Crazy isn't it. (You should see the present bed - talk about ex war-time!)

Peter just picked our first 2 corn cobs. Very skinny cobs, but the kernels are full.