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| Lonely individual |
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| Jane meeting one of the friendly locals...note nice lips! |
We have just come back from a week in
Pohnpei. Where, you might ask, is Pohnpei? Part of Micronesia (FSM)
it is about 2000km west of here. A dozen or so Australian volunteers
from the North Pacific are treated to an annual meeting/junket to
talk about our experiences. So this post focuses on the 6 day visit.
In a teacup...mountains/green tropical
forests/rivers/waterfalls/friendly people.
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| Tropicaflorius pinkupetalus! |
We set off on the “puddle jumper”
flying West from Majuro to Kwajalein Atoll, 45 minute stop then
another quick bounce at Koserae and onto Pohnpei. Because of the
hills it rains more than Majuro. We went with four other Majuro
based AVI volunteers, Pete, Wally, Soe and Allen.
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| Networking!! |
Day two to four was the real reason we
were there, our “in country conference”. An AVI fellow had been
flown up all the way from Melbourne to help us network!! Short
working days finished by 2pm. Exploring Kolonia town in the
afternoons. Eating and drinking too much at night.
Talking amoungst ourselves we
discovered we all have similar frustrations in our volunteering
roles: a different work ethic, financial management, even “what am
I doing here”, also though, plenty of positive stories and people
really achieving something.
The highlight of our trip was going to
Nan Madol. Nan Madol is the Machu Pichu of the North Pacific. It is a
impressive stone city built on a shallow reef flat between 200 and
1200 AD. It is constructed of long hexagonal basalt blocks which
according to local belief were flown in (by magic) and all done by
two brothers. The basalt comes from a quarry at least 30 km away from
the site.
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| A North Pacific version of "the African Queen" |
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| Nan Dowas, part of Nan Madol |
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| Arty photo! |
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| hexagonal basalt |
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| Ants |
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| happy travellers |
On the Saturday four of us hired a car
and visited spectacular waterfalls, Nan Madol, petroglyphs(rock
carving) and circumnavigated the Island....
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| on the way to the falls |
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| serious waterfall |
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| this is when you need the waterproof camera! |
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| we had company for lunch |
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| typical Pohnpei parking lot |
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| Spot the toad |
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| another toad!!! |
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| another bloody waterfall and our guide |
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| cock fighters in training mode |
On the Sunday twelve of us went on a
boat trip and swam with 5 foot wing span Manta Rays at Manta Road, a
gap in the reef. Had some great snorkelling and a picnic lunch on a
little coral island. Then finished with another trip to Nan
Madol...truly awesome.
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| Sunday boat trip |
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| just the right height! |
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| OK look this way |
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| say "cheese" |
Back home on Monday to Majuro. It was
nice to get back to our simple, flat, one road town and the
homeliness of Break Free.
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| we really liked his earrings |
