Sports

It's an exciting time for sports in North America. Football is underway, the NHL is about to start and Major League baseball is heading towards the playoffs. For those of you who know me, you know that I'm a big sports fan. It's one of the things I miss most about home, especially this year with the Jays going to the post-season for the first time in 22 years.

Believe it or not, but it's actually easier for me to watch North American sports in Papua New Guinea than it was in France. Early on Monday mornings, I can watch a couple of NFL games and everyday there is a baseball game at 9:00am. They usually show the Yankees, so I got to watch the Jays beat the Yankees last week. I've done some research and I should be able to watch 2 NHL games a week, once the World Series is over.

It's an exciting time for sports on this side of the world as well. Every weekend I can watch Rugby and Australian Rules Football. I have discovered that there are two types of Rugby in the world, Rugby Union and Rugby League. Rugby League is by far the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea and I am fast becoming a fan myself. After visiting Brisbane, I picked the Brisbane Broncos as my favourite team and they happen to be in the National Rugby League final next Sunday. My apologies to Bronco fans because now that I'm cheering for them, I'm sure they won't win. I don't follow the Australian Football League as closely, but their final is next Saturday, so it will be a big sports weekend in Australia and PNG.

Lori and I are heading to Singapore tomorrow for 10 days. Lori has to attend meetings and I'm tagging along, so I'll have to find a spot there to watch those games as well as playoff baseball. Go Jays and Go Broncos.

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Working Port

With all the sailboats and blue-green water of the Coral Sea, it's easy to forget that Port Moresby is also a working port. We can watch all the container ships arriving with their goods from Australia and China. We also hear them in the middle of the night. If there is no one to receive their lines, they will blast the ships whistle until someone shows up.

I can watch the PNG Navy at work as well. They have 4 patrol boats and 2 landing craft, all of which were donated by the Australian Navy.

Watching the kids learn to sail with the local sail club is more enjoyable though.

During the recent Pacific Island forum, this luxury yacht took the spouses of the various dignitaries out for a harbour cruise.

A funny side note about the Pacific Island Forum, the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott spoke at a breakfast event on the last day of the forum and Lori was there to represent her company. A couple of days later, Tony's own party turfed him out so Lori heard his last public words as Prime Minister.

We get to see some strange things as well, like this guy who came up with a rather ingenious way to scrape the hull of his sailboat.

He tied up to the pilings at high tide and when the tide went out, his boat was left high and dry. I was impressed with his ingenuity but there is no way I would go underneath that boat while it was resting on its precarious perch.

There has been a small cargo ship at anchor for a few weeks now. I couldn't figure out what it was doing there, so I finally dug out the binoculars to look up the name on the hull and then I did a quick Google search.

I discovered that it's called the Blissful Reefer and it's owned by a Thai fishing company. It's been seized by the PNG government because it was used in a slave fishing ring. Apparently men from Myanmar and Cambodia are coerced on board with promises of jobs in Thailand and then are forced to fish. From what I read, 8 of these fishermen were rescued from this ship and the investigation is ongoing, so the boat continues to sit in the harbour.

I don't know if it's nostalgia left over from my Navy days, but I love living on the waterfront.

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Gabagaba

We ventured outside the city for the first time yesterday. A couple of guys that work with Lori are into Kite Surfing and they found a great spot a couple of hours away from Port Moresby, so we tagged along. The place is known by a few different names, depending on who you ask, but my favourite is Gabagaba. Traveling outside of the city involves a fair bit of planning and preparation. We traveled in a convoy of 6 vehicles plus an escort. Most of the drive was on paved roads, but we did have to follow a trail through the jungle for about 30 minutes.

We only got lost once. It was interesting when 6 SUV's had to turn around in the jungle.

Eventually we made it to the beach, where we had a 20 minute drive to the small resort we were visiting.

Once we arrived, it didn't take the guys long to get their kites together and out on the water.

Lori and I did not go kite surfing however, we brought our snorkel gear with us. It was a sandy bottom so there wasn't much to see, except for starfish. We saw hundreds of starfish. It was just nice to use our gear again, it's been a few years since we've used it. After Christmas, we are going to take some refresher training and start diving again. Yesterday reinforced our desire to get underwater.

We were there at low tide, so the beach was huge. It allowed us to get away from the shore so I could take some great pictures of the shoreline.

There was a family of dogs running around so Lori was able to get her doggy fix. Those dogs ate well yesterday.

Here we are, in the middle of nowhere, and we run into a couple from Calgary. They work for another oil company and they go kite surfing all the time. Their kids love it out there.

The weather wasn't great yesterday. We've been here for over 2 months and we hadn't seen a drop of rain until the day we go to the beach. Go figure. It didn't spoil a great day though.

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Endless Summer

I was reminded recently, by a couple of different people, that yesterday was Labour Day in North America. It’s not celebrated in Papua New Guinea, so it wasn’t something I even thought about. It actually made me realize that we are living in an endless summer.

Between Paris and Port Moresby, Lori and I have experienced a very hot and sunny summer and it felt normal to us. Drinking our morning coffee on the balcony, swimming in the afternoon and grilling our supper on the barbecue are all normal summer activities we’ve done our entire lives. That should be changing now, but it’s not. I’ve always viewed Labour Day as the unofficial end to summer. Nights get shorter, mornings are cooler, leaves start changing colour, but not here. Summer just keeps rolling on. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I should be happy that I can still wear shorts and flip-flops, but I enjoy change as well. I’ve always been someone who’s thought ‘This is nice, but what’s next?’

Growing up in northern climate, like the one we have in Canada, you come to appreciate the short growing season. You have to enjoy it while it lasts because it will soon be gone. Every month there is something new to look forward to. Berries in May, asparagus in June, tomatoes in July, corn in August and apples in September. Now the only thing I have to look forward to is rain. I am told that in a couple of months the rainy season will begin and I can expect periods where it rains non-stop for 3 or 4 days at a time. I’m sure by then I’ll be longing for the dry season but regardless, I’ll still be wearing shorts and flip-flops.

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Party Time

It's hard to believe but as of today we have been in Port Moresby for 8 weeks. We have settled in nicely and life feels fairly normal. We even have a social life now, which can be difficult because we have a curfew and travel at night requires extra security. Last week we were in invited to dinner at the home of Lori's boss and this past Friday night we went for drinks at a colleague's apartment. Yesterday, it was our turn and we had about 25 people over for drinks and snacks. We decided an afternoon party would be the best, that way we would avoid the security issues. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time.

It doesn't matter where you are in the world, a sunny day with some cold beverages and a few laughs is the perfect recipe for a party.

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