So, this is the first posting of my new Blog. It was supposed to be a lengthy missive about my strained attachment to my home town, how the notion of home is never easily defined and how – as a conclusion – I felt I was simply passing through last time I lived in Ballina (hence the title).
However, in typical Burford fashion I left everything to the last minute – apparently it’s because I’m a Pisces - and several things (the blog included) till after the final bell. So instead of a touching story about how I’m struggling to find my place in the world and will be leaving my home town once more, this time for a spot of volunteer work in the PNG islands, you’re actually getting a post from beautiful Kokopo in the country’s north.
I arrived in Port Moresby just after lunch on Monday (January 8th) and spent a couple of days there sorting out minor administrative details in my ‘in-country induction’. First impressions? Well… it’s poor, but not so much as you might expect. A clear division of wealth is evident, the modern high rise (well, mid rise) business buildings on the harbour wouldn’t be out of place in any Australian city (certainly bigger and shinier than anything we have in Ballina), are in direct contradiction to the settlements pretty much right next door. The city is pretty informally planned. There seem to be no clear distinctions between commercial, industrial and residential areas. As a result, I never really knew where I was.
Port Moresby has taken to the ‘compound living’ lifestyle with aplomb. Almost every shop, house, hotel and well… just about everything is behind a fence and gate. The streets actually feel pretty safe (during the day at least) and are cleaner than I’ve seen in other countries. The walls are simply a fact of life and you get used to them quickly – although I’m sure a good urban designer could integrate them into the streetscape more comprehensively.
On Wednesday Jan 10 I hopped a flight to Rabaul (Tokua) Airport – via Bougainville – and drove to my current accommodation at the Kokopo Lodge (which is actually in a village about 15 minutes outside of Kokopo). This is temporary accommodation, as my actual lodgings are yet to be built. So, its temporary, but I’m settling in all the same.
Kokopo is beautiful, relaxed and pretty much the perfect tropical resort town. Again, its pretty informal and unplanned, but the views over the harbour to the live volcano (it just sort of steams all the time) alone are worth the trip. Pretty sure I’m going to be comfortable spending two years here.
The people are remarkably friendly. On my sem-regular jogs (a moral/physical imperative after the mountains of food I’ve eaten since arrival – its not at all easy in 30 degree heat with 100% humidity), Most of the village comes out to wave as cuss and sweat my way uphill. Maybe they are just taking the piss, but they seem friendly enough.
My work is in Kerevat - about 40 minutes from Kokopo in the rural hinterland - where I'll be assisting in writing the Kerevat Urban Plan. The full details of this will have to wait till another time, but in essence, Kerevat has been designated to be a growth area and they've taken this to mean building a New Town. I'll be writing the development control documents that go with it. For those who've worked with me in development control (how do you spell liasse faire??) in the past, you'll know how laughable this actually is
That’s about all for the time being. The plan is to update the blog on a fortnightly basis, giving me enough time to find something interesting to write about and actually putting in down on paper (so to speak). But at this stage, it’s only a plan, and as I’ve already found out here in PNG, they don’t really count for much. Its all about obervations etc, so I'll make no apologies if I get things wrong while I'm coming to grips with the place.
Hope you are well wherever you are.
JRB
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