Tractor To Tingwon

Tingwon is a small island off the coast of a slightly larger island, New Hanover, which is next to the still slightly larger island of New Ireland, which is where I live.  The people of Tingwon were in need of a tractor so the government not only purchased a tractor, but arranged for the delivery of said tractor.  The tractor was being delivered via large ship and because the ship was so large lots of people got to go on the trip.  I was one of those lucky people.

The MV Manmantinut, our ride to Tingwon.

We boarded the ship and headed off at about 10pm at night.  There were over 60 people on board, but not enough beds.  Lucky for me I got a cabin bunk and was able to get a little bit a sleep while we steamed over night.  I get really seasick and while looking for the Dramamine my ADD kicked in and I moved on to pack something else.  Thankfully, though, my ADD did not interfere when I went to grab the ginger gum which helps with nausea.  The gum worked great!  I felt a little off, but nothing unbearable and no retching.  On the gum label it says it’s good for morning sickness as well all you pregnant ladies or potential moms in the future. 

So, the trip there was pretty uneventful.  I half slept while rolling around in my bunk ready to stop myself mid fall at any point.  Funny story… it has nothing to do with this one, but explains my fear of rolling out of bunks on a boat.  While staying on a friends boat I had a dream that I was calling after a friend as she walked away from.  I kept yelling her name but she wouldn’t turn around.  I went chasing after her and when I stepped off a curb and at this point in my dream I woke up… on my hands and knees… on the floor.  I rolled out of my bunk.  And no, there were no rough seas, I helped myself out of my bunk without assistance. The next morning when I got up the first person I saw when I walked out of my room was the friend I was calling after in my dream.  I let her know that I was not happy with being ignored and that it better not happen again.  Then I showed her my bruised knees.  She found this all to be funny. I, on the hand, was not laughing.  After this incident I’m a bit worried about sleeping in bunks on ships. 

The morning we arrived it was go time.  There is no jetty where the tractor was to be unloaded, but there was a reef.  After 5 attempts the ship finally picked the perfect spot to drop anchor and drive the tractor off the ship and onto the reef.  This had disaster written all over it so to prepare for such an event I grabbed my camera.  If this was going to go wrong I was going to catch it all on film and then cash in on America’s funniest videos or the Australian equivalent.  Fortunately for the people of Tingwon (and the government who purchased the tractor), it rolled safely off the ship and onto the reef.  I still got it on film, but that’s not nearly as entertaining as a tractor rolling off a ship and into the ocean.

Bongo admiring the Tingwon from the boat.

Sit Julius (Governor), a village man, and Kuni all discussing
which reef to unload the tractor onto.

Lining the ship up with the reef.  Unfortunately it was at this point
Sir J told up all to get on a boat and head to the village so I didn't 
get any shots of the tractor rolling off the ship.

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a real 
photographer and take artsy photos.

The tractor just after it rolled off the ship.  I was on a banana boat
trying to get pictures and videos as best as I could.

Proof the tractor actually arrived at the village.

After the tractor was off it was time for all the speeches and official business.  I didn’t get in to take my seat because I was too busy snapping photos of the adorable children everywhere and the speeches began.  At this point I couldn’t very well interrupt by walking in and searching for a seat so I decided staying outside and playing with the kiddos was far more respectful of a choice.  We bounced a ball around for a bit and then went for a tour of the island.  They showed me the health center and said no one was sick so no one was there.  Later, I found out from an adult that the reason no one was there was because there’s no doctor there.  After the hospital we toured the prep and primary school.  They have up to 8^th grade on the island, but that’s it.

I gave a kid my camera and this is what I got.

And this.  First time camera users take awesome shots.  Makes me
rethink my photographing strategies.  Close eyes then shoot.  Maybe
some of my shots will turn out as interesting.

Just hangin' out gettin' my herr did by the locals.

I loved this!  Flower in the hair and pollen
all over the forehead.

This is Mae.  She was one of my tour guides
in the village.  She's 11 and in 4th grade.

I said I was going to the beach to look for a shell. (I take a shell or 
rock from every place I visit).  This was my following.

By this time all the speeches and official business was over and it was time to eat.  Mmmm food.  I like food.  Everything looked good so I put a little bit of each thing on my plate.  Right after eating a bit of what I thought was chicken I heard two people talking about the turtle meat dish.  Then I felt awful for eating turtle.  Had I have known it was turtle I wouldn’t have eaten it, but since I didn’t know it was I got to try turtle meat.

Once the feasting was finished it was time to head out again.  Getting from the ship to the island and back was a bit of a task.  To get from the ship to the reef we took a motorboat.  Then at the reefs edge we had to get out and wait for a boat without a motor to come.  This boat was pushed up to beach.  We couldn’t take a motorboat because it was too shallow.  On the way back they were taking people literally one at a time in a canoe.  To get 60 people back to the ship this would have taken hours so Bruce and I set out walking out to the edge of the reef.  Then we went in a canoe one by one back to the ship.  Once we started walking a big crowd followed.  We’re trendsetters like that.  This sped up the process quite a bit.

Boat ride to the shore.

Waiting at the edge of the reef for the second boat to come get us.

To get to the small boats you had to step
through this door and down about 3 feet into
the boat.  I found this amusing.

Canoes ready to taxi people to shore.

Once back on the ship we had an 8 hour journey back home.  Thankfully, seas were a bit more calm on the way back.  Over all it was a great trip to a lovely island.

Why sit in the boat when you can sit on the
edge at the very tip?

Drift wood... I love drift wood.

The water is so blue, it's unreal!

6 legged starfish

Not sure what happened here, but I thought this was pretty rad.

Do note the "Bart Rocks" shirt.  As mentioned
previous this is a small island off a small island
off another small island in a remote part of the
world and yet T-shirts like these still find their
way here.  Fascinating.

The ants go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah.  This perfect arrow
was created by ants.  I thought that was pretty incredible.  They carved
out a gorge that is the perfect shape of an arrow.  So cool.