28 February 1973

MQ 44
Government Settlement
Republic Of Nauru
Central Pacific
28 Feb 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

We got your letter dated 20th February today & glad to hear everyone is well. We have finally unpacked everything & it now feels as though we have been here a lot longer than 4 weeks. We are having a lot of rain, mostly at night, but occasionally during the day. As I've mentioned, when it rains it really rains & it’s nothing to get 2-3 inches at night. Generally it runs away as fast as it falls but there are areas where the water lies for quite awhile. Our carport scores a thick layer of silt during each downpour. Actually the temperature seems to drop when it’s raining & a couple of nights we have slept under a blanket even though I don’t think the temperature has dropped below 75˚F since we have been here, it still feels cool by comparison. Did I tell you that one of those evenings I put on a pair of long strides & I felt like I was in fancy dress. Andy laughed.

We have all acquired tans, including me. I don’t think I've been this brown, at least not since Lakes Entrance days. I’ll probably look like a Nauruan by the time we leave.

I have acquired some more furniture for my office which has taken the empty feeling away. I have put in a requisition for a new desk, the present one is full of borers. I have been promised an air conditioner, but I will believe that one when I see it installed. It is not too bad working without one except about 2-3 pm when the heat plus humidity makes me quite sleepy. Surprisingly enough the Nauruans don’t like the heat & my assistant, Frank complains like hell because we haven’t got an air conditioner. Apart from trying to make myself comfortable, we are getting a bit done. It is very slow work because to hurry is not a Nauruan custom. I have already made myself unpopular in some quarters by finding quite a few cash shortages & salary over payments (including a policeman overpaid by $600). Most reports to date have been to the Secretary for Finance as most work centres around the Treasury Department.

On a sour note, they had a trial here yesterday & a 16 year old youth got life imprisonment for the man slaughter & rape of a young girl. Apparently he is quite mental & it was more for the protection of the population that he was put away for so long. The cell block which is directly behind my office is a rather depressing place & the thought of spending even a week in one of them would be hell, let alone a lifetime.

To put you in the picture a bit as to my office, apart from the cell block & prison yard & some fowls out the back, out the front I have a covered walkway on which I see many strange sights. Nauruans as a rule don’t lift their feet & seem to just shuffle along in their thongs. I will hear a really slow shuffle & when the owner eventually reaches the front of the office it is just as likely to be a 10 year old school kid instead of an 80 year old cripple like it sounds it should be. In front again is the back of the President’s office, Chief Secretary, Secretary for Finance etc. In the open space between the walkway & the back of the offices we now have an old pink sow & about 8 little piglets. They scramble in & out from under the Chief Secretary’s office all day.

                                                          Walkway Government Offices

The other day we had quite an impressive ceremony in front of the Government offices. The Australian Consul arrived to present his credentials to the President. The entire Republic’s police force was present, doing a bit of drill & when the Consul arrived he inspected the troops before going in to meet the President.

                                            Police Guard Of Honour Australian Consul 1973

There is always something of interest going on at the Government offices, particularly with the airstrip directly out front. Air Nauru was grounded here a couple of weeks ago for a day or so with a flat battery. They arranged for a small plane to fly up 2 spares from Australia. Before take off the small charter plane developed a ruptured fuel line & finished up spending a week on the island. The only place they could obtain a replacement part was Los Angeles. It had to come down via the Marshall Islands. The plane became quite a local landmark & the airport looks bare without it. Air Nauru consists of only one Fokker Fellowship & it really does a remarkable job. Each week it covers an incredible number of miles, one trip to Japan, two trips to Melbourne, two trips to the Gilbert Islands & one trip to the Marshall Islands. That’s about 22,000 miles each week. Its only rest is each Saturday which it spends in Melbourne where it gets maintenance by Ansett. Apart from the Melbourne run its success is more political than economic. It usually goes to Japan & back, about 6,500 miles with only the crew on board. Last week 6 Japanese tourists arrived to spend a week here & I believe they were the first paying passengers on that run since its inception. In addition to Air Nauru, Air Pacific runs a fortnightly flight from Fiji. Air Nauru connects with Continental Airlines in the Marshalls for a weekly flight to Honolulu.

I have bought a new Honda 90cc motor scooter ($235) to get back & forth to work. It is very handy at the moment without the car & when the car finally arrives Andy is going to get her licence & she can have the car during the day. You would be surprised how necessary transport is here as the facilities are pretty evenly spread all around the island. Scooters & motor bikes are very popular & I hardly feel out of place. It is really good fun riding the scooter & it is great for getting a tan & easy on the pocket for fuel as well. It is costing me less than 40 cents a week.

We had a busy day last Sunday. We were up a bit late but I made it to Chinatown to buy a pair of thongs. For lunch we went to the NPC club with another couple, which is a regular Sunday event here, the kids run around & have a ball & the parents are waited on by the Gilbert Island waiters, plied with food & grog & then go home to sleep it off. It was a beautiful day so we took our first trip to the beach, the water is like a bath & as clear as crystal. We couldn't get Darren out of the water, he loved it. I don’t think I will be able to go swimming in Australia again when we get used to the temperature of the water here. We were invited to a barbeque at night which was very nice though at about 8 we were sent inside by a downpour.

                                                        Greg & Darren Anibare Bay

Its getting late so I’ll finish off & save some for later.

Love from all of us here,

Greg

15 February 1973

MQ 44
Government Settlement
Republic Of Nauru
Central Pacific
15 Feb 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

Well it was really good to get your two letters. It was the first correspondence that we have had since arriving, with the exception of an invitation to a wedding at Newcastle on Tyne in the UK which we had to send a non-acceptance. They were a couple we got to know in Melbourne. We were very pleased to hear that you are thinking of settling in Warrnambool. I am sure that you will be much happier there than Melbourne & of course golf etc. will be more accessible to you as well as at least one grandchild to be close to.

I addressed the last letter to Mont Albert because we didn't have Bruce’s address so I hope it didn't take too long to get to you. While I remember, our home phone number is 9-141.

Life continues to be pretty busy with a social type evening last Monday & a barbeque on Sunday night. The people we have got to know during our short time here are really terrific & Darren has suddenly gathered a large number of mates. In fact the street (more like a road) is just full of kids from about 18 months to about 5 years old. There is a little girl about 2 next door who is Darren’s constant companion & she wanders in every morning about 8 to see him. The new set up has freed Andy up tremendously & now instead of having to keep a constant eye on Darren, he can wander back or front with the other kids with no worries.                                                           

The weather is un-believably the same day in day out & every night is warm. We sleep under a sheet with the overhead fans on. There are fans in each room & we leave them on day & night. We have had some tropic rains, both times at night & by the sound of it each drop must have been the size of golf balls.

The house is very well set up with ample furniture. The living area is really spacious, in fact the whole house is pretty big. The fridge (most important here) is 12 cubic feet with a big freezer compartment which keeps ice-cream as hard as a rock. We have a large front veranda (which is at the back of the house because of the positioning on the block) which can be completely sealed off & opens off the lounge room by two double doors. From there we have a view on coconut palms, paw paw trees & the Pacific Ocean 200 yards away.

                                                                  View From Veranda


Anyone who said this isn't a beauty spot is wrong. There are some really beautiful spots on the island & nowhere on the coastal belt where life centres are you aware of the mining in the centre. Once up “topside” it appears quite vast & it is hard to believe that Nauru is only 8 square miles.

                                                                          "Topside"

The job is still taking shape & there is a long way to go. The Republic has been without an internal auditor since June 1972 so there is quite a backlog of work to be done. I have worked out what has to done between now & June 1973 & prepared a program. I have a Nauruan as an assistant & he seems to spend most of his time as an interpreter. The Nauruans like to pretend they don’t understand you. They also don’t like working which means things move pretty slowly.

I’ll finish off now & try to get this on tomorrow’s plane. I still don’t know where you will be but hope Tuer’s address will find you.

Love from all of us,

Greg

First letter from Nauru 4 February 1973

MQ 44
Government Settlement
Republic Of Nauru
Central Pacific
4 Feb 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

Well we have finally arrived & partially settled in. Our trip here was reasonably un-eventful. The flight was about ½ hr late but with a tail wind we made up most of the time.

The heat in Noumea plus the humidity was unbelievable & particularly after spending 2 hours in the air-conditioned plane. There are some very high mountains around the airport going up into misty clouds. It had a distinct French atmosphere with the cars, signs & language.

                               
                                                   Andy & Darren Noumea Airport

Our next stop at Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomons was as uncomfortable as Noumea. The camera was impossible to use until it was nearly time to re-board the aircraft due to the lens just fogging up in the steamy air. There were a couple of very black patrol officers at the airport in kaki with packs on their backs & dangerous looking jungle knives in their hands. It was a much more attractive place than Noumea with sandy beaches, palm trees & mile after mile of tropical rainforest over rolling hills. At this stage though, with the oppressive weather we were ready to turn back.

 
                                                               Henderson Field, Honiara

The final stop was Nauru & everyone in the plane was getting a little excited & nervous at the same time. The plane was only about half full & the majority of passengers were like us, first trip overseas, married with a young family. Actually most were school teachers for the secondary school. As we touched down we noticed a number of motorcycle police dragging up the strip with the plane, which we later learned was to keep wild pigs off the strip.

We had a rather disorganised welcome at the airport. The Senior Administration Officer, my immediate superior, was there to meet us but we had just arrived in time for the official opening of their new terminal building styled “Nauru International Airport”. In addition, the following day (31/1/73) was the fifth anniversary of their Independence. The SAO, Peter Kelly was personally involved in the organisation of the opening so we were left a bit like shags on a rock. Our luggage came off the plane & was sort of stacked around while we waited for the opening ceremony to get underway. Quite a crowd gathered & the native police lined themselves up around the place & eventually the President arrived, made his speech (which was pretty good) & finally declared the terminal open. After our 8 ½ hr flight & standing around the airport in the heat with Darren for over an hour, it was like music to our ears when Kelly found us & said he would drive us to our house. Of course, our fellow passengers, that is the teachers, had departed long ago for their various houses.

Just before I go any further, the plane trip was very pleasant & not nearly as tiring as I would have thought. Only having half the plane half full meant we could use a row of spare seats to put Darren to bed when he felt like a sleep. He did sleep from midway between Noumea, through the stop over at Honiara until we were nearly ready to touch down at Nauru. The hostess kept up a steady flow of food & grog including a chicken dinner followed by liqueurs.

Anyway, we finally arrived at the house to find it very pleasant, the beds were made & the pantry full, including meat, ice-cream etc. in the fridge (all charged to our account at the NPC store). I’ll give you a run down on the accommodation later. We were immediately invited next door for tea & have only been home to tea once since we arrived.

                               
                                                            MQ 44 Teachers’ Gully

It has been a hectic round of barbeques & trips around the island for the last week. There are about four different settlements including NPC (Nauru Phosphate Corporation) & the Government Settlement. We have found ourselves in what is locally known as “Teachers’ Gully” in the Government Settlement. About half of the couples in teachers gully are new & came up on the same plane & the other half have been busting themselves to make the new ones feel at home. We now know about 10 couples with an average of two children each. The ages of the couples would range from Andy & I (we’d be the youngest) to about 35 at the oldest.

 
                                           Decorations for Independence Day 1973

Darren has had some trouble settling in which has come as a bit of a surprise because he seemed to have so little in the flat & here he has got room to move & other kids to play with. It is hard to know what goes on in their little minds. He isn’t eating very well but we have a tonic to hopefully build up his appetite & vitamin drops for him.

We arrived in time for two public holidays on Wednesday & Thursday for their Impendence celebrations & I have only worked one day, Friday. I got a cheque for four days to take me up to the end of the month (they paid me from the Sunday when we were supposed to come up) Work is another story& I’ll follow that one up too. Over the two days holiday we went to see the Nauruan wrestling which was rather exciting. We had a downpour in the middle of it but the rain was warm & the show continued right through. That evening we went to a barbeque & afterwards to the annual open air concert. Not having TV up here meant that the acts where all of a local flavour with Nauruan songs & dances with others from the Gilbert & Ellice Islands & one from Tonga. There must have been hundreds in the audience. It is really surprising to find such a concentrated population in such a small area.

 
                                                           Nauruan Wrestling 1973

The weather is reasonably comfortable during the day provided it is not too physically strenuous. At night, with the overhead fans on in the bedrooms it is a very pleasant sleeping temperature & you need a sheet over you, otherwise it is a bit cool.

Shopping is good & bad. Prices for everything are good. The variety of food lines is very limited & some things that we use are just not available eg. baby cereals, vitamin C syrup & at the moment it is impossible to buy tissues, tomato sauce & sugar. The prices of stuff that you can get are pretty comparable with Melbourne prices. Andy & I & another couple took a trip to the liquor store yesterday & found that we already had an account opened for us. They do look after newcomers in that way. We haven’t spent any money (cash that is) since we arrived with the exception of some things we bought at China Town. How is this for a list of grog prices, (all large bottles)?

Johnny Walker Red Label          $1.80
London Gin                                $1.75
Tia Maria                                   $3.20
Drambue                                    $3.20
Cherry brandy French                $2.50
Bacardi                                      $2.15
26 oz Vic Bitter                               25 cents

There is a good range of French wines for just over a dollar a bottle. Cameras, stereos, radios etc are at seemingly crazy prices at China Town.

Andy’s attitude to creepy crawlies is slowly changing by necessity. Our nightly visitors are huntsman spiders up to six or more inches across, a variety of centipedes, again up to six inches long, cockroaches & the best of all, geckos. Now geckos if you didn’t know (and we didn’t) are very common to the tropics. They are colourless lizards up to four inches long that stand a nightly vidual on the ceiling around the lights& catch the insects. Each light can have up to 3 geckos which means that in the lounge you can have 7 or 8 geckos. They do keep the insects down but they bark like a dog which is very disconcerting. Other sounds of the night are coconuts dropping on the roof, they sound like a canon going off & rather domesticated wild pigs that wander around the house, they sound like a tribe of waring Nauruans getting set to attack. Oh, plus squawking birds.

That’s a run down up to date, excluding work. I’ll save that up till next time. We are really enjoying it till now & things look pretty rosy. I hope you are well & sorting out your problems OK.

Love from Andy, Greg & Darren