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.
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.
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.
Its getting late so I’ll finish off & save some for later.
Love from all of us here,
Greg
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