MQ 44
Government Settlement
Republic Of Nauru
Central Pacific
13 May 1973
Dear Mum & Dad,
This is Sunday night, after I spoke to you on the phone. It was good to hear all your voices. At the time I rang it was about 4 pm & as I mentioned, Darren & I were taking it easy after having a relaxing day at the Club. Andy was busy sewing her half of the curtain for the Constitution Day concert at Anatan. As you can imagine it was rather a big job but she has now finished her part & tomorrow she is going down to Coral Gilroy’s to help sew the 2 halves together & hem the whole thing. Coral is the Secretary for Finance’s wife. As Andy was so busy Darren & I went down to the channel on the bike for a quick dip. We just go down at a leisurely pace & he loves it (both the ride & the swim) It is like an aquarium, the water is crystal clear & it is full of tiny coral fish, some only about an inch long & all colours of the rainbow.
After a few quiet weekends, this one was a bit more hectic, apart from today that is. Friday night we went to a send off party for the Senior Admin Officer, Peter Kelly who has been my immediate boss on all matters apart from audit reports. It was a great night held at the new hotel around the pool & the entertainment was provided by a Nauruan group singing island farewell songs. The Menen Hotel is right on the beach so as a backdrop there was the surf pounding in & with the coconut palms along the beach you could almost imagine you were on a tropical island (not to forget the full moon, Andy said it “was very romantic”)
Sunday nights are always a bit exciting because the plane comes in from Australia & a few of us go to meet it & buy Friday night & Saturday night’s Herald & the Saturday Sun, so we do manage to get some Australian news & read all the sordid details. The riots, bombings, hijacks, road toll etc. reminds us that this place is not such a bad spot, although we did have a road fatality last week. Would you believe we get the match of the day direct over Radio Nauru, plus around the ground reports, racing results etc. Radio Nauru re-broadcast Radio Australia sports session from Melbourne. It is really strange to be lying on the beach listening to action on the rain swept MCG.
We had a great last Monday with our mail, your letter, a letter from Andy’s mum & another from her sister Barbara. As well my “Australian Accountant” magazine & membership certificate plus two parcels of odds & ends from Kalorama, they including a pair of shoes for Darren. It was like Christmas. I went to Chinatown to get a frame for my certificate which proved a bit of a problem. I have had to get one of the Chinese to make one the right size.
Last Tuesday I was asked by the Chief Secretary if I would be willing to go up to the Tokyo Office in an effort to straighten out their accounting system. They have overspent their 1972/73 Budget & questions have been raised in Parliament. I said yes (of course). It should come off within the next week or so & because of the plane schedule I will have to stay at least a week. That is up on the Wednesday plane & return on the following Thursday plane. The Tokyo Office is also the Nauruan Consulate in Japan, the Consul is an Nauruan & he is assisted by about 4 Japanese staff. As you can imagine I am looking forward to the trip. The route is from here to Ponape, Guam, Okinawa and Kagoshima with Air Nauru & then a change of plane for Tokyo. I have seen pictures of Kagoshima & it looks a beautiful place. Anyway I’ll send you a postcard.
I want this to catch the mail so I’ll stop now. We are all well. Darren is eating like a horse & is growing up quite noticeably even to us. He knows enough words these days to get his meaning across & visa-versa. Interesting to hear the news on the progress of your house.
Love from us all,
Greg
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