30 April 1973

MQ 44
Government Settlement
Republic Of Nauru
Central Pacific
30 April 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

We are really looking forward to seeing your house & the work you are putting in. It sounds as though it will be very nice when you have finally finished. Andy eventually found enough heavy curtain material to do the living area in green & gold. We also have new cushion covers, also gold, so that the house has taken on a completely new look. There is not much to do around the house as it is inclined to look after itself. Out the front as you can see from the photos is covered with crushed coral chips very much like gravel with the concrete path from the garage coming up to the door. This prevents weed from growing & the plants that are growing, mostly coconuts, need no attention. Off the veranda at the back, it is a tropical jungle which is quite nice in itself with little undergrowth. I don’t think I mentioned the problem everybody has here with rust & corrosion. As you can imagine it is pretty bad with the constant humidity & nearness to the sea. Quite a few people buy air conditioners with the sole purpose of lowering the humidity to protect stereo gear, cameras etc. These are refrigeration units of course; the water ones would be hopeless up here.

I don’t think I have told much about the local population. As far as island people go, Nauruans are extremely well off. All Nauruans are housed by the Government & although the houses are not tremendous by Australian standard, they suit the needs, climate & people sufficiently. The original Type 1 style as it is called is really only one big room which the inhabitants have been able to partition as they require. There is no glass in the windows, just shutters which push out & are actually only closed when it rains. The majority of Nauruans don’t sleep in beds but on the floor on sleeping mats & a lot sleep outside the house. To drive around the island at any time of the day you see them lying out in the sun or shade on their sleeping mats & some have built covered platforms overlooking the beach where they can lie away the day. Their staple food is rice which they cart out of the store in huge bags. They seem to be happy to just lie around & the young blokes don’t drag around in their cars like in Australia. It just seems to be in them as there is nowhere to go anyway. The Gilbert & Elice Islanders look very much like the Nauruans but as a rule they are more industrious, taller & better built people. They are all housed by NPC in a large complex of flats with the Chinese. The Chinese are recruited direct from Hong Kong & rotated every 12 months. A Nauruan ship makes a special trip to Hong Kong to pick up & repatriate them.

The President’s daughter was 21 last week & a huge party was put on for the occasion (at the President’s expense). The invitation was open to every Nauruan on the island, about 3,500 people.  From the outside looking in, it was a real island feast with food everywhere, roast pigs & the lot. A large area in the front of the house was corralled off & decorated with palm leaves & matting. Around the grounds were flames on poles is all I can describe them as but they certainly added to the island atmosphere. Estimates of the cost of the party range from $20,000 - $50,000. It is a Nauruan custom to give people things that they may take a fancy to them & nothing seems to be sacred. The President has a number of cars & a couple of people took a liking to an Italian sports car – value $7,000 & a new Falcon. Both have gone & now belong to the people who ‘borrowed” them. This custom is un-believable to us but it is a way of life up here for the locals. It is also a custom to give presents to the guests & the President’s wife brought about 50 bicycles from Japan on the maiden voyage of the Kolle D (named after her) to give away. The birthday cake was a beauty. Apparently each candle had a twenty dollar note wrapped around it so those who scored a candle with their bit of cake also coped $20. It is a way of spreading around the wealth among everybody as not all Nauruans have phosphate lands & are getting royalties. I have heard that a few try to dodge the custom by getting as much money as they can off the island & investing overseas without making it obvious.

As I said, nothing is sacred & it extends to children. My assistant, Frank & his wife have a 3 year old son who has virtually been adopted by Frank’s parents. They have an order in with Frank’s brother & sister-in-law who is 7 months pregnant that if the baby is a girl they will adopt her. This apparently is quite common.

Frank left on the plane for Australia, his first trip off Nauru. He is 25 & there are a lot of Nauruans who are born & die here on 8 square miles. I would love to see his reactions on arrival at Tullamarine & his trip into the city.

I got a few games of tennis in a while ago. We were playing 3 sets of doubles every Monday evening for a while but it seems to have petered out, just as I was really improving. I have an application in to join the golf club but there is quite a long waiting list with little chance of getting in as a full member. I will get in as a social member which will entitle me to play every day except in the competition on Saturdays. It is a tiny 9 hole course with mainly par 3’s. Surprisingly the fairways look nice & green. Oiled sand scapes for greens.

You are right about our weather; it doesn’t really rate a comment except that it hasn’t rained now for weeks. There is no rush on weekends to do anything if it’s a nice day because you know tomorrow will be equally as good. We are frequenting the beach a lot because there is not much else to do & also Darren loves it. He plays in the sand for hours & just loves the water. The water is so clear it looks about 6 inches deep instead of 3 or 4 feet.

Have I mentioned the relics from the war around the island? They are a number of un-exploded bombs in various spots, they have rusted up & it is too dangerous to try to defuse them. The beach at Anibare Bay is littered with empty shells each about 5 feet long & part of the fuselage of a plane. There are Japanese block houses that completely surround the island about 200 yards apart & a further circle some way back from the beach. There are still poles jutting out of the water near the airstrip which was part of the anti landing facilities. The old Japanese airstrip is still visible & in good shape except that there are a number on Nauruan houses now built on it. It is not far from the new airstrip. The Japs were in occupation for about 18 months & at one time there were 2,000 Japs here. After they built the airstrip they sent in bombers & fighters but the Yanks bombed the strip daily & kept them mainly on the ground. The American by-pasted Nauru on their ‘island hop” & landed at Tarawa in the Gilberts which is history & they lost about 1,500 men. There was no actual landing here but the Japs surrendered to an Australian ship at the end of the war. The Japs certainly left their mark & executed some Europeans including the Australian Administrator at the time after the first American bombing raid. Speaking of Tarawa, I have acquired a set of clam shells, each about 2 feet in diameter from the Gilberts. A Nauruan brought 6 pairs down from Tarawa by ship & gave Frank (my assistant) 2 pairs & he offered one pair to me. I don’t know what to do with them but I grabbed them anyway. They are un-believably heavy & with free freight back to Australia they must be worth something. They are sitting in our entry hall at the moment. The only constructive suggestion I’ve heard for them so far is to set them in a garden fountain with one higher than the other & as the top one fills with water it overflows to the bottom one etc.

The arm is starting to ache so I’ll stop. We got your letter dated the 19th April today & glad to hear your news. We are over our ailments though Andy is still a bit sick now & then. Hope you are all fit & well.

Love from we three & half in the tropics,,

Greg