Mabel "Robbie" Mears

Robbie Mears & her husband Bill Mears were our dinner guests in Honiara in July 1974. At the time, although Andy & I greatly enjoyed their company, we had no idea of the interesting history of this amazing couple. This information became available at a much later date & is included to recognise their contribution. The following extract is from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10655516

Mabel 'Robbie' Mears, 95, passed away Thursday, March 17, 2005. 

She was born on September 20, 1909 in Toronto, Canada to Wm. Frederick Arthur and Elizabeth Schiller Robertson. Robbie and her family immigrated to Florida, when she was three years old. 

After graduation from the Army School of Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, DC, Robbie was inducted into the Army Nurse Corps. as a second lieutenant. 

She served at Strotsenberg and Sternberg Army Hospitals in Luzon, Philippines. 

She left the Army Nurse Corp in March, 1939 to marry George E.C. "Bill" Mears, a British subject, who came to the Philippines in 1935 as a civil engineer. 

The Mears with four other expatriates were held by the Japanese as POWs until the Japanese required the services of Bill Mears to reopen a sawmill operation for lumber production to repair bridges. 

In 1944, the Mears escaped to Australia by British submarine. Mrs. Mears rejoined the Army Nurse Corps and he joined the US Corps of Engineers. That same year she was assigned to General McArthur's headquarters in Australia. She was in McArthur's advance to Layte, and then returned to Manila. Her assignment in Manila was to escort and repatriate interned Navy nurses on their return to the United States. 

Robbie and Bill were reunited at the end of WWII and she remained in the US Army Nurse Corps until 1946. 

The Mears founded the Nasipit Lumber Company, Inc. in Manila. And later, headed the firm of Wood Industries Consultants. 

They lived in Malate Manila, Philippines. Upon Bill's death the late 80's, Robbie joined her family in Fort Pierce, Fl. 

Robbie received the bronze star for heroism, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre ribbon with 2 stars, the Philippine Liberation ribbon with one star, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

She was one of a group of nurses who were an advance medical group, for which, despite air raids and small arms fire, provided medical care for approximately 3,700 American and Allied civilians suffering from malnutrition and other maladies resulting from long internment. 

Robbie was an active member of First United Methodist Church, life member of the Pink Ladies and Senior Friends at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. 

She was godmother to thirty children and leaves many friends behind. She is preceded in death by her husband, George E.C. Mears, her sisters, Marian Mattson, Ollie Haberlandt, Lillian High, and Margaret Bartlett. 

She is survived by many nieces and nephews and their children who loved her dearly. 

Burial:
Arlington National Cemetery 
Arlington

2 July 1974

Viru Harbour

New Geogia

B.S.I.P.

2 July 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

As you can see from the address, I finally made it to Viru Harbour. The harbour itself is beautiful, set in completely virgin jungle with mountains all around. It is really the estuary of two rivers & is well inland from the open sea. As I have mentioned, to get here requires an 1 ½ hours flight in a Solair Britten Norman Islander (twin engine passenger plane for about 10) to a bush strip which is literally carved out of the jungle, the runway is grass, no buildings except a small village, called Sege. It was originally built by the Americans during the war as their first foothold on New Georgia that was in Japanese hands.

At Sege I was met by a Solomon Islander who carried my bag to a very long dugout canoe with an outboard motor & off we went on a 2 hour trip to Viru. We travelled for some time through the lagoon full of small heavily vegetated islands. It was a calm, sunny day & the water was like glass. The canoes are designed like an arrow & cut through the water with little effort. When we came out of the lagoon we were in the open sea & thank goodness the sea was reasonably calm. It seemed like a very long trip in the canoe & on the way the driver dragged a line through a school of fish but didn't catch anything. I saw quite a few flying fish, they are really something to see. They look like a bird & fly over the water at about a foot above the surface for probably a chain or so & then dive into the water. There was absolutely no sign of human life for the entire 2 hour trip & the coastline was shear coral cliffs covered in rain forest most of the way, quite inhospitable.

There is not a lot here apart from the logging operation, only 2 villages which hang on the hills & down to the water with some houses on piles in the water. 

                                                    Tetemara Village New Georgia Island

                                                                   Kalena Timber

                                        Workers' Quarters Kalena Timber

The house I am in is on a hill overlooking the company buildings & the harbour, out the back door is rain forest & it hums with noise. The house is a Japanese prefab & infested with rats. The ceiling is not sealed as there are large gaps between the walls & the ceiling. The rats run across the ceiling & occasionally have a fight. When I got home last night I saw an enormous rat run down the wall & hid behind a chest of drawers. 

                                             Guest House Viru Harbour

The mud is another thing very prevalent here. I was out to tea last night at the Administration Manager’s house. 

                           Administration Manager's House Viru Harbour

It then started to rain heavily & kept up all night. I borrowed an umbrella & torch to come home & plodding through a cabbage patch full of frogs & mud & the rain to the house. I was really bushed & went straight to sleep & survived the night OK, including the rats & today the weather was beautiful.

It is just getting dark & there is a group down in the village singing. Tomorrow is picture night & Thursday I am going home.

17 July 1974

I have been back from Viru for about a fortnight now & still haven’t written so here goes. First of all, I'm sorry I missed your birthday Dad, also Bruce’s. I tried to ring on the 17^th but left my run a bit late. A very late Happy Birthday anyway. We received the gift for Darren & he was really thrilled with it. Andy has written I think.

A few other things happened on my trip to Viru after I wrote the letter up there. On the Wednesday I went across to a Tetemara village to buy a carving & caused quite a stir walking through the village. 

                                                   Trip To Tetemara Village

                                                                 Tetemara Village

                                                      Carver polishing carving in water

All the kids came out & followed along behind me. The canoe driver was to come back in ½ hour to pick me up but didn't turn up. In the end I got some kids to paddle me across to the company landing in a little canoe that threatened to tip over all the way there, me, camera & newly acquired carving. The carving I bought is a beautiful piece, a sea horse carved from black ebony wood & quite heavy. It has inlaid shell eyes.

               Local children holding my carved sea horse in Tetemara Village

The trip back to Sge airfield was pretty hairy. Being out in a heavy sea in a canoe is not the safest way to travel. In addition, it was not a scheduled stop at Sege for Solair on Thursday, but a special request & when the plane was late I was sure something has been messed up. I checked my ticket & although it said Thursday, they had made an error with the date. Anyway, it eventually arrived. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to facing the sea in the canoe for another 2 hours back to Viru & have another go the following day. There is nothing at Sge except a village, no radio or airport buildings, just grass. When we were taking off, the pilot had to stop, get out & tell some of the local kids to let go of the tailplane.

We had the Mears around for an evening before I went to Viru. Bill is the Managing Director of Kalena Timber although he has very little say in the running of the company. He has a 25% shareholding, with Ataka holding the other 75%. Ataka regard him as a nuisance. Bill & his wife Robbie are very nice people. He is English but speaks with an American accent & Robbie is from Florida. They are very interesting to talk to. Up until last year they owned a lumber company in the Southern Philippines (Nasipit Lumber Co.) & have interests in another company in Borneo. They have a permanent apartment in Manila & spread their time between Manila, Honiara & Viru Harbour. They have since gone back to Manila & will be back before Christmas. They offered to take Andy’s Seiko watch to have it repaired & will send it back with one of the Filipino employees who are presently there on leave.

Kalena is quite financial at the moment. We are getting approximately $120,000 a month from log shipments & although the costs are high & a lot of capital items are being purchased, the company has maintained about $200,000 in the bank together with a few fixed deposits. I am a very respected visitor to the ANZ bank these days. Solomon Motors is also doing very well & in particular the Mazda sales are booming.

Our weather is pretty stable at the moment. It is officially the dry season & we are constantly surrounded by grass fires up & down the ridges. We had one within 20 feet of the house a while ago. They appear to be harmless enough though as there are no fences to burn & our block is clear with nothing to burn.

                             Grass fire next to our house on Kolo Ridge

The family is well with the exception of a few infected sores that take ages to heal & lots of attention. Shane continues to get bigger & into more mischief. I’ll include some recent pictures with the letter.

That’s about it for now. Lots of love from all of us here.

Greg

 

10 June 1974

Kolo Ridge

Honiara

B.S.I.P.

10 June 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Our garden boy didn't turn up today, his sister told us that he fell off his bike over the weekend. This bike is his pride & joy & he bought it with his first lot of wages from us. I hope he is not too badly injured. He lives in a village quite a way from here & actually in jungle & off what you might call the beaten track. We got the car to the top of the ridge overlooking Jimmy’s village in the valley one weekend on a drive but wished we hadn't because it was nearly impossible to turn the car around & I nearly got it bogged.

                                                      Jimmy's Village

 We asked him to build a leaf house in the back yard over Darren’s sandpit to keep it cool & shady. He has finished the main structure & now I have to organise getting some leaf for the roof. There is a village about 4 miles out of town that sells it already to put on the roof frame.

He does a good job in the garden & at the moment his major project is levelling our back yard. The ground is full of coral & it is very difficult to keep any imported topsoil.

We have discovered a beautiful beach only 14 miles out of town & we have had at least 3 picnics there. Sundays are our picnic days. This beach is really something out of the box & before we leave I must take some pictures for you with a decent camera. Apart from a few bits & pieces of aircraft it is perfect. We got out there by 9 am last Sunday & we thought what it would be like at that moment in Melbourne as we lay on the beach (under the palms). That’s one of the perks that we like about this place.

It has just started to really pour & water is coming in our front door. Our house hasn’t got any guttering & the water just streams off the roof & creates furrows in the ground.

Shane is quite miserable at the moment. He has cut one tooth on the bottom gum & one on the top which apparently is called cross cutting & the most painful way to do it. In addition he has a bad cold.

Something which Darren has been doing for quite a few months but which I haven’t mentioned is quite basic but I find amazing. He takes himself to the toilet & the strangest thing, first thing in the morning is to hear his little feet hit the deck & without a murmur (I'm sure he keeps his eyes nearly shut so he wont wake up too much) he stomps into the toilet, sound effects, presses the button & stomps back to bed. It’s like we have guests in the house.

I cant really think of anything else at the moment so I will finish up. Hope you are both feeling well.

Love from all of us,

Greg

28 May 1974

Kolo Ridge

Honiara

B.S.I.P.

28 May 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Well my phone call today inspired me to write you a letter. It was great to hear your voices & you both sounded a lot happier than when I last spoke to you. I have said before that this place feels a lot more isolated from Australia than Nauru. Even Australian news takes a long time to filter through & even then you have to chase it. But, after all it isn't Australia & once that sinks in it is a very nice place. We know doubt suffered a bit of a cultural shock when we first arrived. We had gained a large number of friends on Nauru which was very easy to do. Honiara is a lot more ”big town” & even though we realized it would take longer to fit in it doesn’t make it easier. I think we have now found our niche & feel comfortable in our surroundings. As you know different towns have their own quirks & it is even more so with countries. The Poms have a big influence on the expatriate community, but the Solomon Islanders are now influencing the way of life more as it gets closer to Independence. For example, the imported goods that attract the highest duty are those used by expatriates, sugar, coffee, beer etc. It is almost impossible for Europeans to get new jobs in the Solomons because of the localisation programme. The unfortunate part of it is that there are very few locals either intellectually or educationally trained for the specialized jobs being left vacant by expats. My back up staff is almost nil & what will finally drive us out will be overwork. I have never worked so hard & still things are getting left for later. I just lost a reasonably good secretary-typist & gained an idiot. We have radio contact with the logging camp at Viru Harbour twice a day 8.30 am & 2.30 pm & it is part of her job to take down the conversation & messages & type them for circulation & action. Our new acquisition finds that a full time job.

Andy & I attended a dinner last week at the Mendana Hotel, at Mobil’s expense. The occasion was a visit by the Australian & Pacific Manager, the General Manager for the South Pacific & the Manager for Papua New Guinea & the Solomon Islands. The big chief, The Australian & Pacific Manger is an American & based in Melbourne. They were on a rather quick grand tour of their area of influence & in fact only stayed the one night. They all brought their wives along so the evening was quite social. Representatives from Solomon Motors were the General Manager, the Ataka director & me & wives of course.

As I mentioned on the phone, Shane has been crawling for about 4 weeks now. He started off like a frog & would pull his rear end up & sort of throw himself forward onto his tummy. He has progressed to doing it properly & stalks around the house like a veteran. He likes to crawl into the shower & splash around in the water.

I took Darren off to preschool today, a first for me. Andy usually takes him & I didn't think he would be quite up to leaving his Mum at the house instead of the school gate. However I was wrong & he was thrilled that Daddy should take him & waved bye to Andy & perched up in the Mazda. He kept it up all the way to school. The preschool has a Gilbertese woman helper who comes out & assists the kids into school & today she helped Darren out of the car & closed the door & off went Darren with his school bag full of play lunch, through the gate without hardly a backward glance. The whole thing nearly broke me up. I guess he is growing up. He is going Tuesday & Thursday mornings from 8 to 12. Andy has been attending “keep fit” classes on the same mornings so it works in well. She leaves Shane with our house girl to mind.

                                            Darren off to Rove Infant School

We had the P&O passenger liner Orosay in last Friday. & 1,200 passengers plus crew hit the town. It was quite a shock to the place, all the local carvers & artefact makers had their goods on display & appeared to do a roaring trade. A large group from the island of Malaita put on an elaborate display of dancing & shell money making.

That’s about the lot for now. Again, it was great to hear your voices on the phone & to hear that you both sound so well.

Love from all of us here,

Greg

17 May 1974

Kolo Ridge

Honiara

B.S.I.P.

17 May 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Just a short note to say hello to catch today’s plane. I haven’t written since receiving one letter from Mum & one from Dad. It is wonderful to hear that by now you are probably home Dad, you sure have had a rough time. It was also great to receive your letter as it seems such a long time since the last one. I still imagine that it will take a long time for you to pick up fully.

Life here is as busy as ever. We have received a shipment of Mazdas (23 vehicles) & that has generated a lot of extra work. We are still getting work done around the house & at the moment we are having an elevated roofed walkway built from the back door across to the new laundry & garage.

Everyone is well. We did have a bit of a scare with Shane this week, he had a very high temperature & we took him to the hospital. It turned out to be an infection of some sort in his throat but with a mixture from the chemist he is ok now. Darren started pre-school a couple of weeks ago 2 mornings a week. He loves it & doesn't want to come home. Andy seems to love it too as it gives her a bit of a break. Something about Darren I have been meaning to tell you, (it is pretty old now) was that we took him to the club’s children’s Christmas party (fancy dress) & out of about 50 kids he won the boys section dressed as a swag-man complete with corks dangling from his hat.

The Mazda is a very nice car & is built to cruise at high speeds. I know it will do over 100 mph (I haven’t tried it) but I’m not sure exactly how fast it will go.

Anyway we are still here & enjoying ourselves.

Love from all of us, Greg

18 April 1974

Kolo Ridge

Honiara

B.S.I.P.

18 April 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Well I hope that this time Dad is feeling much better & heading for home soon. Andy & the children arrived home safe & well last Saturday & I was very pleased to see them. I am glad they were able to make it to Warrnambool, even only for a short visit. No doubt she was able to fill you in a bit on our movements & new life here. We have had our house full of workmen for the past fortnight putting in the solar hot water system, pelmets over the windows & now a new laundry. The other morning as I left for work we had 2 plumbers, 3 builders, our house girl & garden boy all wandering about. I had the feeling we were the town’s biggest employer. At the moment we can’t even have a shower (hot or cold) because the shower has been pulled out. However by the weekend we should be all go again with HOT water. I managed to get the Triumph registered today & brought it home tonight so we are now a 2 car family & Andy can suit her self a bit.

There was a large crowd of people down from Nauru over the Easter weekend on the pretext of playing sport (that’s what they told their wives). They all seemed to be enjoying themselves & it was good to see some familiar faces.

While I think of it, we had a rather severe earth tremor while Andy was away. It really shook the house & I just stood there debating whether or not to run outside. Anyway everything survived ok. We have a lot more “weather” here, overcast days, quite a bit of rain & some wind.

My job is still an uphill battle at the moment & not likely to even out for quite a long time. There is no doubt that I am learning something new each day with all the international wheeling & dealing.

I really can’t think of anything else to tell you, there are a lot of things to write about really, just general things but I will save that up for later. Again, I hope you are improving Dad & not forgetting Mum, I hope you are are ok too!

Love from all of us, Greg

4 April 1974

Kolo Ridge

Honiara

British Solomon Islands Protectorate

4 April 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

The mails to & from here are very erratic & in fact it is very easy to feel quite isolated from Australia. It is strange that Nauru is 800 miles further north but apparently in greater contact with Australia & far more Australian in its way of life. To be honest I have been relying largely on Andy’s trip down to re-establish the communication link. Andy rang me yesterday & I was very surprised to hear of Dad’s 2^nd operation. Andy also mentioned Mum’s letter which as yet I haven’t received. It is very frustrating sitting up here in the “dark”. I sincerely hope that Dad is on the improve & out of hospital as soon as possible.

Presumably Andy will fill you in on our doings since we left Nauru. As you know I am up here by myself. It really is lonely without the family & I will be glad when they are back. Still, Andy was so disappointed when Barbara & Peter decided to get married while we were supposed to still be in Nauru & now she has the opportunity to be there. Also Shane is to be christened on the Sunday following the wedding in the same church we were married in.

As far as my new job is concerned I have never had so much work in all my life. At the moment I am working 10 hours a day & weekends. It certainly is a change from Nauru. However the interest is there & the company operates internationally with contacts in Manilla, Hong Kong, Seattle & of course, Tokyo. Quite a lot of the accounting involves importing & exporting which is an area I haven’t had much to do with before. The manager is a pom & only been here 2 weeks longer than me. The only other European was a mechanic who finished after 10 years with the company last week. We have recruited another mechanic from NSW who is due here in 2 weeks. Between the manager & myself everyday is a new experience, still we have something in common & so far we are getting on extremely well. Last weekend was the end of our financial year (31 March) so stocktaking & all the other horrors of an end of year are with us.

Since arriving here our biggest shock has been the cost of imported food. It is very much dearer than Nauru prices. The only offsetting factor is the very low cost of fresh fruit & vegetables available daily from the market. It doesn't seem to matter what it is, it is always 10 cents a bunch. Local beef is very cheap. So far we haven’t been tempted to buy anything other than the essentials which is a change from Nauru where everything is a tempting bargain. I was shocked to find that the Triumph car that we bought just before leaving Nauru would cost $120 to import to the Solomons. Still it is now paid & the old girl is in the Solomon Motors workshop getting a complete tune up. So far they are doing a good job & it sounds very good. It still has to have a roadworthy from the PWD.

Our “2^nd car” is a result of a bit of weakness on my part. When we first arrived, Solomon Motors had a Mazda RX4 coupe on the floor for about $3,350. It was the last one, the next shipment due in May with an average of $200 increase in price. My contract includes the right to purchase a Mazda at cost plus 10%. Anyway it boiled down that I could buy the Mazda by financing it & the interest would cut out the increase in cost & discount. The same car in Australia costs approximately $4,200 so that in 15 months when we can take it back to Australia duty free we should be able to retrieve most of our purchase price.

We had a couple of pleasant surprises since we arrived plus a bit of bad news. The pleasant surprises first. After being here a day, a girl came & asked Andy if we wanted a house girl. We put her on 5 days a week & after mentioning it to the manager he said to put her on the company payroll as all the other house boys & girls were on. That put us $25 a month in credit. She has turned out really well & does all the housework. We also have a boy who does the yard 2 ½ days a week. He is on $1 a day but we pay for him ourselves.

The other good news is that I am getting all my petrol on the company which is just as well because it is 64 cents a gallon here. Over a month it is a considerable saving.

For our first weekend here the company put us up in the Mendana Hotel which is quite luxurious however on our first trip up to the house we got a terrible shock to discover there are only cold water taps! Not a hot water service in sight. Apparently it is quite the accepted thing here. We are still without hot water but by next week we should have a 40 gallon solar system. I am a real coward for cold showers but fast becoming an expert on staying clean without getting too wet.

Anyway, so far the credits exceed the debits. It rains a lot but I like to see a bit of moisture after thirsty Nauru.

I am going to send this down to Melbourne on Air Nauru, through the local agent to the Melbourne Nauru office for a friend of mine to post it locally so it should reach you in a reasonable time. Let’s hope you are feeling a bit better Dad.

All the best & even though I am so far away I am thinking of you,

Love Greg

7 March 1974

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

7 March 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

The mails to here have been a bit disrupted, mainly because of a special maintenance check on Air Nauru which had the plane sitting in Melbourne for a week. By now I presume Dad has had his operation. Andy & I were both thinking of you on Wednesday Dad & I hope that all is well. Distance at times like this is very frustrating & unfortunately an offer of “is there anything we can do” is useless. Keeping up the Chamber job would be a worry but Mum mentioned that she & Bruce were doing that.

We have changed our plans slightly. I saw the Chief Secretary last week & we now leave 2 weeks earlier than originally planned. That is the 15^th March & not the 29^th. I was really pleased with the decision because it now means that Andy & the kids can come down to Honiara with me & stay for 2 weeks & then continue to Melbourne. Andy will then have her own ideas on the place & the house etc. & know what she is coming back to. We should also be able to get the place reasonably organised during the 2 weeks. I think that it will keep Darren a bit more in prospective as well.

Our packing is as good as finished with only a few odd bits & pieces left. If anything is damaged in transit it won’t be our fault. We have new pine crates, lined with sisal craft & sealed with packing tape & before they leave they are to be banded with steel banding.

I know it is only a page but I want it to get in Friday’s mail.

Love to all & once again, I hope you are on the improve Dad,

Greg

PS. Bruce rang Thursday night to report on the success of Dad’s operation. He mentioned the further tests for which we all have our figures crossed.

21 February 1974

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

21 February 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Speaking of letter, I haven’t seen one from your end since I was down in Warnambool. This is just a note to catch the Friday plane. We haven’t got any transport now as I have sold the car & bike. I probably mentioned that I has intended to keep the Falcon & take it to Honiara. I had it in the garage getting some rust cut taken out & the Nauruan who was going to do the job asked if it was for sale. I put a price of $1,300 on it which is $200 more than I paid for it. He was very happy & so was I. My plans now are to buy a 1966 Triumph sports car for $450, & buy a cheap sedan for about $600 in Honiara. The Republic will pay freight on one vehicle to Honiara & the duty payable will be very little. That’s getting 2 cars for the price of one which will make life a lot easier for the family. The house down there is a good 4 miles from the shops & my work & I think particularly with the way it rains in Honiara that a car for me to go to work would be better than a bike. The Triumph is a really nice little machine, red with a beige interior, push button radio, with a soft vinyl top & also a hard fibre glass top. There is very little rust in it but the duco is not much chop & a respray would make the world of difference. The Chief Accountant has had it for about 3 months with no problems & provided he can pick up a Toyota from a shipment due on Saturday I will probably buy it from him. Anyway my business deals seem to be on the improve & with the free freight down to Honiara & a respray I am sure I could sell it for a profit.

Our move arrangements are well under way. We have bought our air tickets, Andy & the kids to fly to Melbourne on Monday 25^th March & me to Honiara on Friday the 29^th. The Republic would only approve sea fares for us to return so I have got them to pay me the equivalent fares in cash so I could make the travelling arrangements myself. It has still worked out ok financially for us. Sea fares are 2 x $160 & 1 x $$80 (Darren). Shane didn’t rate a fare. That is $400. By sending us by sea they are up for 8 days travelling which is about $130. That’s a total of $530. Airfares are Andy $300, Darren $200 & Shane $30 = $530.  My airfare to Honiara will be paid by the company so we are all square.

The method of transport is a real farce. Too many people have tried to explain to the Chief Secretary that the only real cost to the Republic when returning people to Australia is the travelling time, one day by air compared to eight days by sea. Also if a family returns by ship, the Republic has to feed them all for 8 days. The Republic owns the airline & the shipping line so that one Department’s expense for fares is another Department’s income. Most people would prefer to return by air. Anyway, in our case it didn’t matter. I have one win. My contract allows us to take back up to 4 cubic tons on personal effects at the Republic’s expense. The cost of freight on 4 cubic tons is $120. They have agreed to pay me the $120 in cash so that I can make my own arrangements. That is the equivalent of about 7 cubic tons to Honiara.

Andy is really looking forward to her trip to Melbourne & in particular to Barbara & Peter’s wedding which originally she thought she would have no hope of attending. Darren is also looking forward to going to “stralia” because that’s where daddy goes in the plane & also a lot of his playmates who left at the end of last year. Lord knows what impression he has in his mind about this strange place. Just listening to him I think he thinks its in the sky.

We are all well & I hope you are too.

Love from all of us here,

Greg

14 February 1974

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

14 February 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

As you can see I arrived home safely on Sunday night. Andy & the kids survived the week quite well although Darren was a bit of trouble & most upset that his daddy had gone to “stralia”. The first thing he said to me was “daddy buy Darren a tractor, yes?” I also bought some Chanel No. 5 perfume for Andy in Noumea which she was tickled pink with.

The trip on the train was uneventful. The young bloke who was in the same compartment was a railway fanatic & recited about every possible fact on trains & V.R. He seemed to know every bridge, signal etc. on the entire journey & kept a log of arrival & departure times at each station along the way. Crazy! We had a good flight yesterday, picked Pat up in Brisbane & at Honiara I saw Ron McGuire & the Treasury Chief Accountant, Ashley Hayes & his family joined the flight. They were returning from leave & had come up from New Zealand via Fiji.

Thursday, lost my biro. It certainly feels like we are leaving now. We have started to pack into crates that we acquired from people who left in December & ordered too many. We have ordered other crates from the Works Department (free of charge). The Chief Secretary knocked me back on my request to travel by air so I have now asked for the equivalent sea fares to be paid in cash so that we can make our own arrangements. As I will only be flying direct to Honiara & claiming sea fares to Australia, plus 8 days paid traveling time, that will subsidise Andy & the kids’ airfares.

No more news that comes to mind. I certainly hope you’re feeling a bit better now Dad & that everyone else is OK.

Love from all of us up here.

Greg

Greg

14 January 1974

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

14 January 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

Just a short note to let you know all is well. Sorry I missed your call but at the time I was having a beer at the Treasury Accountant’s house. I have enclosed a cheque for $200 but had to date it 13^th Feb to come from February salary. It sounds like you need it so I hope the forward dating doesn’t mess you up too much. I have made arrangements with the bank to send $150 per month starting March subject to obtaining your bank & account numbers. This is probably preferable to sending cheques through the mail.

We have reconsidered our position here & it looks very likely now that we will see out our term. Main points being the cost of setting up again in Honiara, duty on the car or sell & buy a new one down there & also a substantial rise which is due in either Feb or March.

The family is extremely well. To answer Mum’s question, Shane like Darren takes after Andy but still has his own individual look. He has quite a good head of hair which is dark. He is now recognizing things & smiles & laughs. He is very good for a baby, little trouble.

I think Andy told you that I will be down on the 1^st February.

Thanks for the presents, we saved them up for Christmas day & put them under our tree. I thought I would be down earlier than the 1^st Feb previously & planned to bring you something then.

Happy birthday for the 18^th Mum! Hope you have a happy day.

Love from the Nauru Tuers,

Greg

21 December 1973

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

21 December 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

I am trying out my new Parker pen which I received for Christmas. We were very pleased to hear of Bruce & Gahey’s new son though rather disappointed we didn’t hear the news until 10^th December. No doubt they are all settled into their new routine by now.

It really hasn't felt like Christmas here until this week, probably because in Australia at least you are aware the weather is getting hotter whereas here there has been no change. The goods available here over the last few weeks are almost unbelievable. The “Rosie D”, a 12,000 ton vessel in the Nauru fleet arrived from Japan about 2 weeks ago choc-a-block full of goodies for Christmas. About 40 Toyota cars arrived at almost give away prices. For example, a Toyota Crown Deluxe, including air-conditioning, radio, electric windows, automatic, etc.. for $2,700. Peter O’Dwyer (brother-in-law) paid $4,300 for the basic model. There are toys by the 1,000’s also at bargain prices, sound equipment (Akai & Sanyo) dollars below what they were previously on sale at.

To add to the confusion on the roads, the local Datsun dealer received about 15 cars & about 6 weeks ago a load of Falcons arrived. As there is only about 20 miles at the most of road it is very like city driving everywhere you go. The phosphate royalty cheques were distributed the other day for the quarter ended 30^th September with some Nauruans receiving $20,000 to $40,000 so all in all there is an impression of affluence around the island.

Last Saturday was general election day (held every 3 years). I spent from 1 pm to 6 pm sitting under a palm frond shelter just over the road from the beach in my official capacity of Presiding Officer. I was also a scrutineer & spent from 6 to 10 pm counting votes. There were only 3 new members elected out of the 18 member parliament.

Shane continues to thrive & is a really beaut little kid. He can now support his own head & is smiling occasionally.

We have lost our neighbours on both sides as they have completed their contracts & left on a ship last Sunday. There has been quite an exodus of expatriates over the last few weeks.

I have accepted the position in Honiara & we will be leaving here in early February. Andy may travel down by ship a bit earlier. I will fly down as soon as my notice is finished. The problem is that at the end of a contract the Republic usually insists on sea travel. The chances of a ship leaving just after I have finished is pretty rare so I will have to make up the difference & fly down. I am really looking forward to a break as I haven’t had a break from work longer than a couple of days since the end of 1970. We hope to have about 2 weeks in Australia & a couple of days in Surfers on the way back to Honiara. I am sure the job there will be far more challenging than here & also better financially. Andy is keen to go so apart from the physical problem of shifting there doesn’t appear to be any reason why we shouldn't make the move. It also gives me the chance to cash in on leave I have accrued, i.e.. About seven weeks & only take two.

There must be more news but I will catch up with it next time. I want this to catch the mail.

All the best for Christmas, I will try & ring.

Love from the Nauru Tuers

Greg

4 December 1973

Government Settlement

Republic Of Nauru

Central Pacific

4 December 1973

Dear Mum & Dad,

My last letter probably came as a bit of a surprise but I have had my eye open for ages, which is natural I think even if just to see how your present job, salary etc. compares with what is around. This job was actually advertised in a New Zealand paper that I borrowed. I applied some time ago but in the first place they appointed an accountant from New Guinea because he was able to start straight away. He turned out a dead loss & is leaving just after Christmas.

These applications seem pretty harmless at the time, but now I really don’t know what to do. Statistically the jobs are similar. Because of the Republic Provident Fund contribution, if I stayed 3 years I would collect a bonus based on my present tax free salary of $6,250 + 5% = $6,562 & by June 1974 will be $6,500 + 5% = $6,825. Salary in Honiara initially is $8,000 – tax $1,120 = $6,880 & after 3 months increases to $8500 – tax $1,350 = $7,150. I’m sure that the salary increase in going to Honiara will be taken up by the extra duty on most items. Salary at Honiara would be subject to a 6 monthly review whereas here it is indefinite & can remain the same for years. All other benefits, house, medical, electricity etc. are identical. The house at Honiara is new & has a fantastic view but it is smaller & un-established. It is relatively isolated compared with here with only one house in front (down the ridge) & one higher. Although the trees grow very quickly, at the moment they are only 1’ – 2’ high. I think it would take a lot longer to fit in down there & not working with many Europeans getting to know people would take some time.

On the credit side are that it is tremendously interesting place, beautiful scenery, rivers, mountains, islands with plenty of places to go & things to do. Shopping would be much better for Andy. As far as the job is concerned it appears to be a challenge & I would have a lot of independence. Now I am bored & working for a bloke who is completely incompetent. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of the odd trip to Melbourne (next one 18^th January).

If I resigned from here on the 25^th (exactly 12 months) & gave 2 months notice I will have fulfilled my part of the contract. The Republic will then have to pay all our expenses back to Melbourne. I could use this to get Andy, Darren & Shane back to Melbourne for a break before going to the Solomons. At that time I will have a leave entitlement of 7 weeks which I will take off the notice & only have to put in a week or so after 28^th January. My main reason in hesitating is that I feel to go may be a bit selfish as personally I would enjoy the new job but I think initially at least the family would be disappointed. Andy is keen even after my description of the house but she didn’t go down & really can’t picture the place to make a comparison. Basically I think the place is a lot more like a big town after our community life here.

I had a very enjoyable weekend in Honiara & Ron McGuire & his wife looked after me very well. Friday night was a barbeque at the Mendana Hotel. Saturday morning was work followed by a tour of Honiara. Saturday afternoon Ron took for a drive to the end of the north road out of Honiara, the whole 43 miles. The bitumen only lasts about 4 miles & then its gravel. The road passes lots of villages (all the houses are of grass & on stilts), coconut plantations & jungle. The northern end of the island is quite mountainous & the road fords about 10 rivers as there aren’t any bridges. There are some beautiful sheltered bays along the way, white sand & surrounded with coconuts. The waters between Guadalcanal (the northern end) & the island of Savo, 6 miles away saw some of the heaviest naval battles of World War II.

Saturday night was a meal at a Chinese restaurant followed by a few hours at the Honiara Club. Sunday was pretty quiet & the plane was due at 4.30 pm. It was delayed & I was advised it would be in at 9.45 pm. I was then invited to a dinner that the McGuires were going to & left there at about 9.30 pm to go to the airport. Andy met me at the airport with a couple of kids sound asleep in the car.

So I really don’t know. I think we will probably go.

Tonight is our wind up dinner for Apex being held at the Meneng Hotel. They have a French chef there these days & the food is very nice (it’s a mixed night) I am on the Executive these days as treasurer. We still haven’t had any rain.

See you later,

Love Greg

PS. I have just received a firm offer by letter from Honiara. The present accountant has agreed to stay until early March. They are willing to recruit all of us from Melbourne so that if I accept we will all be able to spend a couple of weeks in Australia during late February.

Love from the equatorial Tuers (Andy, Greg, Darren & Shane)