We got a Christmas card from Tom and Carolyn today. Not for Christmas 2007 - this was last year's card that was returned to sender, resent, and has now arrived.
We met Tom and Carolyn in Popondetta in 1974. They were fairly new doctors from Canada working in conditions that must have seemed extremely primitive to them. After 4 years in the Sepik in PNG, the Popondetta hospital was almost state of the art as far as we were concerned. We socialised and when we went finish (back to Australia) we kept in contact.
When we met we had two kids - they had none. By the time we visited them in New Brunswick in 1990 they had five, and a few years later added a sixth.
This is what we garnered from the card. Son #1 is a neurological registrar (aka brain surgeon) who married a lawyer last year. Son #2 is doing a PhD and has to spend a semester in Paris - poor soul. Son #3 is teaching in Oman and doing lots of travelling (hasn't ventured to Oz yet). Daughter #1 is also teaching (Calgary), daughter #2 is in first year at Uni in Nova Scotia and #3 is in Year 9 and very sporty. Wow! They certainly did the right thing as parents.
We would like to meet up with them again, but there is no chance on our July trip. We will be pushing it to meet up with Ann (Kevin's cousin) and her husband Doug who live in British Columbia. Definitely no possibility of getting to the Maritime Provinces.
Besides, Tom and Carolyn have never visited Western Australia. We will have to keep putting forward the idea that a BIG TRIP is a necessary part of their future.
Showing posts with label New Guinea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Guinea. Show all posts
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wilting
I really don't like the heat and this is the third day in a row of temperatures in the high 30s. However, it is much easier to cope when the house has air conditioning.
We are not quite accustomed to this luxury. The house in Bicton wasn't air conditioned, but the stone walls, high ceilings and large roof space provided pretty good insulation for the rooms in the original house. It was only the rooms at the back that got a bit hot. But when you had a week of heatwave the front of the house became a heat sink.
I can remember many summers in the past when the only relief to be obtained was from fans. When we were living in New Guinea in the 70s there was no air conditioning of course and we depended on fans, which work really well in a humid climate. All the main rooms had ceiling fans. This was fine when the power was on, but in many places, such as Maprik, there were limited hours of power supply. We were so happy when a new power station was built and we had 24 hour power.
Electric fans used to be really expensive. I remember us buying one in Wewak in 1971 or 1972 that cost about $50 (and $50 was worth a heck of a lot more then). Now you can buy one in the supermarket or at Bunnings for $14. The quality is nowhere near as good though. We had that $50 fan for more than 20 years. I can't remember what happened to it in the end - it was probably given to one of the kids when they moved out. I suspect a $14 fan will not last more than a summer or two.
We are not quite accustomed to this luxury. The house in Bicton wasn't air conditioned, but the stone walls, high ceilings and large roof space provided pretty good insulation for the rooms in the original house. It was only the rooms at the back that got a bit hot. But when you had a week of heatwave the front of the house became a heat sink.
I can remember many summers in the past when the only relief to be obtained was from fans. When we were living in New Guinea in the 70s there was no air conditioning of course and we depended on fans, which work really well in a humid climate. All the main rooms had ceiling fans. This was fine when the power was on, but in many places, such as Maprik, there were limited hours of power supply. We were so happy when a new power station was built and we had 24 hour power.
Electric fans used to be really expensive. I remember us buying one in Wewak in 1971 or 1972 that cost about $50 (and $50 was worth a heck of a lot more then). Now you can buy one in the supermarket or at Bunnings for $14. The quality is nowhere near as good though. We had that $50 fan for more than 20 years. I can't remember what happened to it in the end - it was probably given to one of the kids when they moved out. I suspect a $14 fan will not last more than a summer or two.
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