On arrival at the bus station, I was met by Krystal, a fellow VSO volunteer. I had met her while I was in Eritrea. She had kindly offered for me to spend the Christmas with her and her family. Was great to catch up again. Talk a little about Eritrea and what was going on. Krystal has a nice two bedroom house in townsville. She kindly set up a nice bed for me in the spare room, my place to crash for the next few days.

I spent my first day here just looking around, seeing the museum and water park, trying to get use to the 30+ weather, at least the humidity is not here like in Madang. I think, had I come straight from Ireland to here, I really would be struggling. I called over to see her parents house, and her mum and dad really love to do up the house for Christmas. I have never seen so much decoration inside and outside. Very very impressed. I will try to take some pictures, and put them up on the blog in the next few days. Her family are all very nice, and they love to talk a lot, so that makes it easy for me to fit in. I am never short of a few words. Almost got into a little trouble with her mum, as she does some day care with children, and I was encouraging the kids to be dancing and singing when they should have been resting, oops

I got to visit a wildlife park and see all the traditional Aussie animals. Got my picture took with a few of them. Have really enjoyed my time here in Townsville, and nice to be spending it with a good friend, and a chance to catch up again. Trying to convince her to come to work in Ireland over the UK, but she seems fixed with the UK, poor poor mis guided girl is what I tell her
Tomorrow I will celebrate christmas with all her family, and is a big family, so can imagine it will be a fun long day. Looking forward to it.

After my nice few nights in the hotel, I moved out into a more modest hostel. Gave me a chance to meet a lot of other travellers who were passing through. Was good to find out what others had done, and what people recommended. One of the things I enjoy the most , is getting to meet a lot of new people and chatting away. Finding out new stories and what people get up to. As you might imagine, staying in the hostel helped that

On my first day I did a tour out on the Great barrier Reef, where I did some snorkeling. My swimming lessons in PNG helped a little here, made me more relaxed out on the ocean, however I still wore a life jacket I think the swimming lessons will continue on my return to Ireland. Was great to see the coral and all the different fish, got to hold a jelly fish and see some turtles. All in all it was a fun experience. Think I will have to work on my open water dive, so I can see more under the water.

For the next three days, I hired a car and drove around the different areas around Cairns. THe first day was spent driving up along the coast, taking in the lovely beaches. Beautiful drive. The only small problem was you could not go for a swim as big warning signs of jelly fish and Crocs. Which was a shame, as it is off-peak season here, had many of the beaches to myself as I stopped to walk along them and take pictures, would have been nice to have popped in for a swim or two to cool down.  Along the way, also sampled the rainforests in the area. Was great to be able to drive freely and not worry about been held up at gun point, or trying to avoid big craters in the road

The next two days I spent driving through a region called the table lands. This is a very big agricultural region. Enjoyed seeing the farms, and cattle again. Saw a field with the most bales of hay ever. Handy when you have good sunshine There was a little ice cream shop along the way that sold produce from a local farm, I had to stop in there and test it out The big advantage of driving and not part of a tour, is you can pick and choose what you like to see. A lot of my stops involved short walks along well-marked out tracks, which is handy here, when you not really want to bump into the snakes !! Some very beautiful places to check out, and a lot of water falls, they must look very impressive in the wet season.

My last day in Cairns, was spent with Ken and Una, two volunteers from PNG who are here in Cairns for a few weeks. Ken had a minor operation, and is now recovering very well. Was nice to catch up on all that was going on , and I helped them out a little with their laptop. My last job as a volunteer.

The following morning it was a case of up bright and early and heading off on the greyhound bus to Townsville.

Arrived into Australia on Friday night around 9 pm. Took a taxi from airport to the hotel, was just nice to get in a comfy car and not be avoiding massive holes in the road. Once got to hotel, checked in and relaxed for the evening. Enjoying a nice comfy bed, power shower and all the little comforts one missed. Having had 6 months away from it, you appreciate  it a lot more. The following morning, I took to walking down along the main street here in Cairns. Seeing pubs, cinemas, operas , art gallery and loads of nice cafe, it felt all so strange, and part of me felt a little guilty from having all of these things available.

Later on that afternoon I met up with Ken and Una, two volunteers who are here in Cairns at the moment. Ken had to have a small operation on his heart. Thankfully nothing to serious he was in on Thursday and out on Friday.  It appears they may be flying back to the UK for a few weeks, so Ken can rest and recover. I dropped them off their laptop as they had left suddenly. We then headed out to lunch, nice little place along the sea. Later that night, I took them out for dinner to a nice steak house, where I just ate and ate

Today (Sunday)  I spent the day out walking along the board walks, listing to open air music, all provided free, it is wonderful here in Cairns, the public facilities are excellent, with everything kept so clean, people all in good form, and enjoying the nice weather sitting out on the grass. I was treated to jazz and blues music, two of my favorites when relaxing.  As I write this, from my hotel room, I am listining to the open air Christmas carol session in the park. They use this to raise money for families here in the city who are struggling over the Christmas period. I was down earlier and made a little donation to help. Think it is an excellent way to raise some money, all the families are here, sitting out on a nice warm evening, singing and listing , and money raised for a good cause. (Holy night is currently been sung)

Off now shortly to see 2012, catching up on movies, and on way home will pop into Irish pub for a drink. Tomorrow move on from my hotel to the hostel and my tour around cairns starts, looking forward to that

My last night in PNG was a mixture of excitement and sadness. We had all headed to the Madang Lodge (our local spot for nights out) plan was to have some food, and a few drinks. It was great to get a chance to say goodbye to everyone, and a big thank you to all who came. Was fun to look back over the 6 months, and look at all the things that happend while chatting to the vols. It made me see that I had actually done a lot of things. One funny thing we heard about was a tradition in the Netherlands of camel riding, now I am not sure if Jolanada was just so drunk she was making it up, or she was so drunk back in the Netherlands she thought she saw this   I know the dutch do a lot of weird things, so could well believe it !!!

We then had the reminders from the program managers and CD that there was now a curfew in place in Madang, and we had to be all home by 10 pm. They were saying , they would not bail us out. I had imagines of all of us been locked up and giving call in the morning to the office to please come and pick us up   But at 9:30 we started the good byes and all the chatting that goes with, a few other people were leaving as well, and 20 minutes later we were all heading back to the cars and dropping people home. Made it back just before 10 , so my last night was not spent in a cell

The following morning, Sanjay came to pick me up, one of the program managers, I have to say, an excellent manager. Would love to work with him in the future if the chance ever came up. He along with Rashmi (another volunteer) came along to see me off.  At 11:30 the plane arrived on time and was ready to go. Walking up the steps, I said my last goodbyes to Madang, and wondering when will I set foot back here again. An hour later, we were in Port Morbsey. I had a few hours to wait, so met up with Bernard, who was one of the new vols with me. Catch up before I left. Then it was time to make my way to the international airport and catch my flight out of PNG. My 6 month adventure , full of great memories, loads of new friends, and a true scene of achievement had come to an end.

With just 4 days to go, I moved house Moved into the apartment that Nigel (a fellow volunteer) use to live in. He has finished up his time here in PNG. It is a nice apartment, 2 bedroom, little kitchen and nice living area. Ben, the volunteer I was sharing the old apartment with, will have this place all to himself when I leave. For me it was a little funny moving in here just before I leave, as when I arrived I stayed here for one night, while my accommodation was been sorted out. So in a way it has come full circle. I leave from where I started. Today I have my exit interview and I have to complete all the financial side of the accounts I was looking after here. That will be fun, just hope that Finance and I agree with all the figures, or it could be one very long day and night for me

The number of volunteers is now dropping, with a lot either finishing up, or heading off for Christmas. Was just thinking last night, there will be only 4 volunteers left in Madang over the Christmas period. Two of the volunteers, have a great trip planned, going around the Islands, they will get to New Ireland, which sadly I did not get a chance to do. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures of their trip, as some of the places they are going are fabulous.

Life can be funny sometimes, even when you are having a crap day, or a lot of things going wrong, something comes along that you just have to laugh about. Yesterday evening, I was on my way home, and I noticed that the tank in the Van was getting low, so I stopped into the station to fill it up. Now I should point out, this is the first time I have had to fill this one of the VSO vehicles. Who can guess what I did

I pulled up to the diesel pump, and asked for it to be filled up, and added to our account, all normal so far, done it loads of times before with the other two Vehicles. He starts filling it up, and then just as it is full, he goes, that smelled like PETROL. Yes that is right, I had assumed the van took Diesel like all other vehicles we have, and like 90% of them here in PNG Assumptions are dangerous. Thankfully we had noticed it before I had started the engine, so we thought, OK lets just empty the tank, and start over. Ah but would it be that easy, oh no

As the little van we have is very old, the nut to open the tank to drain the fuel is not in good condition, and we did not have a full tool set. A few local people went to try and get some tools to help, but no joy. So then I had to ring around people asking for a rope and also another vehicle to tow the van back to base, and leave it there overnight. News quickly spread among the volunteers, and the text messages were fast coming in As I write this, I am just calling the local garage to see if they can come out to drain the tank. I can tell you now, I made a lot of people laugh night

It makes me sad to write this blog entry. But I think it is a good time to share with people what is happening here at the moment, and it can act as a little memory for me into the future of what life is like sometimes here in PNG. I would advise people who do not like cruel stories to not read any further. As this post will be a very open frank account of a number of items here.

As you may have read in my earlier posts, about some of the terrible attacks and violence that is ongoing here in Madang in the last while, (also check out out blog from another volunteer link on blog roll to the right) it seems that rather than the attacks stopping they are still going on. This morning, while down at the local church for mass, the priest, a non national, was telling us of how last night at 1:30 am outside his house, he heard a woman screaming for help and shouting rape rape. He left his house, and went down to which the security man said, i t was outside the gate, so not his problem.  The priest was horrified, and he went out, to stop the attack. It resulted in the two men been arrested, and him been injured on his arm. He said the two men, were local people here, working in nice jobs, and not from the settlements, where people are putting the blame for a lot of the recent attacks. He even knew one of the men. This man, said to the priest, it had just been a little misunderstanding, as if he had done nothing wrong. The police said after they arrested them, that the woman should not have been out at 1:30 am. However, the priest pointed out, that it was the men who broke the law, and she is free to be out.

Rape is a major issue here, always has been and will continue to be, a lot of single women here are always afraid even during the day of walking on the street when they meet gangs of guys. While 99.99 % of the time nothing will happen, it is the fear of what could. And so the uneasy feeling effects them. As you can imagine, traveling at night time is now something a lot of women will not do. Even in their cars, where once the felt safe, that feeling is going.

Gun crime and attacks are on the rise, and what I feared back in August with some hold ups, is now coming true, that they have started to shoot, rather than just try and intimate. With that now happening, things will only get worse. Same everywhere in world. For me, the death of the little boy was a sad case of where innocent people get caught in gun fire. Who will be next, and where will it end ?

Hacking up of people. Sadly here in PNG, it is not uncommon for people to loose limbs during fights, as people have bush knives, which can do a lot of damage. There have been reports of cases like this in the last few weeks, with not just limbs lost, but people killed. This is an extremely violent way to die, and it highlights a darker side to the culture here. There are now some really no go areas here in Madang any time after 5 pm.

This quiet town in the last few weeks, has been gripped in what some may call a scene of terror. Local people are now themselves worried about been out at night walking about. I noticed it last night driving home, there was not one person I saw out walking after 1 am, which is something I have never seen before. With locals now so worried, and the police admitting they are not able to cope, you are looking at a major situation on the verge of starting up. There is a rumor of 200 people coming into town, to get ready for the riots. How much truth is in that, I do not know, but sadly a part of me would well believe it is possible.

From years of growing up in Ireland, and regular news updates on riots, punishment beating, knee capping,  bombing, people taken and beaten, I am still taken aback by the sheer violence that goes on here. Like in Northern Ireland, for years, there was the fear of speaking out, for the worry of what might happen to you, if you said anything, you have the same here. People who speak out, risk having some terrible things done to them and their families. So people just say, that is life here. I myself have done it, walked passed a woman getting beaten up, for fear if I get involved, that I would then either be attacked, or worse, people I know effected as a means of payback. I still remember that morning as if it was yesterday, (now 6 months ago) and all the options going though my mind. As I walked past I felt so bad and guilty. While that is what we are instructed to do, for our own security, it still leaves you with that terrible feeling of helplessness.

I guess only time will tell, if these latest problems will be dealt with in a helpful way, with extra police, communities coming together and working to identify the people. The system of wanktok and payback needs to be set aside in Madang, and everyone work together to try and save this little town.

My last weekend, has finally come. Do not know where all the time has gone. Feels like only yesterday I arrived. For my going away, I tied it in with a few other volunteers from VSO and one or two from IMR who are leaving as well. As there would be plenty of drinking done later in the night, I thought it would be a nice idea to start the evening with a meal. So we headed off to a lovely Chinese restaurant here in Madang, called Eden. A selection of food was ordered from the menu, which most people shared in, the exception been Sarah and I. She is a vegetarian, and for all of you who know me, I am the total opposite, potatoes meat and fish man   My main meal was the lovely lamb, in a very tasty sauce, while Sarah had a nice vegetarian dish (will take her word on that). Eden was also where we had our first meal out with all new volunteers, so was a nice way to finish up with friends. Sadly some were not able to make it, but will try and catch them before I go.

After the dinner, we headed off to Marleen and Charlye house, for the Karaoke party. Where everyone was in good signing voice, with the exception of me , my singing voice does not exist, as one teacher in Primary school once said, John, do not sing, just mime along   With plenty of SP beer and of course some Cola for me, we all had a great night.  Gerard was the star singer, he really does have a great voice. And of course, Marleen and Charlye were looking their usual radiant beautiful selves. They always host a great party. This time was a little special for them, as Charlye may be leaving as well.  A big bright new future just waits around the corner for her.

As people who know me, I tend to enjoy parties, love to talk a lot and mingle with everyone. Last night however, I was a little more quiet, tends to happen when I have to start thinking of saying goodbye to friends. It is the one time, other that eating food, when I am quiet   Though, at the end of the night, people did drag me up to sing Danny boy, well sing is a very generous word to use there, maybe talk it Gerard, though was there to help out with it. I was trying to convince his gf to join in as well, but she kept saying she could not sing.

All in all, was a great night, and a lovely way to say good bye to a lot of people I may never see again, but who have all made my time here in PNG very enjoyable, so a big thank you to all of you. Should any of you find yourself in Ireland, will be a pint or two waiting for you 

Mixed in with all the doom and gloom, it is good to show that there is some nice moments to be had. On Wednesday night, we all gathered at the house for the Country Director and her husband, for a going away party for Nigel. Nigel has been here 2 years, and worked on the education team, with a focus on secondary. He is big into sports, and a really nice guy. Got on with everyone. He is English.  As you can imagine he will be missed by a lot of people here. So at his going away party we had a lot of people turn up, and it turned out to be a great night.

We had music, plenty of drink, pool tournament, playing on the Wii, (I will get one of these when I get back to Ireland ) really enjoyed that. Got my ass kicked in tennis by Marleen, a dutch volunteer. I put it down that she plays tennis as a sport herself The funniest had to be Marleen and Jolanda both playing the boxing game. The two female dutch volunteers punching it out, made for one very funny night. Had a great laugh. Jolanda won in the end, with Marleen worn out from it.

Nigel has been a great friend, and will miss him now that he has left. Like to wish him all the best in his future, and there is a chance he may even be coming back to PNG to volunteer again. am sure if he does, there will be a lot of people very happy to see him.

After all of the attacks that have been going on, things here are at a scene of unease. A lot of the female volunteers are worried over their safety, all Asian volunteers are been flown out for a few weeks, as the risks of anti Asian attacks grows, and the rest of us, are just been a little more careful and taking more notice of what goes on around. Added to the list of attacks, from my last post, three other things have happened that give an insight to how things have changed here.

One of the project managers, a local PNG man, was out walking around 7 pm in his own area. While it would not be common for non PNG people out walking that late, it is fine for locals, or at least has been up till now. A young guy came up, and put a knife to him, and treated him. This along an area, he always felt safe on. Another local working here, has said how he also will no longer walk out at night, even a short distance or drive, as fear of been attacked or his windows smashed in as he drives. The third, was on Wednesday night, after a going away party for Nigel, one of the volunteers here. I was dropping one of the local staff members home, and I normally drop him down to his house, down a side road. This time however, he would not let me do that. He said that the risks were to great for me driving up that road on my own at night. When I said, I have done it loads of times before, he just said, things have changed here now.

For me, now that local people are feeling unsafe and worried about things, it really is a sign things here have changed for the worse. Christmas time, always brings some trouble, but this year, it may bring even more. We now have guys not just holding guns, but using them. We have had 8 rape cases this week alone in the town. Now, that may not be higher than normal, as rape here is very common, we do not know, but even so, it does highlight the problems faced for local people here.

There is now talk of a curfew in the town, and people wanting it implemented, however I do not think it is possible, the police here are very underfunded and lack resources, like a lot of things here in PNG. All alcohol will be banned from Thursday until early Jan, in an attempt to control drunken behavior. However, people will just turn to the local brew made in houses. Which sadly will be stronger and so could actually have a very negative effect, with more, rather than less violence.There is to be a march on Monday to try and help raise awareness in the local communities, and to ask for something to be done. Without support from the local people and them all coming together to try and identify the people causing the problems, this is a situation in my view that will only get worse.

I see a lot of the things here at the moment, that had lead to so much trouble and suffering in the North, where one little thing sparks off a lot of trouble. I really hope we do not get the level of violence here, that I fear may come.