Fiji the long way with our last QFi JASA.

[drron]

The island is beautiful-

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I had a graze on my ankle.Not wanting problems after a wet landing I would dry my legs and put on socks.The young children probably hadn't seen that done before so I had an intriqued audience-

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We were welcomed by a tourism coordinator from the mainland.

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[drron]

We then walked to the village-

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Well organised.They had a screened off area storing wood,machinery and sweet potato and yams for planting-

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Commemorating 100 years of intervention-

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The dancers get ready-

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[drron]

I just loved the traditional masks of the dancers-

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For those who are observant you will know some of those pictures were taken by mrsdrron.

 

[OATEK]

For those who are observant you will know some of those pictures were taken by mrsdrron.

Is that you in Stars and Stripes shorts - if so then what a wardrobe you have!

 

[drron]

The locals enjoyed it as much as we did-

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The show for me ended prematurely.Dr.Joel,the ship's doctor,on his own initiative had arranged to do a medical clinic here.He asked if any one would like to help-he got 4 assistants.There was a retired US Orthopaedic surgeon,a Norwegian Occupational Physician who acted as surgical assistant to a Norwegian Professor of Emergency Medicine who removed skin lesions and debrided tropical ulcers.A complete gentleman who has a lifetime achievement award from the American Heart Association and a commendation from the King of Norway for his medical work.Trained at the Mayo in Anaesthesia originally.None of this came from him.Then there was me.I think I now have a world first-the first consultant physician to conduct a clinic on Tuam Island!
So here I am in action.I was ably assisted by mrsdrron-

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And the star of the day,Dr.Joel-

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It was a wonderful experience.The people were straightforward with their complaints.No embellishment.Was very easy to know what was going on.You will notice everyone looking on.From that they triaged themselves.All the skin lesions and ulcers went to the Professor,the general practice patients to Dr.Joel and I got patients with heart disease,asthma,blood pressure,cataracts but also 2 orthopaedic patients who described their problem just as the textbooks would.Easy to give a diagnosis but unfortunately no treatment apart from symptomatic could be given.
All of them presented their health books so I was able to write my findings for the visiting nurse.Hopefully some will be referred on and others given the recommended treatment.
Towards the end the Tourism fellow and village health worker decided to ask me for a check up.In all we saw 72 people but at 1630 had to leave although some still waiting-it was time for the last zodiac back to the ship.

 

[drron]

And the last of Tuam-

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A day I wont forget.

 

[drron]

Come the morning and we are at Tufi.Not quite bright eyed and bushy tailed having stayed up until after midnight at the bar.

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That was the channel marker for the zodiacs.A warriors welcome-

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They didn't look so fearsome between zodiacs-

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One funny moment when a fellow accidently let his spear go.missed the zodiac.The women were much more welcoming-

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[drron]

This little lady could really blow her shell-

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Then the dancing started-

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The women then joined in-

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[drron]

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Then we were fed-

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The performers stayed around,posed for photos or talked to us for some time-

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The whole show was much more organised than most other places as well as probably more traditional-eg the women not wearing bras.I found out later just why when I talked to one of the older performers back at his house when I walked around.This is him-

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79 years old and obviously well educated as his English was perfect.I asked him about his family and culture.He was immensely proud of his family with his eldest son being a geologist at OK Tedi.His daughter is an accountant in Port Moresby.His middle son though lives in the village.I asked whether this disappointed him.To the contrary he was more proud of him.There is a dive resort nearby and tourists are often brought over for a performance.Several Expedition ships come so the villagers learnt their culture was worth something.His son is teaching all the youngsters about their culture which really delights his father.
One interesting point was made.In the past all ships arranged their visit through the dive resort.Silverseas arranged it direct with the village.Consequently they got a fair bit more.I think the others will find their costs might rise.

 

[drron]

More of the people-

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This fellow was yelling out instructions.Turned out he was head of one of the clans that made up this area-

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[drron]

Everyone turned out to watch us-

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Mrsdrron bought a bag from this lady so she wanted her to take a photo of her and her husband-

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A demonstration of tattooing PNG style.I then set off around the village-

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[drron]

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Some different fruit but some vicious ants-

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A presentation was made to the staff captain-she was told it meant she would always return to Tufi-

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A problem.Some guests were upset that the canoe adventure mentioned in their journal for the Sepik did not occur.You only needed to look at the river to understand why.So at the last minute the Expedition team organised a canoe trip here.With mrsdrron's ankle problems we did not want to do that-as well as feeling pretty tired.However no zodiac was left to take people back to the ship.About 20 annoyed people left to wait 90 minutes.Nothing to do but look at the scenery-

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That was a scheduled service to the dive resort.An interesting airstrip-

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[drron]

When we were back on the ship 2 more planes landed and took off from the resort.We thought the resort must be busy.In fact those 2 planes were charters bringing fresh fruit and veggies for the Explorer.Berries were back on the menu.Well done Silverseas-

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Dinner was cut short tonight so we could all go out on deck and watch the eclipse of the moon.Fortunately very few clouds.However another problem.The anchor had stuck.Fortunately after 4 hours it was released.Any later and we would have been late for our morning's activities at Dei dei.Sailing in there was beautiful-

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A lot of marine traffic-

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Yes that is me off in the first zodiac group.Mrsdrron stayed on board as a return walk of 1.5Km over uneven ground.The locals decided this was too good an opportunity for a sale-

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[drron]

The locals were persistent-

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But by now I was off on my walk-

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You just cant resist the kids smiles-

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An enterprising local setting up a coconut stall-

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A lot of terrestrial orchids.The locals long ago knew that fire is required for their continuing to exist.So they have established gardens close to the road.They use slash and burn techniques so that there are always orchids for the visitors to see.Soon our first sight of the reason for this walk.Geothermal activity-

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[drron]

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[drron]

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Lunch is in the oven-

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[drron]

There are always idiots that want publicity-

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And a heated washing machine-

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Glad we were the first group as the temperature is now rising-

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[drron]

Although this is not the greatest geothermal area in the world it is extensive.Although the geysers are small they are constantly active.And best of all you can walk right up to the active areas.
The surrounding area is very reminiscent of northern Australia-

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Back to the village-

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A boy cracking a nut PNG style-

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Mostly fruit for sale-

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[amaroo]

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You can take the doctor out of the practice - But you can't take the practice out of the doctor!

drron and mrsdrron + your fellow medico travellers are setting a very fine example! Tremendous stuff :!:

 

[drron]

They ran out of coconuts.No problem-

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Time to head back to the ship-

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There was a crew drill when we got back to the ship-

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We then moved the short distance to Dobu Island.Scenery was just beautiful-

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