June 27 Sabbath This Sabbath finds me at the Garden Hills SDA church in Moresby, and it is an apt name. This is like a little oasis in the midst of one of the settlements. There is extreme poverty all around, but the church grounds are like a park and while the building is simple it stands out from the surroundings. Around 150 people are in attendance. That number includes around 30 new interests from the meetings of the past two weeks. I was treated like a guest of honor again and had a crowd around asking questions after the service. The pastor was kind of pushy about needing me to raise some money for a few of his pet projects that he was describing to me. Eventually, Joel, Watson, and I made our way back to the Transit Lodge with the bags Watson had been holding for me. He lives in the settlement and I got to meet his family. Most of the people living in this particular settlement come from the highlands. Like people everywhere they make the pilgrimage to the big city to try and find a better life, but it eludes them. I take a nap for a good chunk of the afternoon, then make a list of the things I need to try and do before I leave on Tuesday.


June 28 Sunday: I spent nearly the entire day at the Rugby Stadium. I went with Joel, who was working with a Police security detail at the stadium. I brought a book of short stories and poetry, but mostly from 10:30 am until 5 pm it was rugby rugby rugby. They actually had an earlier game starting at 9 am, but we did not watch it. So that means for about $4 you can spend a whole day at the major sporting arena in Mosbi watching 5 full rugby games. Now that is getting your money's worth. The first four games of the day are all between local city league teams and lead up to the showcase match between the Muruks and the City Rangers in PNG Professional Rugby League competition. Despite watching a fair amount of rugby during my time here, I still do not understand the penalty segment. I get the basic rules, but sometimes on penalties they get to kick to advance the ball, sometimes they have a scrum, sometimes their tackle count gets reset and the why has eluded me. There is also a tremendous difference between footie and rugby, with footie being much more physical from what I have seen, and they are kicking all the time. There was a pronounced difference in the skill level between the preliminary local matches and the Muruks/Rangers.

After the last game, which the Rangers held on to win 20-18, in the best game of the day, I got to visit the inside of a police station, before Joel and another officer walked me back to Gordons. I picked up my laundry from reception and did most of my packing. Then I had dinner and finished another book, so I can lighten my load in anticipation of a large charge when I fly to Australia.

June 29 Monday: I was cleaning my breakfast dishes in the lodge kitchen when a man came up to me. He introduced himself as Samraj and said he recognized me from the revival meeting on Friday. He is Sri Lankan and SDA and was at the lodge to visit the other Sri Lankan I had met before. Samraj says there are only 7 or so fellow country men and he likes to keep tabs on them and talk to them abour religion. And wonder of wonders he lives near PAU, where he was soon going. So an hour later, I was at the Gordons buses center with him heading to PAU. The school is in mid term break, but I got a good tour of the campus, which is huge. The school buildings cover about 150 acres, but they have an enormous amount of land devoted to gardens and wild spaces. I visited the campus church, the nursing dept, the library (undergoing renovations while school is out) and various other building. At the IT dept where Samraj works, another of his coworkers with a car was heading back into town, so he gave both of us a ride. Samraj went to visit another of the Sri Lankans and I went with his coworker to pick up Cat 6 cable to go into the library. Then he treated me to a late lunch and dropped me off at the lodge. I made sure my transportation to the airport was arranged for the morning, made some adjustments to my packing, bought some fresh bananas and peanuts at the open air market across the street to use up some of my remaining money and had a relaxing evening.

June 30 Tuesday: I gave my PNG cheap phone to one person who has helped me out, dropped off my room key,and headed to the airport at 7:30. We stopped by Airways to try one more time to get my PADI card, but the office was locked up despite the posted hours. Oh well, it is as much my fault for not getting that taken care of sooner. Joel was waiting at the airport and I gave him a letter to mail for me and some money to cover the letter, as well as some for him and Watson. Even though my flight was scheduled for 9:30 departure, they had us board at 8:30 and we left half an hour early. The flight itself was uneventful and though I had a window seat it did not help much, since cloud cover obscured nearly everything. The temperature is noticeably cooler in Cairns and while it is only a few degrees, I like it already. There are a lot of backpackers in Cairns and the city seems to cater to them quite a bit. I found a place three blocks from the shoreline and close to down town for $20 per night, which includes breakfast on site and free dinner vouchers to local establishments, and a host of other amenities. I am in a four bed room with a Canadian who has been in Aust for 8 months, a Frenchman I've only briefly met and a third guy who was asleep when I arrived to go to bed myself and gone in the morning when I awoke.

This is a city, but it has many parks and seems to have a host of wildlife all around. There are many birdwatchers with their telescopes and binoculars along the shore. I saw mud skippers there as well and while I had always thought they were small (less than 6 inches long), these are well over a foot long. There is a zoo within walking distance and I may go there for a visit. There are also many many little art galleries with beautiful photography and various art forms produced by people from the area. But the prices are shocking. Luckily I do not need to buy very much in the way of art on this trip.
I did succumb and buy one t-shirt. Now I need to get in touch with Gabe and find out how his back recovery is going and decide if I need to extend my time in Australia or how we proceed. There seems to be an overwhelming array of things to do in and around this part of Australia. Trying to pick a tour company will be a challenge in itself. I had dinner at a place five blocks from the hostel and it was a good portion of vegetarian spaghetti. Onwards to July.....