Thursday 10 March 2011

Mauri from Kiribati

After a few hours of sleep in Nadi Fiji, a very early flight this morning (2am check-in - yuck!) and a long line up in customs, we've made it to Kiribati. The air strip runs into the water on both sides of the island. I'm glad we had a good pilot, or he could have quite easily landed us in the lagoon on one side or the sea on the other.

We were met at the airport by the AusTraining in country Manager David who told us our house isn't ready for us because the fridge isn't working, so we're staying in Mary's Hotel until Monday. It isn't the quality of Aussie hotels, but it has a bed and somewhere to shower, so it'll do. Compared to local houses, it is palatial.

David and his wife took us for a drive, helped us check in and took us to lunch at one of the many Chinese restaurants. We had fish (tuna, as it is safe to eat), vegetables and rice. Although lunch was at about 10:30am, the food wasn't bad and it was cheap. That is likely to be a regular meal for us from what I'm told.

We've been left to settle for the rest of the day, so we bought local sim cards and trekked to the internet cafe, where we're writing this. The wireless internet at Mary's is down at the moment.

I have a cold and a sore throat, and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed earlier, but I'm happier now that I've had a nap and now have contact with the outside world.

Pete already noted the coral dust on his feet. For those of you who don't know, he is quite particular about having clean feet. A big chuckle at his expense went a long way to cheering me up earlier.

Nicky

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