This series of blog posts is part of the A to Z 2019 Blogging Challenge in which I will write snapshot memories of my early married life in the then Territory of Papua New Guinea.
A colony administered by Australia
Bequeathed by the United Nations
Colonial administrators
Shorts and long socks de rigeur
Public servants dispersed through the country
They said “go” and you went
A new town, new house, new friends
Separate social structures
Bank johnnies, military, private enterprise
Rarely the twain shall meet.
Cameron Club introduction
Movies and a “greenie” on a Friday night
Dash up Red Hill in the back of the government ute
Get the coffee made before midnight…
Power’s off until 6am
Wake on Saturday to the sound of Dylan
Carrying along the plateau from a mate’s house.
Cathay Club – Sundays in Moresby
The echo of squash balls
Lots of laughs and
Red faces from the heat.
Straight to the pool to
Teach the kids to swim.
The clack of the mahjong tiles
The fierceness of that game.
Time for an afternoon nap
Or prepare for a dinner party
Long dresses, multiple courses, duty free spirits.
Aviat Club for special dinners
Lobster tails for $5 – delish.
Tok Pisin
There are no words which start with the letter C in Pidgin so here’s some reverse words.
Careful of crocodiles – lukautim long pukpuk
Church – haus lotu
Child – pikinini
Family history across the seas 
I am loving your memories. I still regret not taking the opportunity to do my practice teaching in New Guinea in 1970. I put it off until the next year, thinking I would do a third year but the lure of a paid job teaching was too much. It would have been a great experience.
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Thanks Linda…it would have been a great experience for you. You might even have wound up in Milne Bay too.
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Shorts and long socks were of course de rigueur amongst public servants and no doubt others in Australia. I still remember my grandfather, a cartographer in Canberra, wearing them.
Your snapshots are very atmospheric.
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Thanks Anne. I think shorts and long socks made much more sense in the tropics than in Canberra 😉
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