Our Garden

One thing I love about being in Milne Bay is that everything grows so easily here. I love tropical flowers, the brighter, the better, especially hibiscus,frangipanis and heliconias so am often collecting and exchanging different varieties with other people. When I first arrived at EMB two years ago, there were no plants around the bungalows and not many flowering plants, now there's a lot more. Take a look.

Our bungalow surrounded by greenery,

a stark contrast to when we first arrived.

Foot Massages & Couch Therapy at the Bungalow

Couch Therapy at my bungalow is something that has accidentally become a bit of a ritual for my friends and I, especially on Sunday mornings. Elaine, Jeannie or both of them usually turn up some time in the morning or evening for coffee, tea,brunch,wine or left overs. It's basically an excuse to catch up and talk and laugh and talk and laugh some more.


I have a large cane couch on my verandah that I inherited some years ago from my dearest friend Haley Whitfield who now lives in Brisbane,Australia. It's a very comfy couch, perfect for recovering from a hang over or just lazing around on. Last Sunday we invited the lovely Anne Wood, a Beauty Therapist who's new in town, to conduct a bit of foot therapy on us. Originally from Normanby Is. and Australia, Anne was previously working at The Nail Bar -Holiday Inn Hotel-Port Moresby. She is currenty looking at setting up shop here in Alotau which is great news for the ladies (and men-she even offers back waxing guys!) I'm not one to wear nail polish every day or pay much attention to a daily beauty routine, but every once in a while, it's kind of fun.

Jeannie's first time to use a foot spa.

Anne cleaning Maxine's foot
Maxine's feet after the foot makeover.
There's nothing like having your feet
pampered after a long hard
week
If you're in Alotau and you
need some serious beauty therapy, see Anne
Wood. She runs "Perfect Paws-for people" and
offers Manicures, Pedicures and Waxing

for men & women.


Afterwards, Elaine whipped up some Pisang
Manis (Sweet Banana,honey & lime) for us.
Kaure loved it!
Couch Therapy the night before
with candles,hibiscus & a bottle of Port.

Jeannie & Kaure

Somebody's not very happy!

Elaine after a few glasses of Port.

Trobriand Carvings

Traditional Lime Pot made from a

gourd which has been smoked

over the fire then scraped

to form intricate patterns.

The lid is made out of a pig's tusk

and tightly rolled banana leaves.

In Milne Bay,Trobriand Islanders are well known for many things, most notably for their Yam Festival, their famous and very provocative "Tapioca" dance, their loud and boisterous manner and their carvings which are quite unique. For some reason memories of being encircled by a group of very excited (and I mean EXCITED) Trobriand male dancers comes to mind. Yes, now I recall, that was at the closing dinner for the SPREP conference a few years back.

I find Trobriand Islanders to be very open about their sexuality, more so than people from other parts of the province. Theirs is certainly a fascinating culture and although I'm from Milne Bay, I still have so much to learn about the many different cultures in our province. One thing I've noticed is that when there's a big event or cultural festival on, The Trobriand Islanders usually get the loudest cheers. They are often the highlight not only because their costumes are bright red and eye-catching but also because they are highly entertaining to watch.

Whenever we host a conference or we have guests in house, you can be sure to find several Trobriand men sitting under a tree in the yard selling their wares. While I don't mind most of the time, sometimes they can really test your patience. Like when they sit around till 6pm even though they can see there's no one around to sell to!! Anything for a sale.

Here's a warning too. If you buy something from them, don't be surprised if they keep coming back week after week after week to sell even more carvings to you. Unfortunately at times there just aren't enough tourists here to sell their wares to, so it can be pretty tough for them. Check out some of the amazing carvings they produce.

May Madness!!

The 2007

PNG National Secretaries Conference

Wanigili Centre - Education Milne Bay Ltd.The notice board at the main entrance

The conference was officially launched by

The honourable Governor Mr. Tim Neville

There were 200 participants there.
The lovely Mea Lou-President of The PNG
Secretaries Association.

My two beautiful Aunties-Lydia and Julie
also attended the conference.
Gretel-multi skilled and always
efficient.Here she awaits guests
to come up for lunch.

Part of the unique Wanigili experience is our
Claypot Cooking. Milne Bayans traditionally
cook in claypots. We like to add a contemporary
touch by cooking chicken or lamb curries in addition to the

usual local vegetables in coconut cream.

A traditional wooden Milne Bay bowl decorates the table.

Lunch time! The ladies certainly enjoyed the food.

Alotau International Hotel's "Jetty" night club

was transformed into a dining room for the ladies'
closing dinner function.

Sandy Givens-well known Australian Public Speaker and
facilitator for The Secretaries Conference.

She was fantastic andtotally inspiring.

Here she's decked out in gifts presented to her by the secretaries.

Later that night while waiting for the

secretaries to finish boogying at The Jetty,

I caught up with Elaine and my cousin Nimrod.

The 2007

National Health Conference

Wanigili Centre,EMB.

Flags from all the different provinces were

displayed at the entrance to Wanigili Centre.

The auditorium,before the arrival of guests.

Wanigili auditorium can accommodate

more than 200 people.

Traditional Milne Bay dancers preparing

to greet guests upon arrival.

Guests after arrival at Wanigili.

At the end of the conference,

the dancers came out. The boys brought the pigs.

and the ladies carried the yams out to be

presented to conference participants.

Poor little piggy wiggy.

Ok, so it's a BIG piggy wiggy!

One of the five pigs presented on the day.

Conference participants listening to speeches

Closing speeches were held on the board walk.

Wanigili Theatre Group performed an item

about lack of medicine and health services

in rural PNG. Maxine relaxing with Wanigili Theatre Group

members-Rose Ila and Andy Tari at the

closing dinner, held at Masurina Lodge.

This has been one extremely busy month for Education Milne Bay. Last week we hosted the National Secretaries Conference for 200 Secretaries from all around PNG. The week prior to that we hosted the National Health Conference, also with over 200 people from all the health centres throughout the country, and this week Friday 1st June, we are hosting a cocktail night to celebrate Alotau Enterprises's 25th Anniversary. We expect up to 300 people.

Am I stressed? Well... not really actually. I think the last 2 weeks have been good practice for all of us here at EMB. I must admit, our staff have been fantastic! They put in a monumental effort with catering and house keeping etc. I was so proud of them! We only have about 20 staff (many of whom have had very little formal training or experience) and with the additional assistance of 10 extra girls, we managed to host two highly successful events. As a result we received so many positive comments from the organisers and guests alike.

200-300 guests is probably the norm for most large estbalishments, however, this is actually the first time EMB has hosted conferences of this magnitude since launching into full operation last year. Previously, I thought 60 guests was a huge event!? It has certainly been a challenging 2 weeks, made all the more so when the toilets decided to get blocked during the Secretaries Conference. Picture 200 secretaries busting to go to the loo at morning tea time and having to line up to use the toilet in the bungalow... one at a time. We even had to ferry some of them to Napatana Lodge to use their toilets! Thank Goodness the problem was rectified before the end of morning tea!

If there's one thing I've learned about Secretaries during the conference, it's this......you don't want to mess with them!Classic case- Saturday afternoon flight to Pom (Port Moresby) was cancelled, the little Milne Bay guy behind the counter just about had his head bitten off by a hoard of very big, scary and disgruntled secretaries who were all desperate to return home to their families and weren't too thrilled about lugging their 10 rainbow bags filled with yams and buai (betelnut) all the way back to their hotels. Happy viewing!