| The national flag, a frigate flying over the sun rising over the ocean. The three white stripes depict the country's three groups of islands; Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands. |
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| Coming in to land at Bonriki International Airport, Tarawa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonriki_International_Airport |
The nation comprises 32 atolls and a raised coral island totalling 800 square kilometres dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres of Pacific ocean. 'It's where??' I'm frequently asked. 'Due east from Brisbane, turn left at Fiji, it'll be a minute dot under you three flying hours later.' Or, 'you know where the date line does a whoosie? Well that's it, the date line goes around so the whole country is on the same day.' Perhaps the most accurate; it's at the junction of the dateline and the equator.
When I was a child, I loved the enormous (probably not so big now) globe at the Subiaco Municipal Library. My brother and I used to play 'where do you want to go?' and we'd spin the globe. I almost always landed in the middle of the Pacific, so disappointed was I to have landed 'nowhere'. Little did I know that 'nowhere' was one of the most wonderful adventure destinations I was to one day visit.
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| The main road……the only road. |
Well, I would've been lying if I'd said I wasn't shocked. I
had never in my life seen anything like it. I understand now when they say
“Kiribati, for travellers not tourists”. I really had no idea what to expect.
But first impressions were shocking. It was very dirty and the bad smells made me dry retch. On
the other hand it was really wonderful in that it was like nothing I had ever
seen before and incredibly beautiful, something only seen at the cinema. The people were out playing in the streets (60% of the population
are children). There are animals everywhere. The hotel is so basic, things we
take for granted like shampoo, bathmats, drinking water, reliable electricity
and water were absent.
Surprisingly the 737 was full. Most of the people on the plane were consultant aid workers or locals.
There was a group of about eight tourists who had come for the 66th anniversary of the bloodiest battle in USMC history, which took place here on Tarawa. A new airline “Our Airline” took it’s
maiden flight arriving yesterday but unfortunately was unable to return victorious and was still grounded with the tool
kit out.
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| Swimming at the broken bridge |
Our hotel (Otientaai) is famous amongst the ex
pats as being a real dive. The staff don’t wear shoes, the breakfast buffet hosted four ingredients; cornflakes in their packet, cartons of UHT milk, sweet white bread and the most spectacular local fruit, god knows how it
got it’s two star rating?? On this day it was the anniversary of the infamous battle and the
hotel was full of gung ho Americans. It was 2000 USMC marines who were mowed down by the
Japs over a very short period. The yanks misread the tide and
their amphibious landing was a real disaster. If it was any consolation to them
most of the Japs got killed too. Lovely. Nice to hear from the gore hungry tourists that Red Beach is still littered with human remains.
The teaching is going well I have to test 30
student teachers for their English language ability. It’s good experience for me
as I find testing such a difficult thing to do. In addition, I am helping the
student teachers to write lesson plans and to prepare for their teaching prac
which I will then observe and test in a week. This is really the best way to
find out about Kiribati and the people and culture. I already have students
lining up to practise speaking English with me which means invaluable time one
on one with the I-Kiribati people.
