Well, I was 'spinning my wheels' for a bit, wondering WHAT was next .... still doing the monthly e-newsletter for a Perth Business Centre, and gratified that the circulation was up to over 8,000 addresses per month and some good 'thank you' reviews tricking in.
Then I had an email message from the aid agency I volunteer with asking if they could call me. Upshot was that there was another position available on the same small island off Papua New Guinea called Lihir where I'd help setup a Business Centre for the local people a few months prior.... The assignment was to present a course to a group of local business people on how to grow their business, and improve their business skills. There would be five workshops in a class setting, interspersed with one-on-one mentoring, over four weeks. I know of the program and had help set up three of them in the first two months I was there. Now, that's normally a bit outside my usual 'comfort zone' as I'm reluctant to partake in public speaking, and the course format is to have two presenters working in tandem. The other person had already been selected and (as luck would have it): he was also domiciled in Perth. SO: my response was: "...maybe, yes, but let me meet with the other guy and see if we get on together before I commit". The response was that departure was scheduled soon (with visa, flights and accommodation to arrange), and they wanted an answer "now". SO - I took a deep breath... and agreed!
Later I was chatting (email) with the assignment manager in Canberra, and asked her what had happened, and the reason that I was called 'at the last minute' as it looked like they could not find another presenter and someone had said ".... call Bevan, he'll go". The response was that someone else had dropped out and the "call Bevan" comment was pretty much what had really happened.
ANYWAY: I met up with the other guy, Paul, at a coffee shop near his home and we DID get on together .... phew!
SO, there was a rush for the visa (can get one online now for an outlandish US$250 for 30 days), get the travel arranged and await advice from the Business Centre partner (operators of a huge gold mine) about accommodation .... luckily, it all came together just a few days before departure.
SO - a long flight late at night out of Perth, right across Australia to Brisbane, then to Port Moresby, then to Lihir, arriving early evening the next day. "I'm really getting too old for this s**t!".
It was great to meet up, again, with the local crew in the office and to settle back into the rhythm of PNG! Lihir island is an oasis in an troubled country .... I was telling mine employees who were there for the first time that they were not really living/working in Papua New Guinea and that the locale was more like an Australian suburb. The infrastructure is just incredible (and expanding daily) with suburban-style homes, western plumbing, sewage, electricity (free to even the local homes and businesses), drinkable water from the tap.... This time, we were accommodated in a block of comfortable units with television, en-suite bathroom, desk to work at, Wi-Fi, air-conditioning. Food in the company mess was OK, with a range of dishes offered every day.
Although: the sound-proofing between rooms left a bit to be desired - the guy in the room next to mine was a dead-cert for World Champion Snorer - good grief: he was LOUD and consistent all night .... embellished with the occasional flatulent chorus!
The day before we left, I received a note on 'my' bed saying that I was to move rooms in two days as the 'usual' occupant was returning to the island; actually referred to as 'hot-bedding'. Not only was I moving out of the room at 03.30 the next morning, the note was addressed to someone else, and to a different room number!
One time, at around 3am, a klaxon horn was bellowing out and a recorded voice kept shouting and repeating that all occupants had to evacuate the building - there was actually no drama and, after milling around for half and hour, or so .... we all trickled back to bed. Of course: the mine operates all day, every day; so there are constantly people coming and going at all hours.
Some may recall that, just before I left last time, I'd taken a tumble down some short, but steep, steps to a small building out the back of the offices that was referred to as 'the Hub' and had cracked a few ribs. The first thing I'd done on getting home that time, because I was in so much pain, was to call an ambulance and get to a hospital. WELL: the steps had been changed to incorporate a small landing and a much safer set of stairs had been installed.
We had a few days before the first workshop to go through the syllabus suggestions to arrange our workshops for presentation to some 20 participants. The material was rather lacking in finesse and relevance; so: I hunted around the internet and found some more suitable material and video presentations, plus material from my accumulated years of giving business advice, to impart some plausible, relevant and useful material to our class. As arranged in our discussions, after plotting each daily workshop together, Paul did most of the presenting and I 'flew' the presentations and interjected here and there.
On the last day of 'mentoring', Paul partook of a mine conducted presentation into the local culture and I held a workshop in the conference room on some tricks to use in Excel.
The participants were keen to learn more, but it was initially rather hard work getting them to participate, ask questions or give feedback during the presentations at each workshop. They were more curious and requested follow-up help at the one-on-one mentoring sessions. There was some good feedback and promising outcomes - so: the exercise had all the hallmarks of being successful.
Something that was developing into a pattern was that I had another toothache while on Lihir, and was chewing with difficulty and gobbling pain-killers. However, the pain had receded by the time I got home and saw my dentist. She examined the tooth in question and concluded that: "seems like the nerve is dead or dying." The options were: another root canal or extraction. I responded: "Oh, pull the bugger out". I didn't want to expend ANOTHER $1,200 on teeth.! The dentist responded: " Ummm, complication there: as you have osteoporosis and are on medication, I'm not permitted to extract the tooth." SO: if I'm going for extraction, have to make an appointment with an oral surgeon to extract the tooth. I was given a couple of options to choose the surgeon.....and, 10 minutes later: "That'll only be $60 today." Interesting aside: oral surgeons can be ultra-busy at the end of school year as kids have been waiting until their exams are finished to have wisdom teeth extracted.
The business centre had been allocated a Toyota LandCruiser, - as I was the only person in the office with a PNG driver's licence: I was the nominated driver. Mine employees in the same general office would ask me if they could borrow the car - which seemed rather incongruous. ODD feeling when I got home and into my little sports car - felt like my backside was on the ground!
I've not flown 'with' another person for some 20 years, or so. Paul and I travelled on the same flights, but not in adjoining seats as we both preferred a window to lean on the fuselage and get some kip. I almost never purchase food or drinks in airports - but Paul liked a coffee and snack at every stop.
SO, on departure: up at 03.30 - bus to the local airport on the island and wait over an hour / fly three hours to Port Moresby / wait four hours / fly three hours to Brisbane / wait four hours / fly nearly six hours to Perth ....nearly 24 hours travel door-to-door --- we could have flown to London in that time!