Internet? What internet?

One of the most frustrating things about living in a remote location is the lack of services that we normally take for granted 'down south'.
I had withdrawal pains from my regular shopping trips to Officeworks, Spotlight, Lincraft, The Reject Shop and others but discovered a love for online shopping.
Of course I had my personal shopper back in Mackay. A phone call, a bank transfer and our daughter had some much needed goodies in an express bag and sent to us the next day.

The one thing I find it hard to live without, that our personal shopper can't help us with, is the internet.
When we came to Saibai we brought a Wifi modem and a 3G iPad with us. For the first few weeks they both worked well but then the modem stopped working and a month later the iPad also had no service. A phone call to Telstra resulted in being told that they would replace the modem at the nearest Telstra shop. Well that happens to be in Cairns which is 900 kilometres and a $700 one way flight away.
We asked for a replacement to be mailed but they couldn't find Saibai Island in their computer so they sent it to Mackay.  Luckily our son put it in the mail for us. As it had a battery it couldn't come express and had to come by barge so three weeks later........

A trip back to Mackay the in September school holidays gave me a chance to get my "connection" issues sorted but the iPad still has limited access to the internet.

I miss not being able to go to the store and getting things fixed or replaced straight away.
So if you are wondering about there not being any posts for a large chunk of time, then blame it on the internet.

Peter's Saibai Sunsets

Peter's two hobbies while he is enjoying being "retired" are fishing and photography. Now fishing on Saibai requires a boat so he needs to be invited on a fishing trip by one of the other "retired" husbands or a local. So it is his interest in photography that fills in a lot of his time.

 

One of our favourite photo moments is the Saibai Sunset. We walk down to the front beach and have seen some beautiful sunset. The sun this evening  changed from yellow to orange then red. It was absolutely spectacular but the photos we took just didn't pay it justice.

Shades of pink, purple, yellow and orange look beautiful against the blue of the ocean.

This is a photo I took with my iPad of Peter  capruring another spectacular sunset on Saibai.

 

Is there a doctor on the Island?

Saibai Island has a modern Health Clinic which is managed by a wonderful medical team. A doctor visits for three days every few weeks and emergencies are airlifted to Thursday Island or Cairns by medevac. When we first arrived on Saibai Island we had flu injections, Japanese encephalitis vaccination  and had blood tests to check for diabetes, cholesterol, kidney and liver disease and Hep A & B immunity.  Everything came back fine.

After ten weeks on the island I found myself in need of medical assistance for an ear ache. After three trips to the Health Centre and getting sent away three times due to emergencies I was still self medicating on Advil and Panadol with no access to antibiotics or ear drops.

It is not something that can be helped in a remote location. The medical staff can work straight through the night with an emergency and then have to see patients the following day.  People line up in the waiting room and wait all day to see a nurse so me walking in at 3.30 pm after school to get my ear checked is wishful thinking. 

It is one of the downfalls of living and working on a remote Island. 

I am heading back down tomorrow morning to try again. Fingers crossed tonight is a peaceful night with no further emergencies and I can get some drops for my ear.

NSW's win in State of Origin last night did not go down well on Saibai !

The first snake we have seen on Saibai

The first snake we have seen on Saibai.

Walking back from the IBIS we noticed some people gathered around something on the ground. As we got closer we saw it was a small snake.

Helping out a neighbour....Saibai style

I was approached by two Papuan ladies who asked me if I could type out a letter for them. They handed me a neatly printed three page letter which was an application to a PNG college for a young man wanting to improve his employment prospects in Papua New Guinea.

I have my own computer, printer and paper on the island I so was happy to do it. They left me the letter and we agree to meet up the following day. 

When I delivered the typed letter the next day the ladies were very appreciative and handed me two mats and a basket as a gift to say thank you.  

I have a favourite lady from PNG who makes things for me for the PrePrep classroom. I ordered grass skirts from her to use in my class and to send to a Kindy class in Brisbane and a Year 1/2 class in Mackay.  When I collected them she gave me two long mats and two small mats for free.

From PNG to Australia by dinghy

PNG to Australia by dinghy...

 Never ceases to amaze us.

While at the eastern end of Saibai Island, we noticed two boat loads of Papuans heading to Saibai for the markets.

 

As well as  the people, there are crates of crabs and handmade crafts on board. 

 From the eastern end of Saibai we had a clearer view of the village of Sigabaduru. Before we arrived here we had absolutely no idea there was a part of Australia where you could see another country from our shores.

 

 We are often approached by Papuan villagers asking for clothes. On barge day they shop at the IBIS and buy  trays of 1 kg flour, presumably to resell in their village.  

 

These photos were taken by Peter of a Papuan boat sailing across to Saibai Island from PNG, before dropping their homemade sail and motoring into the shore.

 

 It is a case of  modern meeting tradition.

Starting with a purchased dinghy and motor they add hand made features to make the boat function for their unique purpose.

(travelling between countries by water each week day as cheaply as possible)

 

This is a close up of a modified dinghy. The sails are made from a variety of materials.  When soil is transported to the island by barge it comes in large white bags. These bags are used to make sails, as are hessian potato sacks, tarps and whatever else can be accessed freely or cheaply.

 

Our First Saibai Fishing Experiences

Our first fishing experience on Saibai Island was to the jetty where we were joined by two little girls who caught small bait fish using hand reels. Their fishing tackle was a hook and a small piece of peeled prawn and they caught several small bait fish which they gave to us to use as live bait. We didn't catch anything but had a relaxing afternoon.

Our next fishing trip was to the "bridge".  The "bridge" is a large culvert that runs under the road and feeds sea water into a creek during high tides.

As our fishing rods hadn't arrived, we borrowed a fishing reel and a telescopic rod from the other teachers. I chose to fish on the creek side with the hand reel and peeled prawns as bait. 

 

(I figured if the saying is "when in Rome do as the Romans do", then it makes sense to "when in Saibai, fish like the locals do")

 

Peter fished on the ocean side with whole prawns and the fishing rod. 



 

You can always pick the amateur fishermen. They are the ones who get excited when they catch something. No matter what it is.

  

 



My first catch on Saibai was an eel. Locals said we could eat it but I let it go.

It was really slimy and we really weren't THAT hungry.

 

My second catch was a mud crab that I caught on a hand reel and managed to land. Unfortunately, although it was a male, it was a tad small so I let this one go as well.

 

Peter is still waiting for his first catch.