30 November
Jacinta
M’Buke departure day today. We had no power so no photos! As we tried to get a photo of Kiteni, Lancer and I, first the camera died, then PJ’s phone died, then finally, Chakumai’s phone came through. Lancer just started to like me the night before and now we are leaving! I just had to pretend to be a shark and eat him, and then we were old friends.
The fish had wisened up to PJ’s ways and they had their first fruitless 5am fishing trip.
Lomot sent us off with freshly baked scones, and 5 of us went on our way. I was sad to wave goodbye to everyone.
The boat trip back was silky smooth, and we saw one final dolphin on the way out. Its such a beautiful trip. Back to Lorengau we spent some time landing with Chakumai who was sporting my Allbirds shoes, that were always too big for me anyway. Went to the markets together in the tumbling rain, and got our supplies for the day. PJ and I are feeling like a bit of a tourist attraction, with everyone staring, watching our every move and trying to talk to us. Someone unclipped my bag, people trying to touch me etc. It’s a bit nuts so we grabbed what we needed and dashed out.
We said our final (for now) goodbyes to Chakumai. We shared such a nice time together.
If you’re still sticking with us you can have a less glossy part of this trip. I’m not sure if I am half dead or half alive. Not only do I have the Lorengau Lurgy but I also have Lorengastro. I don’t know what to eat and my tum laughs in the face of the tablets. I’m washing and disinfecting my hands a hundred times a day for everyone else’s sake. I’m gonna need you to pray to David Bowie. It’s not pretty.
