Our Indo Adventure
An Aussie family in the jungle of West Papua
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When you live remotely in a country where twelve percent of people live on less than $2 a day, your perspective is bound to change somewhat. Fairly quickly, first world worries become trivial. What follows is a realisation that the key to emotional survival in a place like this is in reminding (and yes, sometimes forcing) yourself to give thanks for the simple things. Simple things…you know, like carrots. Almost every day, for… Read More
It’s an interesting little place, this jungle home of ours. Our town of Tembagapura has a population of around 10,000, all of which are employed either directly or indirectly by Freeport McMoran for the purpose of running the local Grasberg copper and gold mine. The town is predominantly made up of native Papuans and Indonesians and although these two cultures are historically combative and remain culturally diverse, here in Tembag, getting along… Read More
The last term of the school year up here on the mountain has been incredibly busy. So…where to start? One constant is the joy offered by the monkey bars in the school playground – never seems to get dull! There have also been birthday parties galore, where too much Elsa is never enough… Culturally interesting school field trips, learning about Indonesian family values: Strange and unusual critters: And newly acquired skills in… Read More
Last week we journeyed to the delightful Singapore on what’s known on the mountain as a ‘Visa Run’. When John initially started work here, he was granted a four-month visa which expired in mid-February, requiring us to exit Indonesia in order to apply for renewal. Most expat visas come up for renewal from January to March which sees Tembagapura experience a steady exodus of expats during this period, resulting in many challenges for the… Read More
Sorry all, I have a few posts to catch up on! I have figured out fairly quickly that my standard practice of working at night has been sabotaged by a fairly lousy wi-fi service at that time of day. Uploading photos means entering a whole world of pain so it’s low-res all the way from now on! Nonetheless, we have arrived safely in Tembagapura and this is how we did it… I… Read More
Well, it’s official, we are now full steam ahead on a journey which will see our little family relocate to Tembagapura, West Papua. Following a long, arduous process of recruitment, John has finally been notified of his deployment date to the PTFI Freeport Indonesia Grasberg Mine. He will be departing Australia on 10 November to start work as one of their Operations Managers. Shortly thereafter, I will travel up there solo to conduct my… Read More
Our Indo Adventure 