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
We recently spent our ‘summer’ school break in the glorious Australian winter, savouring the abundant lifestyle on offer in our home country. The little things we completely took for granted when we lived there (visiting family and friends, well-stocked supermarkets, walking on the beach, driving a car, eating out, good internet/download speed, clear phone lines, going to the movies, bike riding and playing with pets to mention but a few!) are appreciated so… 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
Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg Mine is the world’s largest gold mine and third largest copper mine, the scale of which is so big that the mile-wide open pit is clearly visible from space. The mine is situated in one of the most inaccessible and unforgiving locations on the planet…a place we now call home. The abundance of work here is the reason behind our move to this remote but spectacular part of the West Papuan… 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
It’s just on three weeks since we arrived in our little mountain-top community and to-date it’s been a case of so far, so good. Following our arrival in our home, which I assume is on the west side of town (since our street name is West 1), we took a little time to explore everything within its four walls. The girls were suitably impressed – it’s roomy and airy and will serve… 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
Our Indo Adventure 