It has been a busy time of late at Talua and our home, with lot of people coming and going. The first of the New Zealand teams to come to Talua for the purpose of building a new staff house arrived at the end of June. They were a mixed age team from Katikati and they enjoyed a great time here, making steady progress on the first stages of the house building. They also spent time with the women's programme, the kindy kids and 2 local schools. They were hosted by student and staff families and ate their meals with the single students. They built up wonderful relationships with many people here and no doubt both sides learnt heaps from each other.
Just before they left, William and I went to Australia for a short break in Brisbane. We met up with Jon's sister, Raewyn and stayed with kiwi friends there. This was a continuation of a family tradition of each niece and nephew having a turn for a special trip with Raewyn. We had a good break and enjoyed a taste of normal life for a while. William went with the aim of getting up close and personal with koalas and enjoyed a wonderful day out at a wildlife sanctuary where hands on contact was encouraged with kangaroos in particular and we have wonderful photos of William holding a koala. He also got to spend a lot of time on the play station which was also a real treat for him!
While we were away, our places in our home were filled by a couple from Australia. They came to Talua as part of a small team doing some field work associated with their study to become bible translators. Jon managed to cope marvellously with hosting Mel and Shane and they enjoyed their time here.
Also arriving just before we returned was the Mission Partners team from Australia. Some members of this team have been faithfully making twice yearly visits for a number of years, gradually working on Talua's new library. It is hoped that the new library will be able to be opened early next year after another work party comes at the end of the year.
Last Sunday our family was also pleased to be able to welcome my brother Stuart who made his first visit to Vanuatu to come to see us and look around a bit. The weather, which has been wet, wet and more wet recently around here did improve a bit for Stuart's visit and he had opportunities to go diving on the wreck of the President Coolidge and at Million Dollar Point, go horse trekking and take local motorbike rides and swims. He had a taste of what life is like for us here and then on Sunday left to try out some of Vanuatu's other delights. He was also privileged to be part of the farewell of the Aussie team and also the welcome of the next Kiwi team.
That's right – no sooner had one team gone, but the next one arrived this time coming from Canterbury to do the next stage of the new staff house. This team of men hopes to get the roof on the house. They are also billeted with staff and students, with one man coming to share meals with us for the next 2 weeks. We hope that the weather will hold for them. They look to be a hard working, hands-on team who will get plenty done, weather and circumstances permitting.
Phew, it is definitely the time of year when people make the most of cooler conditions to come to Vanuatu. We enjoy the company and stimulation of new faces as it helps to break the routine of being here. We have to say that we particularly like to have Kiwi visitors – there is just an automatic connection there even if we have never met before! We were a little starved of kiwi contact last year, but this year has made up for it. Still to come, in September is another team to work on the staff house – hopefully to come close to completing it. This group is from Rotorua. We are also very much looking forward to Phillip coming in September. We miss him being together with us here – although he is having such a good time in NZ that he really doesn't miss us much.
Everyone appreciates the contribution that these visiting teams make to Talua as a whole and to individuals. Talua would not survive without a lot of outside support. We get a bit "feasted out" though, after all the welcomes and farewells, and feel for the cash-strapped students having to contribute so often. This is another interesting part of our lives at Talua in 2007.
