Thursday, Oct 22, 2009 at 19:50
Yeh, I'm another former expat....did 3 terms in PNG (with the NAB and it's subsidiary, Bank of South Pacific) and each time I went back (with a stint back here in Oz in between), the place had gone backwards.
Bloody hell, the first town I went to up there doesn't even EXIST anymore... (Rabaul...1972 to 1974).
Then I went back after independance....this time to Mt Hagen (1977 - 1979), followed by 12 months in Moresby (what a bloody hole that was then....probably even worse now).
In 1987 I got my first managerial position; at Kundiawa, Chimbu Province. Fair dinkum, that was like stepping back into the wild west. I used to carry my bank pistol (a useless Browning .32) with me outside bank hours....never told head office of course.
I remember travelling on a track very similar to that one shown in the photo (above), in the Banks Datsun 180B station wagon when I was based in Mt Hagen.... That 180B used to get us to some amazing
places out west of Hagen.
As a manager at Kundiawa in 1987, I was provided with a Nissan Navara dual cab, 2.4 petrol. That was my first experience with doing any 4 wheel driving; man, what a steep learning curve.
Anyway, as a now-retired bankie, I look back fondly on those days....but I will never go back to that beautiful country...... it scares the bejeezus outa me these days!!!!!
Roachie
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