A Happy Anniversary

I've been adrift here in the Pacific for 12 months now. Wow!

On New Year's Eve, I was newly in love and off to face my dreams of an aid worker posting in the Pacific. Life was full of promise and I felt that the million miles of road I'd never seen was stretched before me with a crisp white invitation to step through its open door. I dubbed the year "2000 & shine". Truly, it has been an amazing experience.

Caught in the midst of each day however, life happened and maybe I wouldn't have said on each and every day that its been a blast - but looking back I have been having the time of my life. In between the adventures with the house and the truck I have met amazing people & had crazy adventures I could only dream of. And while all of that was whizzing around me, I fell in & out of love, was elated, disappointed, extoled, let down, loved, missed and maybe not so loved and missed. I cried, I laughed, I danced, I worked, I worried, I longed, I grieved and I gave thanks. In short, I haven't reached any particular destination - but I have enjoyed the roller coaster journey that has shot me up and down and round.

And through all this, I have charted the adventure like any modern day scribe; by way of the facebook status update. So sit back, relax, and enjoy 365 days of the pick- of- the- bunch adventures - www- style:

Silver

: Is celebrating her 1 year anniversary with the Solomon Islands Red Cross!!

: Has spent too much time with the kids from ze Fronch Red Cross.. for ze rest of ze day she will spek like dees.

:Has danced more in the last 12 months than in the previous 5 years!!..and loving it :-)

:will attempt to concentrate on her cup half full of ocean views rather than half empty of 5 hour blackouts...Ohhhmmmmmm......

:is going to be a fairy godmother! There's no tutus involved right? Just lots of pumpkins and wish granting?!

:and S tried hard to rally Solomon style support for the Melbourne cup with egg and spoon and 3 legged races... Still, hard to beat losing heaps at the TAB and spending too much on Tusday afternoon champagne.

:This is the best shot of the home made fascinator.. keep in mind it was supposed to have a Solomon Island theme. Knew I should have

gone with the gorgeous local orchids.. but it was a talking point and part of the "fashions on the field" fashion parade!

:just went down to the gate and found the guard sound asleep..zzz while a taxi engine was idling in his ear ..zzz.. and I was calling his name.. zzz.. and rattling the chain on the gate ..zzz.. oh yeah! I'll sleep soundly tonight! Zzzzzzzz

:is all about the Strategic Plan... be the plan.. be the plan...

:'s life is candy and her sun's a ball of butter.

:is laughing about the conversation she just had: "Hey iu needem somefalla something somewhere?" What kind of something?" "oh someone hem say iu needem something somewhere." "Which someone?" .. and on it went...!

:never thought she'd be having a conversation about safe cracking in pijin..

:is making Labneh from home made yoghurt

:was propositioned by an exceptionally good looking policeman whilst stuck in traffic he was supposed to be directing.. was tempted to ask.. "dude have you found the guys who broke in to my place yet?" instead, was mildly amused by the way Sols guys say "I love you" after 2 minutes!

:had to laugh at the shop keeper who just dropped my $20 note change on the floor, picked it up with his toes and handed it to me. It's almost as good as being offered a scotchfinger biscuit that's dropped from someone's armpit!

:just said goodbye to her lovely gran. Thanks for being such an inspiration xx

:: looky looky - I got residency! Only took 10 months..

:is sooooo glad Hexley is ok and came to our door after his boat sank and he got everyone safely to shore! Too many on-water close scrapes in one week!!

:has been teaching the office staff about "smurfs"... Little blue men??... one gele for 300 boys??.... spaka smurf??... hmm think we'll go back to singing the National Anthem next week.. might be easier!

::aidworker lesson #194..suck it up and smile! :-)

:thinks Honiara feels a bit more like home now Lib's in da house!

:has had a shitty shitty day that started with getting robbed at 5am... people stealing stuff from next to your sleeping head really creeps you out! But I've been touched by the compassion and kindness I've received..

:has a hole the size of a 10c piece in her ankle and is off to the Suva Private Hospital ..was I saying I enjoyed sloshing in the weathercoast mud last week?..what a legacy!

:has JUST been handed an emergency passport by the Aussie High Comm and is leaving the building .. now! I might have a watch, but these guys definitely have the time!

:'s passport is lost somewhere between the bumbling Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the incompetent Ministry of Immigration.. why does this always happen the week you are supposed to leave the country???

:has had another mind- blowingly awesome experience at the hands of Red Cross!

:is enjoying the new daily routine of singing the SI National Anthem with the finance staff.

:thought she'd buy some fresh mushrooms brought in from Australia.. until she realised they were $50A a kg.. then she stepped away from the veggies, clutching her paper bag and crying.. just a little.

:is going to a Melanesian sign language class tomorrow. Just in case learning pijin isn't enough of a brain snap I'm going to sign in pijin too. Oi Banj.. I'll check if "My scubadiver exploded" loses something in translation!

:is a bona fide idiot! Just had a small stack on the Red Cross motor bike.. next time helmet and shoes are definitely required!

:found out the pijin word for love- "dae dae" is the pijin word for death multiplied by 2…and is frankly, unsurprised.

:'s cashpower credit ran out - 36 hours without power :-( spending sunday arvo in a hotel foyer checking email! I'm so 3rd world, me!

:has found the most delicious new fruit. Locals call it an apple but it's more like a nashi pear infused with rose oil. Keeping the weird stone in the middle to plant in the garden. Maybe something mystical will happen!

:is enjoying the wine that Sal brought..and the brie, and dip, fountain pens, chocolate, yoghurt, aussie toiletries, new computer bag etc... very spoiled!

:thinks the clear blue water of Tangseliu Beach has restorative properties

:thinks love is so short, and forgetting is so long.

:Front page news - GUILTY! J and K found guilty of making awful red cross cake. See image on front page of Solomon Star – Sec Gen attempting to stab cake to kill it. Inside: Red Cross volunteers quake in their boots.

:has a smile wide as the moon. The volunteers next door are supposed to be carrying a heap of stuff to set up their 2 day festival and are sitting singing instead! There's nowhere I'd rather be for 150th celebrations!

:just fixed the cafe's blender with her teeth and a wooden skewer!

:is glad the cat came back.. little whiskey was MIA for 20 hours in our first week of bonding. Was thinking it might be a trend in all my relationships..
But the cat came back, she wouldn't stay away


-She was sitting on the porch the very next day
-The cat came back, she didn't want to roam
- The

very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

:Bought flowers today at the market and it made me happy :-)

:is having a massive "tired"..despite the office renovations going on around me I can barely keep my eyes open! Only 20 mins til next blackout.. maybe I can curl up under the desk.. with the rats.. hmm...

:is feeling pretty resourceful.. got stuck out of town in a truck that wouldn't start.. popped the bonnet..scratched my head, hit the starter motor with the handle of a screwdriver.. and started the truck! yay me- plenty savy mechanic nah?!

:is exiting the maze

:is drinking wine from the bottle... Its been that kind of day (and to be honest.. its that kind of wine!)

:is sooooo glad the RAMSI guys got the truck out of where she well and truly bogged it on the beach!

:was the only white woman at the beach party and everyone wanted to dance. Life's tough!

:is so excited to have internet at home! its more expensive than downloading gold but who cares!!

:is contemplating life's crazy metaphors. Yesterday- a ripe melon on the doorstep and bananas on the tree.. today, both gone.

:lost the breaks on the way down the wet Tasehe hill this morning.. yes there have been some challenges this week.. all is well though.

:is devastated to learn of all the deaths in the Victorian Bushfires. Assessing flood ravaged areas here makes it seem surreal..

:is Missing In Action

:went to sleep in Brisbane and woke up in Honiara..strange

:is excited it's official; she's off overseas to work with Solomon Islands Red Cross. Hooray!

: could smile for Australia today!

: is waiting on the world to change