BARBARA (NEASMITH) SHORT
IN 1981, after seven years at Keravat National High School, I decided to move on to Manggai United Church High School in New Ireland, and was appointed their new headmistress for 1982.
After my annual holiday in Sydney, I returned to Keravat and packed my belongings into 24 cardboard boxes, plus my piano in its wooden box. Then it was off to Rabaul.
I had to spend about a week waiting at Malaguna because the Rabaul area was experiencing strong squalls, which were like mini-cyclones.
The seas were very rough and on the night we eventually took off for Kavieng a large coastal ship went down along the southern coast of PNG. Unfortunately the expatriate captain was lost at sea but some local sailors rescued his young son who was travelling with him.
My journey was also quite a nightmare. It was on a very small coastal boat, the Jason II, and the captain was mixed-race and the rest of the crew all locals. There were two cabins, one for the captain and I was given the other one.
There were a number of students sitting around the deck and I allowed some to ride out the journey sitting in the front seat of my utility, which was strapped to the small deck at the back of the boat. The back of the utility was filled up with more of my possessions.
My cabin was full of huge cartons of cigarettes so it was evidently considered to be a dry place.
My basset-hound dog, Copra, accompanied me. We both crawled across the top of the cigarettes to the bunk and lay down together.
The seas got rougher and rougher and I sucked glucose barley sugars non-stop, while Copra was seasick. I had to use up my towels mopping up Copra’s mess.
It was becoming a bit of an endurance test when suddenly, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the Bismarck Sea, they stopped the engine.
I heard the captain screaming out abuse to the crew for leaving some hatch open. Naturally, when you hear a captain screaming out in a terrified way, you start to worry.
Now we had to turn off the engine and pump out the bilges. The ship started heaving precariously and my stomach also started heaving and I finally lent over the heaving rail of the ship and was seasick myself.
But at last the water was pumped out of the bilges and we could start the engine again and continue on our journey. I guess I spent most of my time lying on our bunk (Copra’s and mine) and praying that we would make it through the night.
I must have finally dosed off and woke to find that we had made it over to New Ireland and were now in calm waters and travelling along the west coast of New Ireland.
I went up to the wheelhouse and the crew set up an armchair for me on the small deck outside the wheelhouse and Copra and I had a grand ride up the narrow Albatross Channel, between Binigen Island and the main island, and on through protected waters to Kavieng Harbour.
I was a bit amazed at the way everyone behaved as though nothing bad had happened during the night.
At the wharf in Kavieng, Trevor Marshall, the Manggai handyman, was waiting for me with the Manggai High School truck. I drove my utility off the ship and we waited while the men unloaded my 24 boxes and my piano and then loaded them onto the Manggai truck. Then it was off down the Buluminsky Highway to Manggai.
Thank you, God.