Tired...and watching events in the Pacific

For the last two days I've been doing the IDSS course in PPA in a Disaster Context...'twas fantastic, and now I'm exhausted. Tomorrow it's back to work, and then visiting Suva, Nadi, Vila, Honiara, POM, Lae and Madang all before Christmas...eek!!!!

Let's hope I don't find myself in the midst of a crisis while travelling.

There's presently fears of a coup in Fiji, and the PM's saying he won't resign.

Vanuatu's certainly not hitting the headlines in Australia at the moment, but there is the ongoing saga involving Moti, which is 'interesting' to say the least. PM Sogavare continues to threaten to order Australian troops to leave the Solomons. PNG hasn't really been in the news recently, but there was a volcanic eruption which disappeared from the media as quickly as it erupted, and via various email groups I'm on, Bougainville might not be hitting the headlines in Australia, but that doesn't mean everything's fine.

Here's a gratuitous shot of the volcanic eruption...I need more pictures on this blog, and it's better than the shots of dead people that arrived in my inbox courtesy of some friends overseas (thanks guys, I know you wanted to remind me what a bleak place the world can be, but I much prefer the cheesy "Why God Loves Women" emails!)

Huge clouds of ash billow from Mt Tavurvur after it erupted.
Photo: AAP

Edit 23/11/06: a new piece up on Radix, "VOLCANIC AND OTHER VICISSITUDES: THE DEEP-SEA PORT OF RABAUL" by James Lewis, October 2006. See here.