Bulolo and Wau

We need to hire a second car after all. Phil and I have to drive up into the mountains to Bulolo and Wau, where we have to service the air conditioning units in the telephone exchanges. Werner needs a car in Lae. We hire a small Daihatsu and drive up to Wau. It’s a three hour drive up there.

It’s an unsealed road all the way up but not too bad. About half-way up to Bulolo, we come to a settlement and realise that most cars parked at the European’s houses are Volvos, just about every house has one standing in their driveways and we also pass a lot driving by. Very strange, that.

Me, posing with the gold miners

From Bulolo, it’s another hour drive to Wau. About 30 minutes into the drive, we see people down in the creek to the left working at  mining gold. We stop the car and climb down to watch. They have set up a trough and are washing the gravel as it passes over the trough to find gold. An old European prospector runs the outfit and I have a chat with him. He seems to make a decent living, paying the natives cash every day so they come back.

Back on the road and a little later we arrive in Wau, another mining settlement. It has the Gold Mine and a pub and that’s about it. We book into the pub and have a shower after the long drive on the dirt road up from Lae. A few beers, dinner and we’re calling it a day.

Next morning, after breakfast, we drive up the road to the telephone exchange to replace the bearings to all the air conditioning motors. When we walk in, the operator of the exchange says, ‘It’s about time, you guys come to fix the airconditioning, it hasn’t worked for over a week’.  I find the switchboard has burnt out, what a mess. I asked the technician if there was an electrician in town who could sell me some cables. No such luck, but he tells me to try the Wau Gold Mine. They might be able to help. Their maintenance bloke takes me to his supply store. They have everything we needed and are willing to lend it to me provided we will send the stuff up from Port Moresby to replace what we borrowed, they have cables, contactors etc.

I work out it will take me about four days to re-wire the entire switchboard. Back at the exchange, I ask the technician for a phone line to phone our office in Port Moresby but he tells me he has no lines but can let me have the emergency line if I am quick. 

I’m on the phone to Dave Smith in Port Moresby and it goes like this:

'G’Day Dave, listen I can’t talk long, I’m on the emergency line phoning from the Wau telephone Exchange, can you hear me'?

'Yes, I can'.

'Listen Dave, I’ve found the switchboard burnt out. I can get all the stuff from the Gold Mine. It’ll take me four days to rewire the board, Do you want me to do it'?

'Mmm, eh, mmmm',

'Dave',

'Yes'?

'Do you want me to do it'?

'Mmm, eh, mmmm',

'Dave',

Yes'?

I’m phoning on the emergency line, do you want me to do it'?

'Mmm, eh, mmmm',

That's when I lose it, slam the phone down and thank the technician for letting me use the emergency line and we drive back to Lae. What’s wrong with this bloke? Why does he have to be so indecisive?

Back in Lae, there is a telegram waiting for me at the hostel it says:

YES STOP PROCEED WITH REPAIR TO SWITCHBOARD IMMEDIATELY STOP

Too late, mate, we’re back in Lae. I phone Dave and tell him we’re back in Lae and he’ll have to send someone else. I can’t understand some people. I had it all organised, had all the materials, was on site and could have fixed the switchboard there and then. Some people should not be managers.