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It Was The Unaccustomed Crowd Of Activity Downstairs That Alerted Me
One group of Papuans and my blonde, curly-haired, blue-eyed, six-year-old daughter…
It was the custom when expats decided to leave Bougainville Island in PNG, to hold what was called a go finish (go pinis) sale.
The reason for that is that it was much cheaper to sell things than pay to have your goods shipped back to Australia, or wherever you lived. People were forever arriving and departing on the island, and so, the market was always a thriving one.
Our daughter loved these sales.
She would always find small toys or trinkets to buy. Just the feel of money in her hand was an alert to spend.
And so, when we told her we would be going back to Australia, she asked if she could have one too.
To be honest I gave it little thought, vaguely agreeing that it would be a terrific idea, and moving onto more important things.
This happened one Sunday morning.
Sundays truly are the day of rest and relaxation for the locals, and we would see many of them passing by, mostly going to and coming from the multi-denominational church.
