Normally we fly to Suai, but last week I did the trip by road with one of our local staff members, Aldo. We keep a spare drum of fuel there for wet season contingency. This means that if we get stuck on the south side of the main range, we can fly to Suai and refuel if necessary.
Aviation rules mean that we can't carry a drum of fuel in the aircraft, so we loaded it on the back of one of the work trucks and hit the road.
By air, the distance is about 90 km and takes us 30 minutes one way. By road it is 170 km and took just under 5 hours. The road varied in condition from 4-lane highway to 1-lane 4wd track. It was a very long day... but it was a good job to get done, and the scenery was breathtaking.
Here are some photos.
 |
| Market traffic at Maubisse |
 |
| Valley views from Ainaro |
 |
| Ceremonial house being constructed |
 |
| 30 km of highway... |
 |
| ...and 50 km of 4wd track |
 |
| Aldo inspecting a not-so-good bit of the 4-lane highway |
 |
| Memorial for the massacre that occurred in a Suai church in 1999 |
 |
| Kiwi sculpture we found after taking a wrong turn. (NZ troops were involved in peacekeeping after the referendum) |
 |
| Unloading the fuel drum at Suai airport |
 |
| Fuel delivered successfully - now for the drive home |
No comments:
Post a Comment