The idea of spending her holidays mooching around the neighborhood didn’t appeal to Carmel at all. She’d seen all there was to be seen and the games she’d play had all been played before.
“I’d like to go somewhere different.” she told her Mum, “Somewhere exciting. A place I’ve never been before. I’ll just be bored hanging around here!”
“What did you have in mind, Sweetheart? You are only twelve remember, so I think you’re a bit young to go off on your own. Don’t you? Your father will be working, except for a few days over Christmas, and I’m sure he’ll just want to relax around the house. So, I’m sorry dear but I think you’ll just have to put up with it.”
Carmel couldn’t even be bothered to argue, she knew it was a waste of time. Last year they’d gone camping at the beach and had a great time but now her father was always working and the only things to do at home were boring.
The last couple of school weeks dragged by and Carmel lost interest in just aboout everything. She walked home feeling unhappy like never before-, sort of lost amongst the houses and streets that all looked much the same.
But just when Carmel had resigned herself to her fate she noticed one of the letters on the kitchen bench had some very bright stamps on it, with pictures of shells and butterflies. It was from her Uncle Phillip and the return address was PMB 4, Wewak, Papua New Guinea. Wow! All she could do was ask!
“Your kidding,” said her Dad, “we can’t afford to send you up there, anyway, the place is full of cannibals. I think you’d better stay put.”
Carmel felt so sad she couldn’t even talk. She felt like there was a cage around her and nobody even cared.
“I’m alive too.” she thought, “and I want some fun”, but all she could do was watch stupid “Sale of the Century.”
Carmel’s Dad was a busy man but not so busy that he didn’t know his daughter was growing up, and this time she wasn’t just asking for skates or a barbie. It worried him to see her looking so dejected.
“She really wants a change of scenery, that girl, do you think perhaps we should send her up to Phil’s for a few weeks?” he asked his wife.
“She’ll get over it. Phillip has kids five days a week, he probably relishes the holidays to do some fishing and get away from the school. She can go over to Mum’s for a few days, that will perk her up.”
After dinner Carmel’s Dad felt strange. He’d watched her pushing food around her plate and it’d struck him how easy it would be to lose contact with his oldest girl. She wasn’t a kid anymore and knew her own mind.
Perhaps he would give Phil a call and talk it over.

 For days Carmel had been choosing the things she’d take. “Remember how hot your uncle said it would be so put in your sneakers and your sandals. Have you got your hat? And the sunscreen?”

 “Yes Mum, I have all that, but I’m trying to decide which dress. The green or the blue?”
“Don’t worry too much about that, from what I’ve heard you won’t have anywhere to wear nice things. You’ll be miles out in the bush.”
Her Mum hadn’t been far wrong. Carmel looked down from the window of the plane as it circled a small airstrip surrounded by miles and miles of jungle which ran right down to the sea and up to the clouds on the pointed mountains. It was so exhilerating that her stomach felt empty and she smiled so widely that her eyes watered. The hostie leaned across to check her seat belt. She smiled at Carmel who just knew that this would be the adventure that she’d always wanted

 Uncle Phil was different to her Dad and so was his car. It was a 4WD table-top and on the back were people laughing and smiling. The road was rough and wet in places and they crossed a deep ravine on a bridge with a broken railing but it was fine by to Carmel, she just sat there between Joseph and her uncle and enjoyed the new experience.
The house was huge with beautiful gardens all around. She met her Aunt who said, “Just call me Sally”. They drank lemonade and ate slices of home-made cake out on the verandah. Carmel could see inquisitive children watching her through a hedge of bright colored flowers and later in the day Phil took her to the village near the beach where he taught in the school.
People crowded around her in a friendly way as Carmel tasted her first mango from a big tree which spread its boughs over the lovely thatched huts. Piglets ran around squabbling over pieces of coconut until a big black boar chased them away with one loud grunt and gobbled them up itself!
One of the boys was told “kissim kulau!” and quickly climbed a tall coconut palm to throw down a green nut which was opened with three sharp blows from a bush knife and held out to her so that she could drink the refreshingly sweet water.
Everything was so new to Carmel, the fruits, the sweet sour smells of strong brown bodies, the vibrant greenness of the bush, and the way the people laughed freely with their big mouths open and eyes sparkling. Uncle Phil told her why so many of the people had red lips and black teeth and she just knew that she’d never want to chew betel nut.
The next week passed quickly and before she knew it preparations were being made for Christmas celebrations. Carmel missed her family of course but she wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

The days were hot so she spent most of them in the water with the other kids. Each of them had their own canoes which they used for fishing inside the reef. The ladies wove baskets and mats, and she helped Aunt Sally or went to town with Phil in the truck to where there was a big market. She’d wanted something different, and she was loving it!
On Christmas Eve, Phil and Sally were going out for dinner at their friend’s house on a plantation down the coast. Carmel’s presents from her parents had arrived from Australia so with some help from the woman who helped her aunt around the house she laid them out at the base of the tree to be opened the following morning.
It was a very humid evening and Carmel knew she wouldn’t sleep until it rained. The big chairs on the verandah were the best place to sit after dinner and Anna told her stories from “time belong Tumbuna”; about how the moon was made and why bananas were bent. She felt really comfortable with Anna and was sorry that it would soon be time for bed. “Tell me another story” she pleaded.
“Alright, just one more, and then sleep.” Anna said, but before she could begin, the peace of the night was shattered by an explosion that rocked the house and everything else. Anna hung on, her eyes wider.                                                                            -
“Guria!” she cried, “Pyre monton e kollap!”

 Carmel was terrified but she didn’t know of what. The people in the village were all screaming and running about, a second explosion lit up the sky and a few seconds later Joseph was at the steps calling up to them.
“Quick-time! The volcano is erupting!”
Carmel had been rooted to the spot but quickly ran out into the yard and was led to the car. The mountain in the middle distance was on fire and the air smelt burnt and bad. The night was filled with screams and crying as frightened people ran in all directions, soon filling up the back of the truck. Anna and Carmel were in the front and Joseph drove them onto the road and away from the mountain as fast as he could.
By then fine ash was drifting down onto them so thickly that Joseph was having trouble seeing where he was driving despite the valiant wipers. He slowed down, but then rain started falling and the sky lit up with sheets of lightning. Carmel was so scared she couldn’t move. She thought that the whole world was being destroyed and she was too overwhelmed to consider that it might be her last night alive. Small rocks began to shower down on them.
The windscreen was shattered by one large stone so Joseph punched a hole through the crazed glass to be able to see, but there was so much rain and black soot coming in that he had to slow down to almost walking speed just to stay on the road.
Other people were hurrying along the side of the road trying to get away from the volcano, some climbed aboard but soon there was no room for more.
About three kilometres from the house a huge landslide had completely obliterated the road and they were bogged in the mud on the edge before it was even seen. They jumped out and started to scramble around it, the rain was pouring down and the ground was covered in black sludge. Thick clouds of steam were being blown from the mountains and soon Carmel was lost amongst the panicking people, she couldn’t find the road or her friends and in utter distress tripped and fell face down on the ground crying out for someone to help her.
She thought that she was going to die, and images of her family and friends flooded her mind. She could see nothing in the darkness except for the point of flame and molten lava being spewed from the volcano. She lifted herself onto her knees and stared at it, mesmerized by it’s power and her utter helplessness.
Fow how long she knelt there in the pouring rain no-one will know but at some point she was lifted into the air by a man who saw her there and carried her with him as he fled from the advancing lava which burnt the forest on a wide front as it poured downhill toward the sea.
The sky glowed in the direction from which they had come and he knew the fire was moving their way, although the rain still fell. The sky lit up and burst with lightning and thunder. He pushed the canoe out onto the river and lifted Carmels head onto his lap. She slept but mumbled sometimes as the swollen river carried them closer to the relative safety of the sea.

 Alphonse spent much of the night avoiding debri and snags and keeping them in midstream until they passed through the mouth of the river. The sky was black but the sea calm and by morning the sun could be seen from the direction of the volcano. No land was visible below the thick cloud of smoke which hung over everything.
Carmel woke as if from a terrible dream but felt no fear of Alphonse sitting at the far end of the canoe. He introduced himself to her in pidgin, “Name belong me Alphonse Mava; Alphonse tasol.”
“Pleased to meet you” said Carmel hesitantly, still getting used to waking up in a canoe with a stranger.
She could remember the flight with Joseph and Anna but no more, and listened while he told her how they came to be afloat on the pumice-choked sea.

 She accepted his judgment that things would be so chaotic ashore, despite the lull in activity from the mountain, that they couldn’t expect anyone to be looking for them for a few more days, but he assured her that she would be alright.
“Lookim disela, em e gutpela kai-kai!”

 Alphonse had thrown in some coconuts before they had left the village and during the morning they recovered from the sea a half bunch of almost ripe fruit from a banana tree floating on the sea, obviously uprooted and washed out by the stormwater.
The wind began to blow more and Alphonse collected a couple of floating boughs to use as outriggers to keep the canoe stable. A few flying fish lay dead where they had landed during the night atop some patches of accumulated pumice spewed out from underwater vents. He collected all of the flotsam they found and soon had accumulated a small island on top of which the driftwood could dry out for them to make a fire. The wind blew them further from the shore and helped to clear the sky of smoke and dust.
By late afternoon Alphonse managed to light a fire by sliding a pointed piece of hardwood rapidly back and forth in a groove worn into a softer bough and they cooked the flying fish and drank rainwater from the bottom of the canoe.
Carmel wanted to be safe somwhere but also recognised that she had yearned for excitement and this was about as exciting as she would ever want things to get. She worried about her uncle and aunt but knew that the friends they had been visiting lived a long way away and so she thought that they would probably be safe. They would surely be worried about her!
Just after dark on the second day, Alphonse woke her from sleep and pointed into the distance. She could see nothing, until at his direction, she turned her head slightly to look out of the corner of her eye and could just make out the glow of a fire. He pulled her to her feet and from there she could see the fire clearly and the outline of an island against the moonless sky.
Alphonse blew on the embers of his fire and loaded on the rest of the wood. It was soon blazing and they knew they could be seen from the island.
Alphonse cast off the rest of the accumulated debri and handed Carmel a stick to help him paddle toward the island. Fortunately for them the wind was astern and soon they were close enough to see structures and more fires.
A canoe with three men in it came out from the island to see who they were. Alphonse soke to them in their own language which Carmel couldn’t understand, but they were all very excited and one man jumped into their canoe to help them to shore through the narrow gap in the surrounding reef.
Carmel was taken to a hut and laid down on a bamboo bed close to a small fire. She was soon asleep but woke to bright sunshine pouring in through a small window and from each gap in the woven walls. Two women sat nearby smiling at her and holding wooden bowls filled with rice and fish and fruit which she gratefully ate from.
Afterwards she was taken to the lagoon to wash. Her torn and dirty clothes were replaced by a red and yellow grass skirt. Some bright beads and shells were hung around her neck and a brilliant red flower set in her long straight hair which seemed to fascinate the women because it was so different from their own tight black curls. No-one spoke English but it seemed unnecessary.
Carmel felt very happy to have survived the eruption of the volcano which could be seen on the horizon with white smoke gently smudging the sky. She was taken back to the village by the beach where Alphonse sat smoking and chewing betel nut with the other men.
A group of younger men and boys strummed guitars in the shade of a huge rain-tree and began to sing a sweet harmony as Carmel was shown to a place set aside for her on a large mat woven from pandanus leaf.
The girls were decorated with croton leaves and flowers tucked into armbands and tied around their heads. They danced in unison with their skirts rustling and muffled giggles which proved infectious and set Carmel laughing with pure delight at the beauty and freedom around her.
The sea lapped the smooth white beach and breakers spread their white foam across the off-shore reefs, birds dived for fish, clouds hung in the sky and the fronds above waved gently.
The next few days were Carmels happiest, a message had been sent to the mainland to say that she was safe and well and so there was nothing else she could do but learn some of the songs and dances of the people and to explore the forest and the beaches of the little island.
A special treat was to be taken by canoe to a hidden lagoon entered through a narrow gap in the shoreline. The tide was rising and all they had to do was point the prow of the canoe into the channel to be carked through with their heads bowed to avoid the limbs of overhanging trees. Within a minute they emerged onto a bright blue lagoon surrounded by short steep cliffs nearly all the way around.
Gala paddled them to a place where the trees hung down over the water and they pulled the canoe up onto the shore. The girls held their fingers to their lips to indicate silence and they quietly moved through the jungle to a place where tall piles of coral rocks and large wooden statues stood. It felt very creepy in there, especially when Carmel noticed that many of the rocks were actually human skulls bleached white. The totems looked down on her, all worn away by time, with ear-rings and nose-rings and armlets carved from clam shells and she felt as though it was the time to leave, “are these people really cannibals?” she thought to herself, but Gala told her later that in the “time before”, the skulls of important clan members who had died were kept there to remember what fine people they had been.
On the trip back the breeze felt fresh on her face, Carmel thought about everything she had seen and felt. How quickly she had become close friends with these girls she had only met a few days before. The way they ran along the beach and laughed their happy laughter was the key to what she had been missing.
They returned to the village both hungry and thirsty, to where most of the people had gathered. Carmel was offerred a coconut to drink from, and then a large pit was uncovered. The stones were removed and parcels of food wrapped in banana leaf taken out and placed on a low bench.
The entire village joined in a meal of fish, octopus and taro baked in coconut cream. It was delicous, and Carmef felt so much at home that she had almost forgotten about Australia or anywhere else and was only brought back to that reality by the distant thuddering of a helicopter. INithin minutes the machine had circled the island before setting down in the mddle of a taro patch. The people covered their faces as sand and sleeping mats and leaves blew everywhere.
When the rotors finally slowed and then stopped, out hopped Uncle Phil obviously pleased to see his niece, as she was to see him and to leam that everyone was safe. Although many houses and cars had been destroyed the main blast from the eruption had been toward the north-east.
Carmel introduced her uncle to everyone, and he thanked them for looking after her and informing him of her situation
Carmel said goodbye to all of her new friends while Alphonse reluctantly climbed into the back seat, “These choppers cost a lot of money,” Phi reminded her, “so we’d better get moving.”
Looking out through the glass bubble of the helicopter as it wheeled toward the mainland, Carmel felt sad to leave her friends, but knew more than ever before that she had found something for which she had been subconsciously searching. She would be back again to spend more time with the people who had taught her that there are other ways to live, and shown her that the passage of time is simply the rythym of life, and not something to be bought, sold, raced or wasted.