Thursday Island, Walben, Qeensland, Australia

When describing how far a distance is Thore always use to say 

( if it's a short one),-well it's like a seven iron (shot)...

It didn't look very far on the map but we were 36 hours at sea.

The last 12 hours, a so called Pilot was on board .How did he get

on the boat and from where? He was important in helping the 

Captain through the shallow waters about 5-15 meters deep with 

many coral reef and also to navigate through more than 275 islands 

within the Torres strait.

This is the western part of the Coral sea where a lot happened 

during the war. Australia and America had a defence facility here.

The island was spared from bombing . It was thought, due to being 

the burial place of many Japanese pearl shell divers.

In 1885 a lucrative pearling industrywas founded and there were over 

200 boats. Workers came from all over Asia including the Japanese.

I remeber seeing films of the freediving men but also of those in 

strange costumes, big round helmets and heavy led shoes to be 

able to walk on the bottom of the sea.

Thousands of young men died due to compression problems.

The shells were those so valuble to the people of New Guinea. It

 became their money and today they still wear them as we have seen.

Were the strait is it's easy to understand that PNG once was one mass 

of land, a tetonical plate I think it is , called SAHUL.

People came at the end of the last ice age 2600 years ago.

When land was rising, the continent of Australia and the island of New

Guinea parted . This is the reason why hey share the same plants and 

animals as eg. the kangaroo although a smaller kind in PNG.

I have written almost the same text three times today and have had 

problems sending it away. I will not write it in Swedish!!!