THE TELEPONY PUB part 1

 

An Adventure by FRANK RAI, Edited by Big Pat

 

This is the true story - yes ino giaman - of a faraway island pub.

A pub as we all know is supposed to be a place full of beer and all manner of spirits - good spirits, bad spirits and no spirits.

And so on the sun bleached coral reefs of Woodlark stood a lonely washed up pub down on its luck.

It is now probably more profound than the Ettamogah Pub or the Down Town Pub or even the Grand Papua Pub.

It's eloquence in posterity is on par with maybe the famed Bulolo Bar and perhaps only surpassed in time by that remorseful tune - the Pub With No Beer!

And while its spirits roam wild and free, the Telepon Pub is just as listless as it is wireless and spirit less.

My journeys took me back to Woodlark Island in early 2020. It took me also back in time, by a century, that's 100 years back to 'tumbuna' times when white man brought their brew and black man cooked their stew.

Woodlark Island is about 600 kilometers east of Port Moresby. Exploration company Kula Gold reports on its online website: Woodlark is  a reasonably large island, about 912 square kilometres, but remote and relatively isolated.  The island terrain is relatively flat with some low, undulating hills, generally heavily forested with tropical jungle and has an average annual rainfall of four metres, a temperature range of 29 to 33 degrees and average relative humidity is 90 percent.

The population of Woodlark Island is approximately 6000 traditional landowners in a number of different population centres, living a mainly subsistence based village lifestyle.  The village of Guasopa, located at the south-eastern end of the island, is the base of local level government and the location of the World War II American built airstrip, which is now the main airport for the island.  

 The island has a long history of gold mining dating back to the late 1800’s with records showing an estimated pre World War II gold production, including alluvial sources, of about 220,000 ounces of gold.

Modern gold exploration started on Woodlark Island in 1962 with the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) undertaking surface geochemistry, limited geophysics and diamond drilling during 1962 and 1963 at Kulumadau.  Woodlark Island, has been subject to 40 years of mostly continuous modern exploration without sufficient Resources being established to warrant investment in a mining operation.

It is the gold rush of the 1800s that made the beer and spirits flow on Woodlark. The early explorers built a pub out of concrete that has stood the storms, winds, lightning and thunder, and has stood the test of times. As was the case back then, all manner of drink had to be shipped in. Today ships still ply the same route.

My mind was fixed on having a drink but the locals told me the taps had run dry at Telepon Pub some time back unless I wanted to have a sip with a 'spirit' after the sun had set on the horizon.

A spirit would calm the nerves of a frayed Engan but then it hit me like a strong east wind. A spirit! Mi noken giaman. Taim mi harim disla, em spirit blo mi ronowe. ( I won't lie. When I heard this, I lost my spirit).

For in the islands of love, they say there are many spirits, good ones, bad ones and the ones that prey on the heart beats of lost travelers!

On Woodlark you find names of places that link to history. Amongst many are the Telepon One, Telepon Two and Telepon Three villages along the Kulumwadau to Guasopa road.

The name Telepon or telephone in English originates from an historic site located around the vicinity of the three villages.

When you drive toward Kulumwadau from Boiboi jetty before approaching the intersection leading to Guasopa government station towards the North, you will not miss a colonial relic which is a double story concrete bunker at the side of the road.

Now canvassed in bush, trees and vines, this buttressed concrete bunker was once a nerve centre for trade during the gold rush of the early 1900s and later during Second World War in 1942.

The bunker was the first tavern built in the 1900s by gold explorers and later used by Allied Forces as the Communication Centre from 1942 to 1945.

When the war ended, an Australian named Gus Nelson opened up the first trade store on the island to serve explorers, traders, missionaries, maverick sailors, mercenary outlaws and the local population, and spirits.

Their presence encouraged local people to move closer to the vicinity of the bunker. There followed the establishment of Telepon One, Two and Three villages.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was the site of the first communication cable discovery in PNG. 

The copper cable ran underground from the Bunker towards the Eastern end of Woodlark Island, covering more than 15 kilometers.

Today, this is one of the historic sites to attract tourists both locals and international on this pristine island.  However, the bunker sits idle at the road side like a huge ancient rock covered with vines, bush and trees.  

The beer may be gone but the spirits of its patrons roam in a lightly veiled stupor on its wireless roads on dark stormy nights.