Kevin Lock, who completed the second E Course in 1961, and served at schools in the Gulf, Madang and Sepik, authors – with wife Joan – a tremendous blog called ‘Lock family Ramblings’, subtitled ‘Perspectives on the happenings in our days and weeks’.

The blog is the compelling and gritty story of a typical Aussie household – an open and revealing account of the triumphs, dramas and everyday challenges of lives lived to the full. Try this for size….

“I have spent a couple of hours at my brother's place and I am a bit pissed! We tried to consume a couple of whites and were quite successful. One was a French white and at $8 it was a good start to the day. Can't remember what it was all about but I am sitting at the computer waffling on. Ouch! I just fell asleep and head touched the keyboard, so goodbye!”

The blog also includes a few anecdotes of Kev’s PNG years, which are related with fondness and a warm nostalgia.

“I remember the Catalina fondly as I had a number of flights in them when I taught in the Gulf of Papua. In the early 60s there were no airstrips in most of coastal Papua and TAA operated two or three (Catalinas) to outstations. I recall one trip to Port Moresby with around 20 passengers and their luggage. The Cat made a ten-minute run out to sea before bouncing off a wave and gradually climbing to height. They were very noisy as there was no sound insulation and the two huge radial engines were only half a propeller’s distance from the passengers. The co-pilot informed passengers of features below by passing a card message back which, when read, was passed to the next passenger.”

You can visit Kev and Joan’s blog here.  I think you'll enjoy it.

[Photos from Kevin Lock’s collection. [1] Kev Lock and schoolboys, Arehava, 1962 [2] TAA Catalina in Kerema Bay awaiting passengers arriving by barge, 1963]