Book - The River is my Highway
The River is my Highway.
A New Zealand Forest Ranger in the Jungles of Borneo.
Living and working in the remote Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Ross Lockyer had never heard about Indonesia. Yet in 1973, he was offered a forestry supervisor’s job based in Samarinda, Indonesian Borneo, and fell in love with the place on his first day.
Ross worked on the rivers and in the remote jungles of Indonesian Borneo for the next five years, quickly learning local languages, immersing himself in the Indonesian way of life, and learning the ways of the mighty Mahakam River and the Makassar Straits on which he spent most of each working day.
Compared to pre-independence PNG, living in isolated Samarinda seemed like the height of luxury to Ross, although coming from sparsely populated PNG, Ross’s first experience of Samarinda was a true assault on the senses with its crowds of people, dozens of mosques, crazy drivers, and myriad overpowering smells. Yet overlooking the city was the new and illustrious Lamin Indah Hotel, which boasted a classy bar and restaurant and attractive and sophisticated female staff from Java, in particular the beautiful Lestari—surely a Java Princess!
The third book in the adventurous series about Ross’s life, The River is my Highway brings to life a whole new series of exploits, including provoking and then assuaging a local war, single-handedly destroying village ablution facilities with a speed-boat and facing a barrage of nasty consequences, hunting local wild-life in the most committed way imaginable, loading log-ships at sea, smuggling hi-fi gear, searching for log pirates, and fronting up to the Dayak Queen. Between escapades, Ross somehow finds time to get married and start a family.
This book includes some 75 photographs from Ross’s vast collection which richly illustrate his writing.
Get ready for more colourful, laugh-aloud yarns from the master story-teller who brought you An Accidental Bushman and Cannibals, Crocodiles and Cassowaries. Once you start reading, you won’t want to put this book down!
For more information go to the author’s website: www.rosslockyer.co.nz...
This book is available on TradeMe by clicking on the following link: www.trademe.co.nz...
Price is $28 + postage
Here's Friday's Fizzler!
I can be written, I can be spoken, I can be exposed, I can be broken. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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48.3% Yes
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49.8% No
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2% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
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