Greetings from the old Soviet Union

 St Petersburg, Monday: It’s said that Melbourne can get all the seasons of the year in a single day. Well St Petersburg gets them in a single hour. A local joke is that the population here spends nine months anticipating Summer and three months being disappointed. No wonder they never smile.

I’m not smiling much either. The Oceania Line, with which Ingrid and I are luxuriating, didn’t make it clear that the ship’s visa is not good for independent touring in Russia’s golden city. Being confined to barracks except when on a guided tour is not my idea of a fulfilling travel.

It’s good to see Colin ‘Huggiebear’ Huggins stirring the chalkie pot to encourage former members of the PNG teaching profession to join the PNG Association. As I’ve mentioned in these notes previously, the subscription to the Association’s quarterly journal, Una Voce, is alone worth the $20 PNGAA membership fee. You can join the PNGAA by clicking the link at right.

Sending emails and making posts to ASOPA PEOPLE from our ship, the Regatta, is slow, cumbersome and expensive, so I’m trying to find Internet cafes when ashore. Keep the emails flowing – and if you can help William James Kewo and David Craig with their requests (below) either email me or post a comment to this site.

 

Helsinki tomorrow, from where I hope to resume what will be a more regular report.