Day 13 - market day

In the morning I sat down with Director Joseph and made sure that the finalised budget was written up.

In the afternoon I was taken to the market in Orea. I didn't time it, but it took at least half an hour (probably an hour) to get there, through a muddy path and crossing a small river that needed to be crossed by balancing on a wet tree trunk that bridged the river. Not only was the "bridge" quite slippery, but if you try holding onto the trees (which can only be reached at the start and end of the crossing) you discover that they have sharp thorns on them!

People make this journey because there are essentially no retail outlets in Ondati village. There is a very small trading centre, but any time I've tried to buy anything from the two small shops there, they've not had the toilet paper/biscuits/whatever that I've wanted to buy.