Back in 1964 I was employed by the (then) Commission for the Western Pacific, as a V.S.O. volunteer to organise local help to build the first AvuAvu airstrip. I think, at the time, it was intended for ‘Flying Doctor’ services. It was a shorter strip then, surfaced with compressed soil. A huge amount of local labour excavated big trees to clear the strip and the approach. I never saw it from the air, but it must be quite spectacular, right on the coast at the foot of the mountains. The small village of AvuAvu was my home for nine months, living in a small leaf-clad house. There were probably around 20 families in the village. It was a memorable experience. I recall we had a tractor delivered at one point and all the village females fled – having never seen a motor vehicle. The men had, of course, as they had worked on plantations.