After a few different planes and terminals I am made to Tarawa, an island nation that like the Marshall Islands is being threatened by climate change. To get to Tarawa I had to start in Brisbane, and do a island hop with a local carrier called Our Airlines. At first I was a little sketched out because when I went to find their office in the Brisbane Airport, I was told there wasn’t one. This was a little concerning as that it looked to me like every other little airline flying out of there had a office – I really didnt know what kind of operation they had going… turns out though they are quite the opposite.

They are one (if not the only) airline to service the Salomon Islands, Nauru and Tarawa, and I was surprised to see that they have a pretty decent looking plane. I am no aerospace engineer. So I have to confess that I am yes, very superficial when I start to judge the integrity of an aircraft. The Our Airlines is a pretty nice looking rig. To further add to my confidence in this steed of the air, I soon found out that that Our Airlines also operates as the Air Force One for the president of Nauru, so my concerns were quickly put to rest. When we landed in Nauru we were welcomed with a full on presidential parade which included two tv camera men (he’s the gentleman with the cane in the attached photos).

These flights are more than just passenger service to Brisbane and beyond. Many of the people had some pretty crazy amounts of checked and carry on luggage, half of the plane was taken up by overflow freight (thankfully no chickens) – which further gave me perspective on how remote these places are.

When I finally landed it really began to dawn on my how remote this place is – I am literally in the middle of the pacific ocean – somewhere between Guam and Hawaii.

I will update more as I get more settled.

S.