Our first ever family hoilday/return trip to PNG and Manus Island

By Kanau Sion

Since making Australia home in 2008 we had never returned to Papua New Guinea as a family until in December of 2014. Apart from Leanne and Lydia (first and second born) who had vague memories of our time in Port Moresby, the three younger girls had little or no idea apart from being told stories and shown pictures taken during trips made either individually or together by Joanne and I.

Our kids and I with my two brothers
in Port Moresby

Regardless, everyone was looking forward to the first family trip out of Australia and the excitement of reconnecting with members of extended families last seen many years ago and also prospects of connecting with many more the children had never met before was intriguing. My father and siblings were among the ones some of our children had never met before.

We arrived in Port Moresby to the excitement of waiting family members who welcomed us, especially the children and shared tears of joy and happiness. This was years of reunion in the making. It was hot and humid as we stepped out and into the environs of Port Moresby - the dusts and smokes triggered by bellowing and burning ambers from across the road sides blown by the wind in our direction, the scorching and unforgiving Port Moresby's tropical heat wave were among some atrocious welcome for our children because they were only used to cooler conditions of Perth and occasional dry heat of Western Australia.

Joanne and the kids In Lawes Village,
Manus Island with her aunties

In Port Moresby the children witnessed people hitching rides in pick-up trucks and stray dogs abound on the streets and were shocked by these unfamiliar sights. This was because, contrary to popular belief and practice in PNG, pick ups or 'open back' cars/trucks as commonly known in PNG, are designed and manufactured for the purpose of carrying cargoes and materials only and therefore, illegal to ferry people. If what our children were witnessing were to happen in Australia, you would bet on your last dollar bill everyone would have been arrested and charged for an illegal activity in accordance with appropriate laws. In addition, in Australia dogs, like all animals are protected by law and treated humanely and thus, where a stray dog is ignored by the owner, he or she would attract the attention of law enforcement agencies and would be heavily fined. What our children were shocked with in Port Moresby was also a familiar sight in Manus.

A family photo with my dad

When the children asked us if those involved in such acts would be arrested, our answer to them was "Welcome to PNG, the land of the unexpected",  which might be thought of as an old PNG clich'e but still maintains its currency. However wrong some of these things may seem to be from the world view of our children, it was the way locals lived their lives and were content with it. The children did not buy into any of these though.

Travelling up the Lawes River to visit Joanne's

late father's burial site

Arrival in Manus Island was quite a mixed feeling for the children - one of excitement and anxious feeling.  Excitement because finally they had set foot on the beautiful island home that Joanne and I had always spoken passionately  to them about and the prospect of meeting family members they had never crossed path with before, but there was also the anxious moments and this was to do with meeting new family members for the first time and the challenges of relating to them and fitting in with the Manus village way of life that confronted them. For Joanne and I - we were ecstatic to finally bring all our children home for a visit. A sad part though, was that our respective grand parents had passed on and our children were unable to meet them in the flesh.

Ndranou Village, Manus Island

In Manus, we lived in my mothers village and in our own four bedroom permanent house which I funded and my maternal cousin brothers built. We also visited my father's village of Kari/Mundrau for a family reunion with my father, step mother, half siblings, many cousins and extended relatives. The  children loved everything that they wished they could live there for good.

Cruising the seas of Lawes, Manus Island

Our three younger daughters met their grand father for the first time and connected with their newly found uncles, aunties, and other extended family members. Moreover, after a while the children finally accepted that in Manus and PNG it was perfectly okay to sit in the back sit of an open pick up. We hired a car and travelled places and the children and their village relatives enjoyed sitting in the open back and enjoyed the fresh air and unique site seeing.
We also visited Joanne's village of Lawes and spent time with her uncles, aunties, cousins and other extended family members.

Our hired vehicle which took us places

The children also connected well with their mother's side of the family.
We also travelled up the Lawes River by boat and visited Joanne's late father's burial site, cleaned it, laid flowers and paid our respect. It was also an opportunity for the children to pay respect to their late maternal grandfather. We enjoyed the boat rides to and from Lawes Village and the children had great fun swimming in the sea and playing on the white sandy beaches. It was a unique experience our children will cherish for a long time. We all enjoyed the trip to PNG and the children had the time of their lives.

Kari Primary School

Our kids with my mother in the village

What started initially as an exited and anxious moments of visiting PNG turned out to be the best chapter of our children's experiences. Unfortunately, as they say, "all good things must come to an end" and so it had to be. In late January of 2015 we  departed Manus Island for a long return trip back to Perth.  At Momote Airport in Manus the children could not hold back their tears and their cousins and other relatives openly wept knowing well that the next trip might not take place sooner. The children kept on crying through our flight to Port Moresby and even a few days after arrival there.

Young Manus kids learn canoeing skills at an early age

Finally, after spending a few days with families in Port Moresby it was time to return home to Perth. Overall, the holiday in PNG was educational for the children and well worth the trip. Everyone is looking forward to going back in the second family trip. As to when that will be, we are not sure yet.

The loss of our loved ones

By Kanau Sion

Late Peter Sion in Kings Park

During our four year absence from this blog we had experienced some lows - three tragic losses among others within our close knit, immediate and extended families. The first was the tragic demise of my uncle Peter Sion. You would recall in one of our earlier posts in 2012 and 2013 which featured a story on my mother and her late young brother Peter Sion who visited us in here in Perth in 2012.

Sadly though, late Peter passed on in 2013 after succumbing to kidney failures, almost a year after he visited us here in Perth. Peter unknowingly lived with a disease to both his kidneys brought about by years of alcohol abuse, prolonged overweight and chronic high blood pressure. By the time it was diagnosed, it was far too late to do anything.
Upon learning about it, I flew to Manus Island to spend a short time with him. We spoke about many things including his kidney disease, fears and hopes before I returned to Australia. When Peter passed on, it actually hit me hard because we were very close and referred to ourselves as brothers rather than uncle and nephew. I have never fully come to terms with his premature demise. So sad.

"Two peas in a pod", the inseparable
kayus :Late Peter Sion
& Late John Banama

Approximately a year (2014) after late Peter Sion's passing his tambu (brother-in-law) John Banama passed on. Late John Banama was my aunty's (Mary Pondikou's) husband and father of my cousin Rodney Banama who also lives and works here in Perth. His passing was also approximately two years after the small entourage visited Rodney and his family in Perth (see earlier posts from 2012 & 2013). 

Late John Banama in South Perth

Late John Banama had also been suffering from a rare health condition and after a lengthy battle, succumbed to it in the
Lorengau Hospital on Manus Island. Late John Banama and late Peter Sion were very close in-laws and inseparable. They would regularly meet and have a few "too many" beers together and have great yarns. This was obvious when they visited us in Perth. They were  "two peas in a pod".

Late Daniel's funeral Service in Waigani, PNG.

On the 5th of May 2014, another tragedy struck. Joanne's father Daniel suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at home (in Gerehu) in Port Moresby. Everyone was caught by surprise and it affected Joanne and the children tremendously. It also was a sad day for me because I was so close to him. He was more of a father figure to me than  father in-law.

Jackson International Airport:Joanne's last
moment with her father

Daniel before she returned to Australia 

He gave Joanne and I helpful tips on living life successfully and we will forever be indebted to his wisdom. Joanne and I immediately flew to Port Moresby and assisted in his repatriation to Lawes Village on Manus Island for burial.It was a solemn moment in the village and seeing families and friends come from far and wide to share in the grief gave Joanne and her family a lot of comfort and peace. Death is a tragedy everyone dreads. Death also unites families and friends. This experience was telling.

We are back after almost four years of absence

The kids and I

By Kanau Sion 

Joanne and the kids in Perth

Hi extended family members, friends and readers. We have been absent for a very long time and this is our first post in approximately four years, so we would like to sincerely apologize for our absence and also keeping you all in suspense. The good news is, we are finally back in 2017 albeit towards the end of the year.There have been so many changes and developments which have occurred during the course of the last four years of our absence
from this blog - some good and some not so good, some happier moments and some sad ones which we will share with you through separate posts later.
Our children have grown up a lot and are doing different things and so are we the parents but again, those are somethings we will be featuring in our future posts. Right now we are very excited about what the future holds for us and are absolutely ecstatic to be back.

From Manus to Perth, WA: Our 2012 summer visitors

By Kanau Sion

Dear Readers. You might be asking why we have not put out any post on our blog in the last almost six months of 2013. I know and can concur with that and so would like to apologize for keeping you in suspense. There have been many hectic times and a few unforeseen 'not so bad' dramas in between that which led to this prolonged drought of no posts. However, on the positive I am pleased to report, albeit late, on the visit of my mum Maria Sion, uncle Peter Sion and the Senior Banas - teteh John Banama, nano Mary and Dorcas (Banama) to Perth.

South Perth on the banks of the Swan 

There are reasons why this visit  by them was significant to us - my family and Rodney Banama's included. First, it was the single biggest visit by anyone family group. We have had a few individual relatives visit us separately in the past and also a chance one when Pwapei Minol, Rachel Pipai and Henry Minol Ndrawi all happened to be in town at the same time (early 2012) but this one was special on its own. The second reason is that they came directly from home.

Mothers in sunnies -Fremantle

Generally, most trips made overseas are usually by well to do people, working class men and women, trainees and students seeking international qualifications. However, making

Mum in South Perth

 this type of trip for a simple villager and ordinary local from a third world country, let alone the remote Manus Island of Papua New Guinea is just a fantasy and only achieved through wishful dreams and/or imagination.

Tutz, mum & my family at home

 Making their dream of travelling overseas for the first time ever (to Australia) come true was a very humbling and honorably achievement for me and my cousin brother Rodneey Banama. Third, this was special because, although they only represented a handful of members, it actually felt to us like a complete reunion of the brotherly clans of 'Pokuyos' and 'Poparmenwai' overseas and was a testament
 of the continued love, support and togetherness that have progressively been nurtured, protected and

maintained over the years. Finally, if one was to to be deeply appreciated in our lives it had to be these people - they are the very reason why we (Rodney and I with our respective families) are doing something for ourselves and living here in Australia. Like many parents out there, they toiled, sacrificed for us during our

Mum & Tutz in the train to Fremantle

childhood years and what better way to compensate their efforts by flying them all the way from Manus to Perth in Australia and enjoy with us the fruits of their labor.
Mum and Peter were chauffeured around different areas of Perth city on numerous occasions ,visiting landmarks, and tourist destinations on the peripheries of the city and suburbia, took many train rides just like the ones they had seen on television screens and movies back in Manus but only this time it was real. I did the same for the older Bana's and Rodney also reciprocated. We took many photos of them and theirs with us together.

John & Mary Banama

I also captured video footage of many of their trips and fun times in Perth and put together in a documentary format for them to reminisce.

Kings Park overlooking the CBD

 They certainly loved and cherished their stay and the obvious teary eyes as we bade them goodbye at Perth airport at different times for the long journeys home to Manus Island said it all. It was a lull after that as we missed them too, but in the end Rodney and I did it in honor of them all. It's a sense of satisfaction and

achievement which will be hard to erase from our hearts and one that will be remembered for a long time yet. 

My mother Maria Sion and uncle Peter Sion in Cairns, Australia

By Kanau Sion

Friday the 9th November 2012 was an exciting moment for my mum (Maria Sion) and uncle Peter Sion because it marked their first ever overseas trip - to Australia. It was a much awaited and anticipated travel

At the Esplanade waterfront

because of the time needed to sort out their passports and secure Australian visitors visas. Finally, and after approximately three weeks of waiting it was time to fly out of Papua New Guinea. The first port of call was Cairns, a far north Queensland tropical city and popular tourist destination about an hour twenty minutes flight by Qantas Link from Port

Mum and Peter with my favorite bar R&R in the background

Moresby and approximately 45 minutes by Fokker 100 when there is a good tail wind. As they retold their story later to me, it was quite a nervous but exciting moment and by the time they landed in Cairns it was in uncle Peter's words "another planet" and " dream come true". My wife who flew out of Perth the night before (Thursday night) arrived in Cairns that morning (Friday 09/011/12) at 4:10 am, met them at around 10:50 am on their arrival and the

Mum and uncle Peter - Espalande waterfront

remainder of the day was site seeing and taking photos around the city. At long last they had fulfilled their dream-to visit Australia - the country they and many PNGians consider as mother country and big brother in some

Aunty Maryanne Reily at Rusty's market

sense because of it being a former colonizer of Papua New Guinea with long history and tradition between the two countries. Both mum and uncle Peter had vivid memories of  September the 16th 1975 when the Australian flag was honorably lowered down for good and a new PNG flag proudly hoisted up high, signalling an end to years of colonial rule. Many wept openly at the departure of the Australians at that time and still hold that special day and history so dearly and closely to their hearts. The same could be said about mum and her brother Peter and their first ever 'settiing foot' on Australian soil was reminiscent of that special part of them. Much to their surprise was that Cairns has similar tropical climate and weather to PNG - it was hot and humid but that did not dampen their spirit of site seeing

Peter Sion posing at the waterfront -Esplanade

and taking photos. My wife ( Joanne) took them to Rusty's Market where another surprise awaited them - auntie Marianne  Reily ( from their side of the family) and Grace Duncan - a cousin of mine from my dad's side were selling buai, daka, taro and other items synonymous to

Peter Sion cooling off in a Cairns liquor bar

PNG. It was a pleasant surprise for them as they did not expect it at all. Peter also managed to sneak into a Cairns pub and had a huge jar of beer and a few schooners from it to quench his thirst from Cairns sweltering tropical heat.
By 5 pm my wife had to make sure they all got to Cairns domestic air port and by 6:10 pm they taxied off the runway for their five hour Jetstar direct flight to Perth. In all it was an experience they could not stop talking about with my mum continuously joking about relocating to Cairns. A bet it is going to be a huge story when they finally depart Australia and retreat to their humble village of Ndranou.

Relatives meet in Perth for a Manus style dinner and a yarn

By Joanne Kanau and Kanau Sion


It is always exciting for us when our relatives visit Perth because then it gives us the opportunity to meet, share stories and keep taps as to what is happening back in our village [Ndranou Yiringou] in the Manus Province [PNG] but more importantly the creation of an essential comfortable homely feeling. We reported earlier last year (2011) that Rodney Banama and his family were likely to get a job in WA and then be based here in Perth after a job interview with prospective

Joanne & kids fare welling Rachel Pipai

employer mining giant BHP. Well, we are now pleased to report here that this has exactly been the case and we were glad  of being there for them in some way to help them find their feet.Hence, Perth is now home to brother Rodney, his other half Rita and toddler son Juan. In a few posts in the past we featured another relative Pwapei Minol who is based in POM but frequently visits Perth, apart from his other Australian destinations, for work commitment. He has always been part of us as he is a regular visitor to Perth. Also in the early part of last year we ran a feature on a relative Rachel Pipai  who traveled from Adelaide to spend a long week-end with us and Joane reciprocating the visit.
On this occasion we all met again in mid November 2011 ... at the same time here in Perth.

Rodney & Rita

 We had dinner at our place in Kenwick and Rodney and family, Pwapei Minol and  Rachel Pipai  were invited and we were all too happy to play host. As usually the case when relatives meet, dinner was local Manus cuisine...fried sago with coconut shreds, fish & kumu cooked in coconut milk, taro, tapioka and all were part of the delight. It was an absolutely exciting and satisfying feeling that all of us from the same small village in Manus, closely related could meet in Perth, an Australian city far remote from were we originally come from.

Young Juan roller skating

 Who would have thought 20 years ago that this could happen today? It was indeed a homely feeling in all it's meaning. Absolutely amazing. In retrospect, it is no wonder our coming over to live in Perth is not a fluke. We will continue to recount this tale long after we have retired to our simple laid back village of Ndranou Yiringou when we individually decide to call it a day on what we do best.

Pwapei in Roushead - Fremantle

Our 2011/2012 summer break

By Kanau Sion and Joanne Kanau

Whole family at Kings Park over looking the CBD

Mum and dad in Kings Park 

This is a our fifth year in Perth, Western Australia and we have gone through a few summer breaks - a few with unforgiving, scorching heat waves and others, more friendly and mild with usual crystal clear skies and often cooler days and nights. As usually the case in countries which experience the four seasons [summer, autumn, winter and spring]  summer is usually characterized by longer days and shorter nights - a completely and stark contradiction to winter. Summer is a season most people look forward to for various reasons including, long school holidays, individual and family

Mum and girls - Kings Park

holidays, taking break from work to visit and meet with families/relatives,  and a time for parties. However, for Christians it is a time to mark and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. For us though, the essence of this period is primarily for us Christians to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas day because we ascribe to Christianity. That is not to deny also that we don't put up a few parties and have not also embraced the conventional practice holidays for our kids - to take a long deserved break from a hectic long school year.
This summer, we decided to continue our usual [summer] tradition of taking our kids out in Perth and also outside the confines of the city's suburbia for  further site seeing and  to enjoy the out doors. This was also our way of getting the kids to

Mum and kids in UWA, Nedlands

unwind from their long school year. Kings Park offers a very unique attraction as it is located on the nearby west Perth city hill and provides a breathe taking panoramic view of the Perth Central Business District [CBD], South Perth and the majestically sparkling and meandering Swan River. On top of that, Kings Park provides beautiful lawns, world class public amenities including free bbq stands/plates powered by free government gas supply, toilets, shower, cold drinking water sprinkles, children's play areas and breath-taking board walk which runs through tree top levels, all nestled in the comfort of the park's rare natural forest. Kings Park is a must see for week-end day get away and a perfect spot to unwind and so we highly recommend it to anyone seeking some form of peace, solace and tranquility.

Further down towards the western end of Kings Park is another perfect spot.

Mum and kids in Synergy Park

 Although, it is slightly smaller Synergy Park provides another option for getaways with similar public amenities. Water sprinklers, bbq places, a small island on the lake, board walk over the lake, and replicas of a theme park provide exciting amusements for children and parents a like. Our children loved visiting the area and boy, how difficult it was to get them off the replica theme park and play areas when it was time to make tracks.

On the whole, Kings Park and Synergy Park provide two absolutely amazing options for individual, family and group day or week-end get away and our years of experience as regular visitors there attest to this exciting experience.

Our kids in Clydesdale Park  jetty

Another place of our choice we usually take our kids to is Clydesdale Park among other locations of convenience and is situated along the banks of the Swan River in the Southern suburbs of Perth. In the like manner to other Perth parks, Clydesdale provides all the basic services for every visitor but more importantly, a spectacular view of
the CBD from the Swan River's south banks which no other location can boast. Given the ideal location to us, it is convenient that we constantly bring our kids to and let them play and run amok in a safe and enjoyable way.

Dad on the Clydesdale Park jetty

 It is no wonder many city and suburban residents and visitors also love to regularly visit Clydesdale Park because of it's unique location to the Perth CBD. Like Kings Park, Synergy Park and other beautiful spots in Perth and Western Australia generally, Clydesdale Park appears to also be a melting pot for tourist both during the day and at night and is often labelled as a place that never sleeps.
On the flip side, for Perth residents and other city slickers who are bored sick and annoyed of the hustles and bustles of the city and suburban life, a drive and visit out of town is a best and perfect choice. There are a few exquisite places of choices we usually take our kids to and they have had much fun visiting.

Entire family at the Mandurah Mariner

Mum and girls - Mandurah Waterfront

However, according to our kids, and we agree with them to a greater extent, none of them beats Mandurrah, a beautiful Perth satellite city almost 80 kilometers in the southern coast from the Perth CBD. In our opinion, Manurrah is Western Australia's perfect version of Italy's Millan - with houses, countless boat rams built along and over the sides of the meandering water ways, not to mention the number of family catamarans and boats in varying sizes and shapes. Mandurrah provides the most amazingly spectacular and colorful array of Christmas lights radiating and reflecting the beauty of the place every festive season.  In fact, it is almost always the constant winner of the annual best display of Christmas lights competition in the whole of Western Australia. We will surely sorely miss this place when we finally return to PNG at the end of the year.

Dad and girls in front of Rockingham Plaza

Further up north west from Mandurrah are also a number of attractive places to visit including Rockingham, Shoalwater and Kwinnana among others. We particularly like Rockingham because of it's varied and range of shops all located within a mega shopping mall as well as its beautiful beaches. We don't want to sound unfair here because the same can also be found elsewhere in Perth  and other outer  suburbia. Perhaps it's fair for us to say that our decision to like this place is because we regularly visit and also that it is impossible to equally divide our time to visit all areas in the like manner. To put it simply, there are so many of them so we decided to frequent some, including [Rockingham] while only occasionally visiting others.

Mum & girls - Rockingham Plaza

The kids love to visit the Rockingham shopping mall, and although we get quite cranky at times about their demands to buy certain things to please them...typical of girls, we always budgeted well and  follow our simple family principle of 'agreeing to disagree' on what to and what not to buy. That, we have found to have a positive effective on our five girls' attitudes towards shopping. Apart from the some times annoying inconveniences relating to this the kids absolutely love going to the Rockingham beach. This beach and especially the sea provides an ideal location for surfers looking for right the types of waves and breeze. The

Girls in Rockingham Beach

perfect waves and the south west breeze needed by surfers are usually generated by the south/south west winds from Antarctica which head towards the west coast and the Indian Ocean. Rockingham is an amazingly beautiful place and we have jokingly said we could make it home should an opportunity present itself.

Wow! We have covered quite a lot of grounds here in terms of trying to tell our story about the  2011/2012 summer holidays to you readers. To conclude, those are some so amazingly beautiful places in Perth, Western Austral, and we believ also the whole of Australia this beautiful

Mum and girls in Rockingham Beach

planet earth. Interestingly, we have found ourselves so lucky and fortunate to live here in Perth and been lucky enough to visit such amazing places. These locations have been valuable and worthwhile for us and our kids to visit and through this approach we are all fresh and ready to take on 2012 as we have already started. We are honored to have been given this opportunity to live in this wonderful part of the country and have continued to cherish every moment of it.  To any aspiring visitor to Perth and Western Australia we say to this you, do it while you can. You'd be crazy not to visit while you can.

Our visit to the 2012 North Queensland Cowboys vs St. George Illawarra pre-season match.

By Kanau Sion

Waiting for the game to begin

Joanne waiting for the game to start

Last year (2011) we included a post on an NRL end of the season match between the Brisbane Broncos and South Sydney Rabbitoh played here in Perth's NIB Stadium [formerly Members Equity Stadium]. Back then it was Joanne's first ever experience of watching an NRL game live and in person and one which she'll certainly remember for a long time.

Joanne posing with James Tamou

Early last month on February 12th  we had another treat of an NRL game between the North Queensland Cowboys and St. George Illawara, this time as a preseason hit out and what a way to commence 2012 in style here in Perth. For me in person, the last time I turned up to watch these two great teams battle in a regular NRL season was about 15 long years ago in Sydney. Time has passed quickly since then, and great players of that error who dominated the rugby league paddocks have come and gone leaving behind huge shoes to fill. Nevertheless, new players have stepped up well to the pressure and have not disappointed at all. Rather, they have risen amazingly well to the occasion  much to the excitement of fans, and developed into fabulous heroes of the modern game who are not only admired but idolized also by zealots of the rugby league world. We were filled with excitement... Joanne and I because first, it was Joanne's second time to watch a game between two NRL sides while at the same time providing me a chance to witness these two great teams battle it out after a very long time. Second, this provided an opportunity for both of us to meet the players in person.

Joanne with JT in the background

Joanne with Leeson Ah Mau

While we were there to give support to our two PNG Kumul wantok heroes [James Segeyaro and Ray Thomson] in the North Queensland Cowboys team, Joanne was additionally excited also to watch and hopefully meet her favorite St. George players like Jamie Soward. For me though, I had spent the afternoon of the day before with the NQ Cowboys players and had the opportunity to meet and chat with superstars of the game including Jonathan Thurston, James Tamou, Tariq Sims, Robert Lui, Matt Bowen and our very own PNG stars James Segeyaro and Ray Thomson among others.

With James Segeyaro and Ray Thomson

In the stadium we were also in the company of PNG wantoks including Joshua Cridge, David Sode who was on a short visit and others. It was a fun filled evening which started with great ball work and superb performances from both sides with a scuffle and punch up midway through first half. Well, I guess the punch up was traditional as it added a bit of spark and excitement into the game. At the final whistle North Queensland Cowboys came out on top with a 22 -14 final scoreline.    After the game Joanne insisted we stayed a little longer for her chance to meet players from both sides including Jamie Soward and others from St. George Ilawara, and JT Thurston etc from NQ Cowboys, which I reluctantly obliged.

With "JT" Jonathan Thurston 

She managed to squeeze her way through for a glimpse of the players while I took some still shots of her with St. George players Leeson Ah Mau and Atelea Vea and North Queensland stars JT Thurston, James Tamou and Robert Lui.
It was an evening well spent and our night of nights, if I may put it this way, at least in the context of rugby league at this time of the year.
I am pretty sure I have done Joanne a great favor by getting her to the game and her word of thanks appeared to be a testament of her appreciation of this.

Joanne posing with Robert Lui