Problem: After we wash our clothes by hand, we needed a way to hang them up. Fortunately, we brought a travel clothesline. We took a picture down from the wall and used the nail underneath it for one end of the line. The only other object suitable for the other end was a circuit board – but the line was a little too short to reach that. 

belt as clothesline extender

Solution: Mr. MacGyver took out a belt and wrapped that around the circuit board and attached the end of the clothesline to the belt. Now we have a clothesline for drying our wash!

Problem #1 Our rooms are quite dark. There is a window, but people walk past it and we wanted some privacy. 

The MacGyver Solution: Martha had a ‘lavalava’ (a Solomon-style sarong) that was about the right size to provide privacy while allowing light to enter from above. Fortunately, we had a couple of rolls of velcro ties that had been thrown in the suitcase at the last minute. We bunched up a bit of the curtain and the corner of the lavalava and pulled a velcro tie around them. The tie holds the lavalava in place and we can still open and close the curtains at night!

For the required 21 day quarantine, we are staying at the Pacific Casino Hotel. We had a limited number of places to stay and this hotel is quite close to our offices. Our colleagues can drop off things for us at the National Disaster Office for delivery to the hotel.

Unfortunately, we are finding that some things are not allowed – like mugs, plates, silverware. All our food comes in styrofoam boxes with plastic cutlery which is all going to be burned to diminish any risk of spreading Covid, if any of us test positive. 

We weren’t sure what to expect in regard to our room. Now that we are here, we thought others might be interested in seeing our quarantine quarters. The photos below provide you with a bit of a tour.

Our lounge room

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