Craig Bunt – AKA – Hooksy is a well known local musician Bass Player for various bands often playing in Eumund pubs.
When not playing music to the pub crowd he is a Safety & Quality Manager for a PNG Helicopter Company.
Craig lived in Ward St Eumundi in 1978. He had earned the distinction of being School Captain of Eumundi State School in 1983 and starting playing guitar around grade four.
“As a kid growing up in Eumundi I was exposed to some great musicians playing at the Imperial hotel, either in the beer garden or bar in the early 80’s. I would walk down town, to go to the shops (either Eumundi Bill’s or Jeffries corner shop) for lollies or a game of pinball or spacies. On a Saturday there would be a rock band with a big old school analog PA in the beer garden cranking out good heavy rock.
The likes of Billy Idol, ACDC, Joan Jett etc This just had me intrigued from the start and I was hooked. (nothing to do with the nickname). Bands I remember were The Outlaws, Hot Rox,, The Odd Number and heaps more that I am unable to recall.
Noosa State High School was another great experience for me due to a very active music scene.
I recall our school dances at Eumundi School of Arts hall would be like a mini music festival. There must have been five or six quality bands in our senior year.
The Swirling Eddies (who went onto become The Shedmen), The Hidden, The Blown Tops and Hit’n’Run (which became The Thundermutts) and I can’t recall the others. This culture continued after we left and there are still people working successfully in the industry today!
Well that was until the RONA took us down.
I have been working in PNG on and off since October 2013, with the last 2 & ½ years in Aviation Management.
As COVID19 took hold and became a serious issue in March and knowing the Australian border looked like closing, I chose to return to QLD a week earlier than scheduled. On retuning to Australia I was required to Quarantine at home for 14 days. I use the word Quarantine as Isolation would be used for a positive case isolated from the rest of the population.
My company was granted an exemption to leave Australia and return to PNG to continue work and relieve the crew that stayed in when the borders first closed.
On arrival in PNG passengers had temperatures taken with hand held infrared thermometers and also full body scanning to check for abnormal body temperatures. I was required to complete 14 days of quarantine on entry. All incoming staff had to undergo the swab test prior to being released.
Once out of quarantine I lived and worked in Goroka at the Aircraft Maintenance Facility and Pacific Gardens (gated residences) for 5 weeks. Our company risk assessed the pandemic early on, and implemented daily temp testing of all staff, minimized staff interactions and focused on educating the local population on good personal hygiene practices including the correct use of PPE (masks) and use of hand sanitizer.
To date PNG have had nine confirmed cases with eight fully recovered and the latest on the way to recovery.
After being away from home for seven weeks, it was time to return back to Australia for some well deserved R&R.
The flight back to Brisbane was on an Air Niugini 767 with only 13 expats abroad. On entering the aircraft all passengers were given mask and easily separated on the aircraft due to low numbers.
On arrival in Brisbane the passengers were handed paperwork and statements to sign stating that they will adhere to Border Force, QPS and QLD Health directives and had temperatures taken. I counted 22 ADF, QPS and Once through customs we were escorted to a bus and onto a hotel to commence mandatory 14 day quarantine.
The hotel I was quarantined was the Novotel at the Brisbane airport. The first room I was allocated had a broken light with electrical wires hanging out of the wall, the carpet hadn’t been vacuumed, 2 ceiling lights didn’t work and the air conditioning panel had an alarm stating the filter needed cleaning. I reported this to reception and was moved to another room. None of the rooms have windows that can be opened for fresh air.
If you require fresh air or a smoke break, you are required to call reception, who in-turn advise the police who come to the room and escort you to the rooftop area. A mask is required to be worn when going to and from this area. You are not given a key to your room and if caught out of your room you will be charged with not abiding by the COVID19 Health Directives.
It was day FOUR when I asked the hotel to please have hand sanitizer available at the roof top area as I witnessed all using the area using the door handle to enter/exit.
Some days you may only get two small breaks out of the room to access fresh air. All police escorting us to fresh air, were armed with Tasers and hand guns. I found this totally unnecessary and intimidating. Some of these officers were sympathetic to the people in quarantine whilst others took great pleasure in ensuring we knew where we stood and what would happen if we tried to escape or not follow protocols.
If there were complaints made about the waiting times for fresh air breaks, some took great pleasure in letting all know that if you complained you would be last on the list or left in your room without getting out.
For a supposedly quality hotel, the food is abysmal. It’s day 12 and not one meal has been served with fresh vegetables.
As I am not a returning holiday maker, (essential FIFO worker) I will be required to undertake this quarantining both ways, to and from work until further notice.
This puts others and myself in the same situation away from family/friends and reality for a minimum of 8 weeks at a time or 1/3 of our lives locked up. We are not criminals and would welcome self-quarantining at home once a negative test result in confirmed. The mental health issues that arise from being confined to a 4m x 4m room for 1/3 of my life far out ways the risk of working in a country with a very small amount of cases.
The only saving grace for me is that I have my instrument with me to help pass the time.”
