The food, people and culture of Papua New Guinea, our nearest neighbours in the Pacific, was the topic to be explored.

The Bodalla CWA may be a small country group, but its members certainly know how to impress.

Lunch for approximately 50 people consisted of various Papua New Guinea delights, such as chicken and pork curries, along with and rice and quiche.

The biggest surprise was a delicacy prepared by CWA member Barb Smith, "witchetty grubs" or, as they are known in PNG, bardi.

Bodalla CWA President Liz Tough welcomed guests including Far South Coast President Helen Galton and introduced guest speaker Fiona Kotvojs.

Having lived in PNG for some time, Ms Kotvojs gave a very interesting talk on the country and its inhabitants.

Ms Kotvojs didn't mince words and told her audience that PNG was a tough place, full of challenges.

She worked there with the PNG constabulary and had some hair raising stories to tell.

She explained about the more than 800 languages spoken within the country, the rich complex culture and the reason why we should pay special attention to PNG.

The culture which stems from the "big man", if you had money, is a warning because China is now considered a "big man" with money in the Pacific.

We need to look after our interests in this developing country, which is right on our doorstep.

The PNG flag features the bird of paradise and that's what it is, a paradise developing slowly but surely and hopefully with Australia's help.

On a lighter note, the Bodalla Public School was represented by two very charming young ladies, Tiarhna Antoniak and Charlee Garner, accompanied by their teacher Gabby Simpson.

The girls had prepared a colourful "Introduction to PNG" poster, but their real challenge came when they were asked to devour one of the witchetty grubs.

The jig was up after they realised that Barb Smith's creations were made of marzipan and chocolate and were delicious!