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E51AND - E51CK - Rarotonga Island - News

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    E51AND - E51CK - Rarotonga Island - News

    E51AND, Andy Duncan says he is QRT-ing now, with the Oceania CW contest just behind us.
    He has been active for five years with a kilowatt to a long-boom 5-element 20M monobander 70 feet high, a Tennadyne T7 for 17-10 at 80 feet, and a variety of slopers, dipoles and verticals for the low bands, putting out a consistently big signal.
    KL7SB with the E51RAT callsign had the E51AND station on these last couple days.
    Andy and his XYL, E51CK, Kathy, prefer ragchewing but have hosted visiting DXers and contesters from around the world, with hundreds of thousands of QSOs made over these years.
    They have also helped with holiday style expeditions and DXpeditions to Manihiki and Pukapuka in the North Cooks.
    In moving to Rarotonga five years ago and selling their house in Oregon, Andy and Kathy planned to stay permanently.
    But public pressure, says Andy, has caused the government of the Cook Islands to put a moratorium on residency applications, and Kathy's teaching contract is expiring, so they face a substantial pay cut and a loss of medical benefits.
    Andy says their lives are "at a crossroads."
    They have "no desire to leave paradise," but need "a place to call home."
    Last month they visited Alberta, British Columbia and New Brunswick, three provinces in Canada, and have presently chosen Fredericton, New Brunswick as their next home, finding it lovely, a city of 60,000 people on the St. John River, with friendly people, a vibrant and healthy community, and house prices affordable.
    They see the move as their next great adventure.
    Andy says, "Listen for Andy and Kathy from VE9 land in the New Year."
    In the meantime, this is Andy's email: <Kiaorana@ymail.com> and his mailing address:
    Andrew (Andy) N. Duncan, E51AND
    P.O. Box 518, Avarua
    Rarotonga
    Cook Islands
    E51AND E51CK Rarotonga Island Cook Islands
    73 Al 4L5A
  •  

    #2
    Hi Everyone:

    E51AND will QRT in two weeks and move off-island in December.

    Logs from October 2013 on have been uploaded to Club Log and LoTW, but requests for DIRECT QSLs need to be received by the end of November 2017. With up to 30 days transit time for mail, requests should be sent by 1st NOVEMBER 2017 -- after December we will no longer be able to receive mail and it will NOT be forwarded -- so if you are looking for a card from us -- please request it ASAP. We will post a new mailing address on QRZ and here as soon as we have one -- that will not happen until at least February 2018.

    E51AND operations:

    Rarotonga OC-013 1996 (as ZK1AND) through October 2017
    Palmerston Island OC-124: August and September 2012
    Mangaiia Island OC-159 2013
    Mauke and Mitiaro Islands OC-083 2014
    E50A -- Rarotonga OC-013 -- special call for the 50th Anniversary of Self Governance. Jan 1 - Dec 31 2015

    When Kathy E51CK and I E51AND first moved to The Cook Islands, it was our intent to stay. We sold our home and moved to Rarotonga knowing that we would have to wait five years, but that we could apply for residency -- at which time we could buy a home outright and settle there.
    Sadly, things have changed. In response to "public pressure" the government has placed a moratorium on new residency applications. So in spite of the fact that the Ministry of Education for whom Kathy works, many teachers, and many, many others would like us to stay on, without residency we are facing a substantial pay cut, and more importantly the loss of important medical benefits as Kathy's current contract expires . . . . . . so life is at a crossroads . . . . we have no desire to leave paradise . . . . . . but we DO need a place we can call home.
    Last month we went on a “road trip” visiting Alberta, British Columbia and New Brunswick in Canada in search of a new place to live. We found it Fredericton, New Brunswick and will be moving there in the early New Year.
    Fredericton is a lovely city of around 60,000 people situated on the banks of the St. John river in Central New Brunswick. We found the people friendly, the community vibrant and healthy, and house prices affordable, so, while we are saddened at having to leave the tropical paradise that has been our home for the last five years, we are looking forward to the next great adventure in our lives. So listen for us from VE9 land! Sadly VE9AND is already allocated LOL!
    We will post a new QSL DIRECT address as soon as we are settled in Brunswick.
    73 Al 4L5A

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