A Story About Rocks

I have a story to tell you. About a rock. 

The main highway into downtown Port Moresby is scattered with neatly organized piles of rocks and stones. It takes a discerning person to distinguish the “official” piles of rocks from the random piles of rubble that are the result of roadwork. 

Lokal stori says that one day a man put a rock by the side of the road. The next day he went back and the rock had moved, seemingly by itself. Wanting to test the limits of the rock moving, he created a pile of rocks. The next day, he returned and the pile had moved. Word spread about the rocks that moved and soon enough, many others were creating piles of rocks. 

And that is the story, that some people believe, about why there are random piles of rocks by the side of the road.

Of course, the more feasible story is that the random rock piles are there to be sold, waiting to be bought for the use in seawalls, gardens, etc. Around town, there are various other roadside shopping hotspots where you can buy items such as tires, billums, which are local woven bags and art work. These items generally, though not always, have people nearby from who you can purchase them. In my experience though, the rocks are always alone, which could lead you to wonder how they got there in the first place.