After a brief break, our high value fundraiser Louise is kicking off another round in our blog relay, a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.

Like my colleague Andrew, I'm rather smug too - I love my job. I'm employed to make sure the people who fund our existence know how we spend their money wisely and effectively. I'm often the contact point for the amazing people that give very generous gifts to our campaigns. They range from the couple who give us £1,000 each year instead of buying Christmas and birthday presents for their entire family (yes, these amazing people are real), or a foundation which generously grants us £70,000 for a specific project, such as our palm oil work in Indonesia. 

Cathy is our director of supporter development - making sure we have money and taking good care of our supporters - and is next up in the blog relay, a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.

I've worked at Greenpeace for more than eight years now, and I do sometimes wonder about why I don't think about leaving. I don't think I'd expected to stay here that long. Nothing to do with Greenpeace really; previously my CV looked more like a shopping list, than a career. But, the longer I stayed here the more I've come to appreciate just how different it is working here. And not in the way I think most people would think.

Katie is the latest contributor to our spring blog relay - catch up on entries from other Greenpeace staff.

Greenpeace is beholden to no government or corporation. Individual people are our only source of financial support. (Beholden - adjective. Obligated; indebted)

It occurred to me recently that the concept of being ‘beholden', or rather the absence of it, underpins the reason for my job at Greenpeace. But first, why is not being ‘beholden' so important to us?

I suppose, because it would be awkward, to say the least, to accept sponsorship from a company like Unilever, and then have to broach the small matter of their involvement in the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest last year. And imagine if we took just a small hand-out from the British government? It would then be rather embarrassing to have to mention that we really wished they wouldn't expand Heathrow airport and risk catastrophic climate change.

Volunteers in Jakarta get the climate message to Hillary Clinton's convoy (not pictured) © Greenpeace

Our colleagues in Indonesia have been very busy this week - with visiting foreign dignitaries and an outrageous decree from their own government following in quick succession.

Remember the palm oil tanker which the Esperanza prevented from docking in Indonesia last month? That same tanker - the Isola Corallo - arrived in European waters on Christmas Eve en route to Rotterdam, and was met by a group of Greenpeace activists who painted 'Forest Crime' along its hull.

I was on board the Esperanza during that first Indonesian action against the Corallo and it's brilliant to see this tanker - which is carrying 29,000 tonnes of palm oil belonging to Sinar Mas, Indonesia's largest producer - becoming the centre of attention once more here in Europe. It draws a thick line across the globe between the causes of deforestation in Indonesia and demand for products like palm oil on this side of the world.

Read the full story on the Greenpeace South East Asia website and find out more about the Indonesian end of the story in our latest podcast.

Fire burns through forest in Sumatra, clearing the area for plantations © Greenpeace/Novis

It's been a few weeks since the Esperanza's tour of Indonesia wrapped up with an exhausting but thrilling week of direct action focused on various palm oil tankers, and I've since left those humid equatorial climes to return to a chilly British winter. But even though the ship has moved on to other countries and campaigns, the palm oil campaign continues and in the past few weeks there have been some developments.

The most obvious has been annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Bali - this could have been the moment the industry got its act together and did something other than spin the usual load of greenwash over its involvement in the destruction of south east Asia's rainforests. Sadly, it was not to be. Although our ship painting/blockading actions drew a lot of attention, as did our earlier revelations about United Plantations and their 'sustainable' palm oil, no real progress was made.

Our podcast has skipped a month, but then with the Rainbow Warrior gracing our shores things have been a tad busy around here of late. As you may know, she was here in October as part of the international Quit Coal tour, and we went to meet some of the Greenpeace supporters who came to have a look round during the open boat days.

Also on our radar was the recent Indonesia tour undertaken by that other Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza. I was lucky enough to be there and while the crew were busy painting and blockading palm oil tankers in Sumatra, I was able to talk to them about what it's like being in the middle of a major piece of direct action.

And you'll have to excuse my froggy throat in the introduction, there's a cold going around the office.

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A dance troupe from Manokwari take a tour of the Esperanza's bridge in October 2008 © Greenpeace/Rante

Jamie wrote this - his thoughts and reflections on the ship tour so far - as he was waiting for something to happen in Indonesia last night. Eventually, something did.

Direct actions can be quite boring at times. The few moments of excitement are the ones which make the headlines and the photos, but anyone who has participated themselves will know there can be long, drawn-out stretches when not much is happening. Direct inaction, if you will.

I'm currently experiencing that now. As I write this, nestled in the campaign office on board the Esperanza, we're playing a waiting game. You've probably read about what the crew here has been up to in the Indonesian port of Dumai, painting and blockading palm oil tankers.