Papua New Guinea

Well we've finally made it, after about 1 1/2 years of planning we have arrived here in the Frontier of Papua New Guinea.  It is a beautiful but rugged country with a lot of diversity.  Not a lot of roads either, making air travel a must to many places (unless you want to hike for a month).  This is usually good but also makes things quite expensive.  The climate here is something to get used to, It rains about 4 times a day, and just when you think it can't rain harder it does.  They get about 6-7 meters of rain per year!!  The temperature has been pretty warm, never lower than about 20 and than goes up to the low 30's during the day (but feels a lot hotter with the humidity in the 95% range).  The place here is quite nice, right on a river where frequent dips are needed to stay cool.  We have a couple more weeks here in Rumginea and than off to Madang for 11 or so days.  

C

In the land of OZ

 

 

It’s been good to be in Australia. A lot cooler than the last place, especially at night. We’ve camped a couple of nights in our little shelter and have been fairly cozy. This week, we took our open water scuba diving course. It’s a little unnerving. It’s a good thing they make you practice everything in shallow water before they bring you down for a dive. Once we actually got out to the Great Barrier Reef, it was good and I felt confident.

We had an awesome first dive actually. First off, we saw dolphins alongside the boat as we went along. Then there was a whale about 100 feet from the boat while we were hanging out on the surface. Underneath we saw tones of amazing fish and coral. We also saw a manta ray, and a sea turtle.

Sea life is so diverse from everything else. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been in or around the sea that much, but I find it fascinating! We’re going to dive again tomorrow!

 

~R

warm showers and washing machines

Yesterday, I had my 3rd warm shower since leaving Canada. Count em. 3rd. (Yes, I have had more than 3 showers, just not warm ones.) That was 38 days ago. Not that it was a big deal in Fiji. It was a lot warmer there then it is in Brisbane. But now that I’ve had a warm shower, it was glorious! And then I did a load of laundry yesterday too. Man, that was easy. We used a washer in Fiji sometimes. But we did a lot of hand washing. There was even a dryer! I have not even seen one of those since Canada.
Ahh, modern conveniences. I think that when you don’t have them, you adapt and adjust. But when you are exposed to them again, you realize their wonderful purpose and beauty. So next time you are having a shower and have the option of turning the temperature up, thank the Lord for the option.
It’s pretty expensive here. Pretty comparable to Canada I guess. But more $ than you feel like spending when travelling for a long time. We’re renting a car and heading up to the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday. Sunshine coast, here we come! ~R

fiji time

Wow I guess it’s been three weeks since our last post. So I guess nothing has been happening then!! Well Fiji has been great thus far. Most of our time has been spent in and around Suva, the capital. We’ve been connected with some people here that have shown us around and taken care of us. They have turned into good friends as well, and we had a hard time leaving them yesterday. We have really appreciated all they have done for us, but much more, the friends they have become. A lot of our days were spent hanging around the city, and then meeting up with different people or groups in the evening. We got to witness the hockey of Fiji, rugby. On a few Saturdays we went to watch a bunch of matches; we missed the brawls but we did see a dislocated ankle and shoulder!! Rugby is everywhere here, you see kids playing in the streets, everything is about rugby.

We also got the chance to go to the small island of Beqa (pronounced Benga). The boat ride out itself was a 2 hour adventure. In a 24’ fiberglass boat we went up down with waves up to 20’ high!! Nobody was dry but everyone was safe despite the wonderful lifejackets, or lack there of. We stayed in one of the small villages there, where we warmly welcomed. We were officially welcomed, by the chief of the village, by a kava (traditional Fijian drink) ceremony. We were than allowed to be anywhere in the village. We were basically treated as royalty throughout our 5 days there. We were always given the positions of honor around the “table” for the meals (which were all eaten at the chief’s house on the floor). The people have a real desire to be hospitable and do a great job of it. One day we hiked along the ocean to the next village where people fed us large prawns freshly caught. We also had coconut milk, right out of the coconut, with the top chopped off with a machete. The coconut is used for everything, it’s like duct tape, 1001 uses. Nothing on it goes to waste, they even make rope out of the fibers.

Yesterday and today were spent at a hostel right on the ocean. It’s quite nice, we’ve enjoyed the ocean with kayaks and the beach quite a lot. Tomorrow we have to get up early, and we’ll get out to the yasawa islands. They are supposed to be among the most beautiful beaches anywhere in the world. Wish us luck!!

Barefoot church, barefoot everywhere!

We spent the night at a nice hostel by suva. We have a balcony that overlooks an incredible lake, surrounded by rain forest. We ate breakfast of crackers, apples, and peanut butter while the birds chirped. It was so pristine. We went to the Methodist church across the highway. A few people were seated and, of course, the sandals were left at the door. We had no problem with that! The service was in Fijian. They sang songs acapella and did the most beautiful harmonies! We were invited to a home for lunch and decided to go. Fijian people are so hospitable and gracious!  They don’t wear their sandals in the house, of course. Vinni (our hostess) set out photo albums to peruse while she and her cousin prepared lunch.  She also came and told me to change into a sulu. (A type of sarong. Guys wear them here too). She also gave one to Craig. She is a widow and has a boy Tukai, who is 4 years old. He was visiting his in-laws for the weekend. We sat crossed legged on the floor and shared in a lovely meal of: mahi mahi , covered with coconut cream, sasate (sausage),  and tapionga. (a type of root vegetable) It was delicious!! Then, they offered us pillows to relax while they made tea. It was made from orange leaves they picked off the tree. She also served a type of bread made from flour and coconut cream. Served with homemade jam. Yum! Then she got ready and offered me deodorant and perfume before we went out. Talk about hospitality! She walked us right back to the lodge while we were still dressed in Fijian style garb. She seemed proud to have us as guests and we were thankful to have met her and her cousin! Fijian people seem to be barefoot in most buildings. I even saw quite a few barefoot on the street in Suva last evening. I think we’ll like it here. ~R

 

Where are you June 25th??

            We left at 1130 pm from LA, on the 24^th .  We arrived at 5 am in nadi, fiji, on the 26^th after a pretty decent overnight flight (10.5 hours).  PTL that my back didn’t hurt too bad, I just had puffy feet!  Our hotel is pretty nice; the grounds our nice and beautiful, with a nice pool and waterslide. There is no safe in the room, but we’re trying to be careful.  We pretty much slept all day on the 26^th we got up for supper and than went back to bed.  Ruthie had a migraine on the 26^th but slept it off.  It has been much needed down time, after the weeks of madness previous.  Today we want to checkout nadi, and probably go to Suva tomorrow.  The time change from Alberta to here is 18 hours or subtract 6 and then add a day.

Craig

In Canada

We are still currently in Edmonton, enjoying that which appears to be spring.  The plan as it stands now is to leave the end of June and head over to fiji.

craig