A Wonderful Adventure: Arriving in PNG

After much travelling and a lot of anticipation, the day of actually going to PNG arrived. Quite an unbelievable feeling. It was hard to believe it was actually happening - as it had only been a 'later on' thing up until then. It was also Son's first day of starting uni again - so day of firsts.

We got up early and headed to the airport at about 7:15am. Son dropped me off and after goodbyes and a few tears again, I went off to check in for the flight. I was a little bit early but the line for the Air Nuigini flight had already started so I just joined it - with all of my luggage. That was a bit of a worry for me.... how would I (one girl) manage with 4 suitcases and my hand luggage..... I had prayed about it - that either I would be able to manage or there would be someone available to help me. God clearly knew my worries and had it all figured out already. There were lots of very willing people along the way who offered to help, which I was so thankful for. Such a blessing.

After waiting in the line for a bit, it was my turn to check it. The air hostess at the desk was nice and explained about the fees that I would be charged because of my excess baggage. I did expect this, but unfortunately I couldn't pay her... I had to pay the cashier at the end of the desk. He was far less helpful and intent only on getting the maximum amount of money from me. Not a lot can be done about that though! I was not interested in arguing with a Papuan over money!

The waiting continued - but I passed the time by ordering breakfast and making a few last phone calls before heading off to the boarding gate. We started boarding about 45 minutes before departure, which was pretty early! If I'd sat down any longer, I would have probably missed my flight as boarding happened really quickly! Not something I was expecting, that's for sure.

When I arrived in Port Moresby, I went through the customs section - without any troubles at all. Then, as I was waiting for my baggage, a man - who appeared to be security - came up to me and asked me LOTS of questions about what I was doing in PNG, how long I intended to be there, where I was going, who had asked me to come, how much luggage I had etc and he also wanted to see ALL of my paperwork - which I didn't have handy.... I showed him my visa and he was very insistent that he see my work 'contract'. At this point I started to feel a little bit worried, especially as he was looking towards the little office behind him. Thankfully, another guy - who was dressed more officially - came up and told him to leave me alone. That made me think that he really wasn't security at all, but possibly someone who just had to be near the baggage area to help out if needed. He certainly didn't need to be asking questions!

I wheeled my two trolleys to the scanning point - and once again a few people came to help, which was so wonderful. Then one of the scanning personnel walked me to the next check in counter, helping push one of my trolleys. I'm so thankful for all of the people along the way who offered help and made the journey so much easier. This man led me to the international check in and told the ladies to check me in for domestic as he didn't want me to have to push two trolleys across the to domestic check in counter, which was at least 500m away. So nice!

This gave me time to have a coffee and relax a bit before my next flight. We boarded super early again and were actually in the air half an hour before the official departure time!!! Flying into Lae was a cool experience. The mountain ranges are so beautiful from the air and it was then that the journey started to feel very real. In Lae I gathered up my bags, headed outside and was greeted by the Wildeboer family who had come to pick me up. Putting my bags into the car was such a relief! The long journey and luggage battles were over and my new reality was finally happening! Getting back to 11 mile was really cool too. So much has changed - but it was so familiar too. Seeing Chris, Nicole & the girls and Freddie, Alo & their girls was wonderful! My new home. Now to settle in and get into routine :)

Trolley number 1

Trolley number 2. There was a really nice PNG lady standing behind me in the line, who offered to help me push my trolleys. Her English was perfect and she could see that I was having a bit of a tough time winding up and down the line with my two trolleys. She was my first helper - the first answer to my prayers.