From leaving the house in England, to stepping into the guest flat in Papua New Guinea, Steve and Gerdine and their family’s smooth journey clocked in at 38 hours and 10 minutes! Their kids were amazing but everyone was fairly exhausted on arrival and poor Oscar had to be lifted out of his seat from the final plane as he just could not shake off the sleep to get up!
Security was definitely sped up by the fact that the PNG people LOVE twins. Alice and Millie turned heads all over the terminal and security were besotted with them.
Their arrival in Goroka felt so very normal to them. The bus ride back to Lapilo, a well-travelled route for them, felt like home. It is somewhat all new for Oscar though as he was two-years-old the last time he was in PNG and was not able to verbalise what he was thinking.
“The roads are really bumpy here Oscar, so you can’t put your head against the window” (as a bump causes him to whack his head on the glass).
“Everything is jungle here” (as he looks out at the valley).
“I came outside and the hot touched me, and now my hair is sweaty” (cuddles with kids are much stickier!)
Despite being familiar there are those oh yeah moments as they adapt, “oh yeah, bread goes in the fridge here”, “oh yeah, ants”!
It also feels like it is much more colourful, as if a vivid filter has been put over their vision. Strong sunshine and greenery everywhere.
Despite jet lag and the different time zone, they had a chance to meet up with their team just before one family flew back into Kovol. Unfortunately, another team member was knocked out with sickness, but it was still the first time the Kovol team had been all together in the last two years! As they exchanged stories, they have begun to look forward even more to getting back into Kovol themselves.
First things first, they have a few days family time adjusting to the new climate, new foods and new habits. Having worked really hard to teach Oscar that he had to wear shoes on returning to the UK, now they are now trying to get him to accept the idea that he does not have to wear shoes, and he is all confused! They hope it will not be too long before Alice and Millie sleep through the night again!