We arrived in PNG safe and sound. We have very limited internet access right now, so I am going to jump straight to my posts....and I am not even going to check my spelling or grammar until we get to Ukarumpa in 3 1/2 months! =0)
Where do I begin??? I know that I need to begin with the flight...but now that we are actually in PNG- I just want to write about this beautiful country!
Backing up...our Portland friends drove us to Seattle Sunday night. On the way, we stopped at Burgerville...also known as "Money Bags" by David Mandulak. He was right! We stayed in a nice hotel Sunday night and were all out of the room by 4:15AM (Thanks, Mandulak's!). The hotel was literally in the airport's parking lot.
BTW- I forgot to mention that we took one Pathfinder vehicle, 2 Mandulak's (plus a baby in Kerry's belly), 3 Weir's, 1 carseat, 3 big action packers, 3 big suitcases, 6 carry-on's and one bag for the Mandulak's. If you saw us leave Raleigh, you may be wondering how it all fit in one car. Well, the guys wrapped our suitcases in garbage bags, ducktaped them closed and secured them to the roof rack! Genius!
Anyway, we arrived at the Seattle airport, hopped on a 6am flight to San Fransisco, got to spend our layover time with my high school friend Loria, and then headed to the gate for our flight to Hong Kong.
Here's the sad news: We have friends who were supposed to travel with us from CA to Hong Kong. They were to take the 8-something flight from Seattle to SFO....only the plane was delayed....so delayed they missed the Hong Kong flight.
The Hong Kong flight went remarkably well. Ben sat between us, enjoyed the food, DVD's and presents we let him open. My friend Danielle is a genius! She suggested that we wrap dollar store gifts and let Ben open one every hour. This was a hit (during THIS flight)....all 13 hours!
Then....we had a 5 hour layover in Hong Kong. We even had Hong Kong money to spend (Thanks to my friend/mentor Marty)! But, we got SO lost in this airport....all we remember was all the walking and not knowing where to go. Starbuck's was an oasis in the desert....and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal there. We were all so tired at this point and Ben was “Beyond going to sleep easily”. We suffered through....all along missing our friends who could not fly with us. We kept reminding ourselves that at least we were finished with the LOOOOONG flight.
Next, we took an Air Nuigini flight from Hong Kong to Port Moresby, PNG. Ben fell asleep before we got on the plane. We thought/hoped he would sleep for most of the 7 hour flight. Not...So...Much! After 2 hours, he was up! He was also tired of being on the plane and wanted “Out!” This fligt was about 3 hours too long....but at last it ended.
Then, it was a 1 hour flight from Port Moresby to Madang (the coast). Friends met us at both the PNG airports. It was so nice to have people helping us get to where we needed to be.
All in all.....the flights were very smooth and Ben was a real trooper. We figured that we were in the air for over 30 hours and “traveling” for over 40 hours. Needless to say, we have been sleeping it off now that we are in PNG! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!
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