Kokoda Trail

 Pre-warned about the Kokoda Trail, we who chose to hike it were told we were brave to give it a shot. It is endearingly called the Kokoda Trial by some! We all hopped in the vehicles that were heading out. PNG style, you can sit in the back (no standing unless you want the police's attention). And if you are inside and there is a belt you are supposed to use it. Though people rarely do, until they approach a police stop. It's so hot and uncomfortable having that belt push up against you!

 The ride up to the beginning of the trail was full of rugged scenery. And guess what colour the dirt was on the roadside? Exactly, the dirt in PNG is red too, just like in Australia. Who knew!

 And across many of the hills are big black stones, looking like they don't belong. Someone called them Satan's marbles. Very interesting feature! They do look like they were just thrown there by some giant.

 The water heading down has a hydro dam along the route. And the roads are really good going to the trail. No major potholes. After all, there is a lot of tourist money to be made from Aussie father and son tourists going on it for some bonding/initiation treks. And others also going for the hike, it is quite an attraction with a big reputation.

 What a beautiful country! Rugged green and full of variety in shape and contours. Amazing!

We will soon be dropping down into a valley similar to this!Yikes!

At the starting point we had to pay the local guy who "owns" rights to the trail and collects from everyone who goes in. We let those who knew how to barter to strike a deal for us. Meanwhile we could check out the WW2 mementos (in PNG you can climb all over them if you like and play with them without anyone criticizing) or read about the trail used during the war. There was a 3d overview of the land that it crosses. We hardly covered any of it.

The road went no further, and when you see how steeply we had to head down this bit, you can see why the trail starts here. No more vehicular access -- what a job it would be to make a road here! It had been quite dry lately, so we were able to actually walk down, instead of slipping and sliding on our bottoms. There still was a moderate amount of slipping, as the ground was not completely dry.

 Can you imagine having your boots just get buried in mud and having to drag it out with every hot muggy step?

 It didn't take long to get down to the "bottom" of the valley, where we proceeded to do more moderate ups and downs through a trail full of rocks roots and muddy and dry bits. 

 Eventually we approached signs of some structures...perhaps an old neglected shelter.

 We'd crossed over quite a few small creeks up 'til now. The going was pretty hot and muggy...so I doused my head and hair liberally with water at each one to keep from overheating. Then we reached a river, and here, you just march right through it, clothes and all! I took off my shoes and took care of my phone/camera. And then I just submerged myself in there, it felt so nice! The water isn't really that cool, but it is refreshing anyways! Daniel had a rough moment crossing the river where he lost his footing and was being pushed further and further downriver. The locals there were ready to race in after him if he actually keeled over. He looked rather panicky, but managed to recover his footing and get across without help.

 I wasn't the only one who like cooling off in the water!

The kids had fun doing some rock jumping into the river. 

The missionary kids all did the trek barefoot, and all my kids were soon barefoot too, finding that it was much easier to maintain traction, and aside from stubbing your toes a few times, it was much more comfortable! Shoes and sandals just got wet in the mud anyways! And then when you reach a creek you don't need to take off your footwear, you just truck on through it!

 Us adults bore with our footwear though the whole ordeal. Some of our shoes looked rather red when we got back. Crossing by jumping rocks or crossing logs or shoe removal was the best way to get over the water with "dry" shoes. By the last few creeks it was really a futile exercise though --I think I had one shoe with a dry spot left, but every other part of my shoes and socks were soaked through.

 Some of us got a bit ahead of the rest and passed through another camp, trying to catch up to the kids and their adult supervisor/jogger. Fortunately they all did turn around at the prearranged time and we all headed back to the river where some of us chose to wait instead of torturing the body further.

The final ascent back up the initial really steep section was quite a challenge! There was a long time of waiting for the first people until the very last of the crowd made it up. Were we ever in need of water at the end! It was so hot slogging up that last bit! But every last one of us made it alive and on our own two feet! :)

 Once back at the campus, most of the kids are back to running around again, as if they didn't do anything more than a ten minute stroll.

The adults, however, took it easy and shared stories about it to those who hadn't gone (yeah, maybe it was worth going, ask me when I'm feeling over it and forgotten the strain) and waiting for dinner to be ready.

  Dinner was a bung kai prepared by the students in honour of all the delegates who came for the meetings. It was all ready and waiting in the classroom and we showed up hungry and ready to do it justice.

 We went through the line and were given lots and lots of food! It would have been nice to have smaller scoops as by the end your plate was very very full, and your stomach just the same size as ever. It was tasty, though! Daniel went through the line and shook his head "no" at all but two of the food stations. The ladies were all staring at him going through. They had a great laugh about it, but also felt bad that the poor skinny guy was going to go hungry. I think he was fine though, he actually tried the chicken, and a banana, I think. That was certainly better than taking nothing!

 Us guests got to eat first, while the other kids had to wait.

 It was nice to be honoured with a good meal eagerly prepared by such willing hands. Obviously they appreciate us being there, but I also felt a bit awkward. I tried, with a little success, to mingle. Fortunately one of the ladies who went to the market with me the day before spoke excellent English, so I chatted with her and her husband. She told me how she'd love to go with us to church in Veifa'a tomorrow to see her family. There was only going to be room for her husband though, as us Canadians get extra space in the back of the vehicle (this part was unsaid, but I'd figured that it was true). If we weren't in there, they'd have packed the Land Rover much fuller. I didn't think this was fair, and thought we could handle it...but then on the way back from Veifa'a the next day I didn't mind not being even more squashed with even more hot and sweaty bodies after all. Obviously I don't know what to expect!

Papua New Guinea!

 So on Friday we spent some quality time at the airport in Cairns. First of all we had to reshuffle some luggage and check in a carry on bag or two...after all, they aren't allowed to be that heavy in the small planes! I guess all companies have different rules.

 After all the hassle of luggage our flight was delayed, and we spent a long time waiting for our plane to arrive from PNG and empty before we could hop onto it. We were entertained by a suitcase that fell off a trailer, and eventually did get picked up and delivered, hopefully to the right location. Those planes are all too big for our short flight!

 Finally we are almost there! We are all pretty excited. After all, this is our destination, Australia was just a stopover. Do you see it?

 Yay! There is a glimpse of Port Moresby below. Hard to tell from up there what it will be like once we are on the ground!

 Once we landed we were picked up by Mark and Pastor Cor and were whisked off to the Reformed Bible Colleges Campus. The drive was so fascinating no pictures were taken. We are transported to a totally different world, a kaleidoscope of colour, poor, rich, markets, traffic clumps, lots of stares (white skin stands out a lot) and interesting smells. It's a lot hotter here than Cairns, as the humidity is much higher. It doesn't feel unbearable like Hong Kong did, but being rested and feeling excited makes a different I'm sure!

 Compared to our glimpse of Port Moresby, the campus seems very tidy and organized. We have time to dump our suitcases in our room, and Philip has a few minutes to prepare before he is off to a meeting. In the meantime the kids and I wander around and try settle in. So nice to be welcomed heartily and feeling a part of church family after feeling rootless for the previous week! I got an interesting tour of the campus with descriptions of the recent flood damage and gardens what each building is for. Below is a main classroom.

 Meanwhile the meeting goes ahead.

  I think it was a meeting of all the delegates meeting with the national pastor. They met under one of the houses, it's nice to have shade!

I headed out the gate (which is to the right of the security guys' hut/sea can) with a few ladies and we picked up some produce at a local market for a dinner coming up. It was an interesting experience going through the market. Full of people, and so much produce for sale. We were treated by our hostess with fresh salted peanuts that were really delicious. After eating it I remembered, oh yeah, I'm supposed to sanitize my hands before I eat everytime and not eat market food if I want to avoid getting sick. Oh well.

 When I got back the kids were settling in just fine and hanging out with other kids. They'd felt comfortable enough to let me go off with the ladies, and looked relaxed enough when I got back. :) Below is a view towards all the student houses. There is a washing/bathroom building in the middle, including showers and taps for washing.

 This house is the Kiwi house. It was built by the New Zealand team and the New Zealand missionaries are housed in there, hence the name "Kiwi". We spent the latter part of our stay in there.

 There are lots of cute kids hanging around the campus. They have a nice carefree way of playing, more relaxed due to the opposite style of parenting from the "helicopter parenting" style that is becoming increasingly expected in Canada.

 This building is where we slept. It's the Kleyn's classroom. It had enough floor space to fit all five of us, and it was really nice that we could stay together. When we got sick later we enjoyed the air conditioning but missed the ease of access to a bathroom. We were liberally fed by the Kleyn's in their house whenever we needed food. :)

 The Kleyn's house is right next to our accommodations. You can see the classroom off to the right in the background. It's a bit of a trek when you are weak or queasy to get the washroom, as you can see. If we were healthy (as we'd planned to be) it wouldn't have been noticeable. After all, our camping washroom is usually even further away, and more difficult to find in the dark if the trees all look the same and there is no distinct trail to the thunder box.

 The last of the missionaries house is here, where the meeting was being held. I missed a picture of the place the Mulder's are in, which is also right nearby.

 We headed to bed on time, as our plan the next day was to head early to the Kokoda Trail and hopefully make good time on it before we had to head back.

The Great Barrier Reef!

 All 7 of us Canadians made it to the reef tour on time, not without a bit of drama. We were all so glad to have made it, as this was a highlight for the Aussie part of the trip, and also a rather pricey thing to miss out on!

 Our cruise was a catamaran, with a double hull. It's supposed to be really stable...so I guess we weren't supposed to get sea sick...as easily. They still offered us seasick pills once we got going...for a price, naturally.

 Once we headed out, we joined the "line" of boats heading out to the reef to do the same thing as us. Certainly a big tourist draw with lotsa business! We gave them a bonus income by paying for the seasick tablets. Two hours of boating to get out there! We didn't want to risk ruining our expensive day. Nathan did end up getting pretty green, and I certainly felt woozy and sipped lotsa water to try keep breakfast in and kept wondering if we'd be there soon!

 Leaving Cairns far behind! We had a beautiful sunny day for our snorkeling, plus it was not windy. I was certainly happy it was calm! It felt bouncy enough without any extra height and wind!

 Finally did make it to the reef. It was hard to see much of the reef from the deck...just looked like seaweed from where we docked. Once geared up we headed in the water in our snorkeling gear. We had to stay in a certain area so they could see us clearly, and I didn't want to go far...how would I recognize our boat compared to the other ones all moored in a row along the reef? Wouldn't it be weird to go on board the wrong boat with no one you knew? They all look the same to me! (after all, you aren't wearing your glasses with a snorkel mask on)

 I got to borrow a waterproof case and managed to get two shots taken in the water before I got frustrated with my cell touch screen and an extra plastic layer between it and my finger. Instead I just enjoyed the reef! It really was amazing how close to the fish you could swim and what a lot of variety of life there under the water in such a small space!

 This is how bright the colours were for us...you need a bright flash and fancy camera to get past the filtered light...then, apparently it is colourful like in "Finding Nemo". With your snorkel glasses things are magnified and it's hard to tell the distance of things. I even scratched myself on the reef not knowing it got that shallow where I was. It is very scratchy! There were a few fairly big fish swimming really close by me. Apparently a reef shark went by, but none of us noticed it. If you don't head out with, and stay with a buddy, you kinda end up on your own seeing your own bit of the reef.I tried find my kids, who'd ended up in the water ahead of me, but gave up after finding several "look a-likes" in a row. You really don't see much that is recognizable of the person sticking out of the water. I headed out went with Philip for a while too, but it's so hard to communicate that you still feel a bit like you are in your own little zone.

 Views of the reef from the boat. We stopped for lunch, then moved to a different mooring and snorkeled again for another hour or two.

It was good that the seasickness didn't impede Nathan from enjoying the reef. And I was certainly glad when we were done the cruising part and were moored!

  It sure makes you feel small seeing that this is just a small "island" of reef that we stopped by. And all of those "small islands" of reef connect over a vast space of water, and all of it (expect the bleached bits, I guess) is teeming with an abundance of life. Wow!

 Ladders up and off we go to the next spot... Here we saw a bit more different kinds of fish again (not that I could keep track of all the variety!) and just got to explore different depths and "valleys" of coral as well. 

 On our way back we had a presentation to listen to, which included a talk about things like why it wasn't so brightly coloured, what coral bleaching is (and that it's not a crisis but a natural stress cycle that is actually pretty normal, but was blown up and misunderstood by media).

And we made it safely back safety where the ground was stable again. What a day! Lots to marvel over and be amazed at!

We SHOULD have spent our evening looking over the Air Niugini specs for luggage and carry on size and weight restrictions. But instead we just neatly filled up our bags in our own systems of organization in our own bags. At least we were careful to not leave anything behind. ;)