The emergence of motorbikes....

Times, they are a-changin'

After my first couple of trips to PNG, a few people asked whether or not people rode motorbikes (like in SE Asia). After chuckling, with the slightest hint of condescension, I said no, it’s too dangerous. Besides the roads being of poor quality, the threat of being attacked or ‘bike-jacked’ would be too great.

However, in the past 10 months since arriving in Port Moresby, there has been a change. Little by little I am seeing more and more motorbikes on the roads. At first, it was the odd police motorbike. Then on one occasion, a group of expat guys arrived at the coffee shop I was at on their road-registered trail bikes. It struck me as odd, but figured that they must have felt there was safety in numbers.

And now I see at least two to three motorbikes everyday on the roads around Port Moresby. There’s the Dad that I see each morning taking his child to school on a bike near Boroko (wearing a bicycle helmet and thongs – I’m not even going there). There’s the middle-aged expat I saw yesterday riding some kind of cruiser that was nicely polished up. Not to mention the random nationals that I see around the place riding their bikes around town, too.

There really seems to be a change of atmosphere going on in POM, and the emergence of motorcyclists is just one of a number of minor observations that I’ve been making around town. I'm also seeing more and more expats walking freely on the streets. I’m not sure if this change is due to the recent Pacific Games, or what it is. However, it’s certainly refreshing to see more people (including expats) feeling much more comfortable and secure in what is generally considered an unpredictable environment.

What a difference a few weeks make.....

So, where were we?

I think last post I was talking about living at the Holiday Inn. Well, we've just moved out to a 2br villa out near the airport and are very happy. The sweetener was that we didn't have to pay a bond - awesome.

The downside is that we now have to pay for internet, electricity and gym fees (just like everyone else, really). And the commute to and from work/school is a bit further. However, where we are living is like a little village. We have a private courtyard, there's space for Matt and I to run, the kids can go exploring or bike riding. We've got a little IGA within the grounds, nice cafes and restaurants too. Matt commented to me yesterday that it feels more like a 'home'.

My biggest love of our new place is that we have an oven! Yes, an oven! At the Holiday Inn we only had a tiny microwave/convection oven/grill thingy that didn't perform any of those functions particularly well, and couldn't fit any cookware in it either.

Tonight, the kids are excited that we can make homemade pizzas because we can now fit them in the oven! Woot Woot! I even have a great paleo pizza base recipe that Matt loves, and allows him to eat 'pizza' with us.

It's the little things that make a big difference up here.

The most important and exciting news is that Mum is arriving today! I'm so excited to show her where we live. I'm heading off shortly to pick her up from the airport. Yay!

I will post some pics of our new surroundings soon.

Til next time....

We've hit the half-way point....

Today marks exactly 6 months since we arrived, and 6 months until we come home.

It feels like we’ve been here for a lifetime, and I mean that in a good way. While some of my family may not agree, this has been an amazing 6 months, and something that I never thought would ever be a possibility.

Whether we come home or not in 183 days remains to be seen.

There have already been discussions about the likelihood of a contract extension being offered. I’d love to stay a bit longer. I have suggested to some that the inclusion of school fees in any continuing contract would certainly sweeten the deal. However, our final decision will lie with the family as a whole.

Breanna has put in a request that our next overseas move should be to Fiji or Vanuatu – I like her thinking!

Whatever we decide, I have absolutely no regrets about embarking on this adventure to the ‘land of the unexpected’, or as I like to call it ‘ the land of the WTF’

Til next time…….xx