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

8 weeks and going strong

I know I say it in almost every post, but I can't believe that we've been living (and thriving) here for 8 weeks. You know what they say - time flies when you're having fun.

We've been settling in nicely. We've almost become Friday night regulars at the Yacht Club, and Saturday lunchtime regulars at Duffy's. Matt & Lachie are having fun attending the parents groups, and Bree is still the social butterfly. She went and saw the latest Hunger Games movie with some friends on Sunday, which made her very happy.

I had been told that movies are quite often released earlier here than in Australia, but I was skeptical. But I've now seen that all the Christmas/Boxing Day releases in Aust will be out here in late Nov to early Dec. For example, the latest Hobbit installment will be released at the movies here on 11 December, rather than Boxing Day in Australia. For Lachie's upcoming birthday, we're planning to go and see The Penguins of Madagascar which is released here on 27/11 (tomorrow), but not is Aust until 1st Jan.

I was expecting that our shipment of 'stuff' would be arriving tomorrow. However, I've just received an email to say that the ship that will be transporting the container only left Sydney yesterday for arrival next Thursday. I'm getting used to things in PNG going slow, but to have our stuff departing Sydney 9 weeks after it was packed and removed is ridiculous. By the time it arrives here, is unloaded, passed through customs and delivered, we'll probably need to pack it all up again to come home.

I haven't got as many interesting pics to share today, but some are better than none:

My boys playing soccer. There aren't a lot of 'green spaces' around the place to do this type of thing. Even most housing estates and compounds don't have a grassed area. We are very lucky to have this space to use at the Holiday Inn

A car on it's roof is not that much of an unusual site here in Port Moresby. What was unusual was where it landed. I have no idea how it managed to get on it's roof. However, the local riff-raff had already stripped it's wheels. The following day, the paper reported that it was still there, waiting to be removed by it's owner (or whoever else removes cars here) Can't say I've ever seen a tow truck here.

The letter of the day is 'T'
While Lachie looks less than impressed, he was actually laughing his head off.
Badly timed photo!

Sometimes the best pillow to fall asleep on is Dad's butt - even if it is a bit smelly.

So it's been nearly a month......

Oops. I've well and truly fallen off the blogging bandwagon. My excuse is that the past month has been crazy, which it has.

The biggest news is that we're in Port Moresby (finally).

It felt like such a mammoth effort to get here, and after 3 days in-country, we're starting to feel some level of normality. To say we were feeling the effects of culture shock would be the understatement of the year. I was terrified that we'd made the wrong decision. Both Bree and Matt were freaking out and my protective mothering instincts were in overdrive. Adding to the stress was that our accommodation was pretty average, and my favourite uncle died on the day we arrived.

It really has been a hard week emotionally for all of us.

ON the good side, we've moved into much more suitable accommodation at the Holiday Inn in their brand new apartment building. They also provide free WiFi - sweet! I also got the keys to my car today and have managed to not only drive it, but successfully navigate my way around. We also took Bree to see her new school. The Principal was so lovely and welcoming, and the students all seemed to like her. The girls in Bree's new class all flocked to say high. They were so excited to have a new girl in their class, and a few of them know her friend from her Aussie school who lived in PNG previously.

We're still a little nervous, but the anxiety levels are dropping as time passes on.

Til next time.......

Day 19: My Favourite Movie

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I did remember, however I wasn't feeling too well so I took a day off from blogging.

Today's topic is my favourite movie. That's easy: The Sound of Music. I love love love the Sound of Music. IT is my all time favourite. Some other faves are:

• The Wedding Singer
• Reality Bites
• The Blues Brothers

In PNG news, The highschool Bree was enrolled to attend next year will allow us to defer her enrolment rather than withdraw. We're so relieved. Today I had me employment medical, had two removal companies come to give quotes and mailed off Lachie's distance education application.

I've also started looking at rental accommodation in Port Moresby. I think we'll probably look at staying in serviced apartments initially until our container arrives, then move into our own place.

If everything goes to plan (visas etc) I'll be leaving Australia to start our adventure in 3 weeks, with Matt and the kids joining me at the end of term 3.

Things are getting exciting (and busy) So, til next time.....

Day 18: A picture of me

Do I really need to share a pic of me? Really? Crap, I really don't like pictures of myself.

OK, so here's a selfie that I snapped of Lachie and I at the ANU on Sunday while we were waiting to see Col. Chris Hadfield (Canadian Astronaut).

Now that that's over with, I was given awesome news the Bree has been given a placement at our preferred international school in Port Moresby. It feels like a (small) weight has been lifted of my shoulders, and removed some uncertainty about our relocation.

Til next time......

Day 17: My favourite blogs

I've never really followed any blogs. However, I have been reading a few about expat life in PNG since applying for my new role up there.

A couple that have been really informative are:

• http://kiwiexpat.com/ 
• http://expatsinpng.wordpress.com/ 
• http://hotstrongcoffee.com/

In other news, the kids school had a teachers strike for half of the day, today. So I decided to take the day off and keep the kids home. I managed to speak with another real estate agent today, organised 2 removalist companies to come around to quote for the uplift and storage and sold off Lachie's loft bed - i need a good lie down, now.

Not much else to report. So, til next time......

Day 16: Thoughts on education (and other stuff)

Lets get the blog challenge bit done quickly so I can get to more interesting news.

My thoughts on formalised education is that I think it's vital. I don't agree with the 'un-schooling' movement that is gaining momentum, particularly in the US.
However, I can completely understand the need for different methods of delivering education. When we move to PNG, my eldest will attend international school, while my youngest will do distance education. This is because they are two completely different kids who suit two different environments. Bree thrives on social interaction with peers, and is looking forward to the opportunity to go to international school. Lachie, who is 6 years younger, if a very reserved and quiet kid and will both suit and benefit the one-on-one learning experience at home. Having said that, his education wont be a free-for-all, but will actually have the curriculumbe set out by the education department back here.

OK, so that bit's done. Now to the exciting stuff - I signed and returned my employment contract for Papua New Guinea today, woohoo. It's official. We're going!

Today was spent either working or on the phone to prospective property managers, removalists, vaccination clinics etc trying to get things in motion. And yet a small part of me feels like it's not really happening. It's quite odd.

I'm also in the process of trying to sell some furniture to reduce our storage needs, as well as trying to sell our car, Matt's motorbike and our onsite caravan at the coast. (If anyone's interested, give me a call).

Tomorrow, the kids school is having a half day teachers strike. Normally that would be annoying, but it gives me a day at home to organise more stuff. I have a prospective property manager coming over in the morning, followed by a removalist company coming to provide a quote at around lunchtime. Then a lady is coming over to purchase Lachie's loft bed from us at later in the afternoon.

We've obviously got a stack of stuff to do before we leave, and my mind is spinning with anticipation, fear and excitement.

Til next time....