A holiday in Cairns

We just came back from two weeks in Cairns, Australia. It’s only two short flights away from Lae, so it’s a nice place to get away from it all. This was our first time out of PNG since we arrived, and (as we expected) we were hit with a bit of culture shock. For example:

• Stores are enormous, and very brightly lit.
• Roads are very smooth, and any potholes that do appear are fixed within a few days.
• Fresh milk tastes so wonderfully… fresh!
• Groceries in Australia are quite cheap compared to PNG.
• Standards of modesty in the “developed” world are actually rather shocking. 

While in Australia we had the opportunity to do some shopping. Too much shopping, really. But some things are either hard to find or very expensive in PNG, so we have to make the most of our time outside of the country to get them.

The whole family reading – Kindle, tourist brochure, Kindle.

We enjoyed fellowship with the Free Reformed group that meets in Cairns and got to know them a little better on various occasions.

Avigail “singing” through the Book of Praise.

Our two weeks in Cairns coincided with what turned out to be a two-week rainy season, and we had about 650 mm of rain during our time there. That kept us indoors a lot, but also made for great sight-seeing when we went to see the Barron Falls, which, apparently, is usually just a trickle.

The Barron Falls

There were a couple of days when the rain stopped for a few hours and we were able to get out a bit. One highlight was going for what we thought would be a short 2 km hike that ended up taking us to the top of a mountain. Beautiful views!

This friendly metre-long lizard met us on our mountain hike

Now we’re back at home in Lae, and ready to climb a mountain of work.

A taste of local food – kangaroo pie.

The Ethics of Theft

One afternoon last week I went to a store in town to pick up my wife’s birthday present. I found a parking spot in front of the bank next door, noted the four security guards standing a few metres away, and decided this was definitely a safe place to park. Normally I don’t leave anything in the car, but that day I really didn’t want to be bothered carrying around my bilum (string bag) of stuff. Besides, all that was in there was a water bottle (I thought). No big deal if someone takes a lowly water bottle. So I hid the bag in the back seat.

I locked the doors and headed into the store.

When I came out, the back door was slightly ajar. When I got into the driver’s seat and reached for a sip of water – there was nothing there. Well that’s a bit of a pain, I thought. And not really a nice thought that someone managed to break into the car, with four security guards right there. But at least there was nothing of value in the bag.

But then as I was driving I realized that my mobile phone wasn’t in my pocket. That must have been in the bag too. Well, that’s a bit of a pain – but at least it was just a cheap $20 phone and not an iPhone or something else expensive.

And then I came to the realization that our camera was also in that bag. It was about three years old and starting to act up a bit, so maybe we were ready for a new one anyway. But still, there were a few pictures on there we hadn’t uploaded to the computer yet. And a bunch of older pictures as well – did we really want a criminal to have our family pictures?

I called my own phone, and as I expected, someone answered. The guy was not at all ashamed about having stolen my phone. He said if I wanted my things back, I could meet him at such-and-such a parking lot with some money, and I could have it all back.

Now I leave it to you. What would you do?

Give him some money to get your things back?

Go to the parking lot and start shouting, so that the crowds would tackle him to the ground and get your stuff back for you?

Buy a police officer’s services for $20 and hope he does something?

Do nothing?

Do something else?

Lae begins to wake up around 6 a.m. every day.
It may look like snow on those mountains, but those are just clouds.

Searching for survivors of the Rabaul Queen

Last week, the MV Rabaul Queen sank off the coast of Finschhafen, about 100 km east of Lae. You’ve probably heard about it on the news. A tragic event, and this time quite close to home for us. And yet I didn’t realize at that time how closely I would be involved. Somehow or other, a few days later, I was asked to help out with the search and rescue mission by looking for survivors and bodies.

I would end up spending two days on a helicopter, searching over the waters of the Solomon Sea. The pilot and I spent hours covering various search areas assigned by Australian Search and Rescue, scanning the waters below, hoping against hope to find someone alive yet several days after the disaster.

When we started our search, only two bodies had been found. We added to that count. We found one woman who had died in the disaster, and not so far away, one empty half-submerged life raft. Those are unforgettably vivid images that bring a lot of emotions and questions. This is a woman who remains anonymous to me, and yet must have friends and family who will miss her terribly. I know now what they don’t know – that she has died – but I don’t know who she is and I am powerless to inform her loved ones. I wonder… what were the last few moments of this woman’s life like? Did she have children with her who also died – or survived? Was she possibly on that life raft for a while, only to die of exposure or be washed away by a wave? Will I get to meet this woman in glory some day? Many more questions were mulling around in my mind as we continued the search.

Being in a small helicopter, it was not our job to retrieve anything or anyone from the water. I’m rather glad for that; I’m sure that would be even more difficult. We just radioed in our GPS coordinates and others would take care of the rest.

We spent the night in Popondetta, and the next day continued our search. We found nothing more – just driftwood. We also some flew over and searched around some beautiful coral reefs and islands. I found there was a terrible paradox in this whole search and rescue mission. Here we were, flying over some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, places teeming with life that the ultra-rich of the world pay big bucks to see – and yet in this beautiful place, we were surrounded by ugly death, looking for more death.

We returned to Lae. The next day, my co-worker Ian and I went to the disaster centre in Lae, where many of the survivors and victims’ families were gathered. Now there are human faces and names to this tragedy. Real people, suffering real loss. We did our best to give encouragement in Scripture and prayer, guiding people throughout their intense suffering to still cling to God, who allowed this to happen in his sovereign will and yet is also our only hope in this life and beyond. “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5).

Refuelling at a remote jungle location. 

The PNG coastline along the Solomon Sea.

Searching.

Searching in the rain proved quite a challenge.

How (not) to get a driver’s licence in PNG

We’ve been in PNG for almost half a year already! Hard to believe. One of the first things we tried to do in August was to get our PNG driver’s licences. After all, the law is that foreigners have to get their licence within their first three months in the country, and we knew it would be hard to do while we were at POC. Long story short: we finally got our licences today. Long story long: keep reading. 

Wed, Aug 10, 9 AM: Go to office with the sign “Traffic Registry” above it. Be told that, as an ex-pat, you need to see one particular police officer in the building next door. Wait in line to talk to this officer. Be told that he doesn’t have the appropriate paperwork with him, so come back on Thursday or Friday. 

Fri, Aug 12, 3:15 PM: Arrive at said office. Find out that it closes at 3 PM. Depart for several months of language training and hope they’ll turn a blind eye to the letter of the law that says you need to get a licence within three months. 

Wed, Dec 8, 9 AM: Go back to office, now ready to ask in Tok Pisin instead of English. Officer doesn’t show up. 

Tue, Dec 13, 9 AM: Go back to office. Wait half an hour. Enter office. Be told you need to bring photocopies of passport, work permit, and Canadian driver’s licences (originals won’t do, of course). 

Mon Dec 19, 9 AM: Go back to office. Wait an hour. Do some errands in town. Someone has spotted the officer at the bank in town, so he may be coming soon. Wait another hour. Decide to go home because baby isn’t so happy. Give phone number to someone who’s planning to stay until he comes. At 2 PM, find out the officer eventually came but wasn’t prepared to process licences today. Decide not to come back until after the Christmas season. 

Fri, Jan 12, 9 AM: Go back to office. No one’s there. Leave a minute later to do other errands. 

Fri, Jan 12, 11:30 AM: Go back to office. No one’s there. Leave a minute later and go home. 

Tue, Jan 23, 9 AM: Go back to office. No one’s there. Consider they may have changed the rules over the Christmas break. Go to office with the sign “Traffic Registry” above it and start waiting in line. Someone else waiting in line interrupts the man behind the desk and gets you some driver’s licence applications. You fill them out and hand them to the man behind the desk along with those photocopies of ID. Then you stand in another line to pay. Then you wait around for your name to be called out. At last, you have your picture taken and watch your licence being printed. Leave at 10:45 AM with licence in pocket. That didn’t take long!

Photo of the Week: Brick Wall

Over the past few weeks, the young guys in our church have been putting in many hours building a wall at the back of the church building. One of them had some experience with this sort of thing, and he taught the others how to do it. This wall should help to keep the sound of traffic from drowning out the preaching and other church activities. Here are the guys showing off the product of their hard work.

Note: This is our third of (hopefully) a weekly email. This is the last one we're putting on our blog; after this you'll have to be signed up on the email list to receive the picture. So if you haven't received this picture in your email, you can always add your name to the list here and look forward to next week's photo.

Rainforest Habitat

Last week we had some friends from POC visiting for a few days. We took the opportunity to go to the Rainforest Habitat in Lae. On the way there, we took a wrong turn and ended up on a road that – well, let’s just say it was a good opportunity to figure out that the four wheel drive on our car works marvelously. You just never know when you might need that here, even when you live in the city.

The Rainforest Habitat is a great place to see a great variety of plants and animals native to PNG.

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon is the largest species of pigeon
in the world. It can grow to be over two feet tall.

Yes, it’s a croc. We’re glad they don’t show up in the wild
in Lae too often.

Crocs look pretty scary, but this cassowary
wouldn’t be a whole lot nicer to  meet in the wild.

Avigail was very excited to see all the animals.

PNG is well-known for its birds of paradise. They are beautiful
birds, but shy and especially hard to photograph well – even
in captivity. This will have to do (for now, we hope).

Photo of the Week: Market

We buy all our fruit and vegetables at market. People bring in their fresh produce from their villages and sell it in the city. The prices at market are significantly cheaper than in the supermarket. For example, you might pay (in CAD, USD, or AUD):

• 20 cents for a bundle of greens
• 90 cents for a bunch of about 10 bananas
• 45+ cents for a mango
• $2 for a pineapple
• $3 for a head of lettuce

 

Note: This is our second of (hopefully) a weekly email. We're only putting the first few on our blog so that you'll get a little taste of what the weekly email might look like. If you haven't received this picture in your email, you can always add your name to the list here and look forward to next week's photo.