Monday 18 January

Monday 10 January
I slept in this morning until after 9am,  It is still raining which has made the temp come down and is so lovely to hear the drip drip dripping while lying in bed.  I didn't get out for a walk because of the rain so I hope that it clears up enough this afternoon to go.  After breakfast Monique and I went out to the Crown Plaza to look at the bird of paradise rings at the jewellery store there.  She found one there that she liked and we also found one for Tiarna to take back with us on Friday.  The undercover carpark at the Plaza was chocca so we had squeezed into one and I had to crawl out the passenger door to get in and out.  So funny, then of course it took a 20 point turn to get the car out of the tight spot.  With all the rain about, there was heaps of traffic through the city centre and it took ages to get through and you really have to be a rude pushy driver to get through but as I am becoming that most days, I was able to manouver through ok.  We headed to Vision City to get a watering can, a shower rack and some milk and bread.  We parked out in the open and walked through the rain to the shops as neither Monique or I feel comfortable going into the undercover carpark there.  There are just two many people around.  It feels safer to park beside one of the guard umbrellas in the open space.  We often buy some buns or twisties for the guards, so they are happy for us to park near them.  I have been noticing that each time we park in this one particular place, if there is only one guard there, by the time we get back after shopping there is two or three guards.  I think they are recognising the car and the fact that we give out snacks sometimes. Robyn told us that we will be looked after if we do that on occasion.  So its great.  On another offshoot, the twisties here fantastic and gluten free.  They have 4 or 5 different flavours and they are all yum.  And a small packet costs about 80 toya which works out at about 30 cents.  We got back home just after 11am.  I put my seedlings out in the rain  and watered the orchids.  Steve came home not long after that because he wasn't feeling well at all.  He has the stomach crap problem also.  He spent some time dozing on the couch.  After lunch, Steve went back to work and we just chilled for the afternoon.  When Steve came home, we went to the yacht club for the gym and a walk and then back home.  I had cooked some savoury mince wrapped in some huge leaf veges that we got at the markets yesterday.  They turned out great although a little bit of rice with them would have made them a bit lighter.  As it was, it was incredibly rich but really good.   After dinner I went up to the house wing to have a glass of wine with Robyn.  She was up cooking hamburgers for her family for dinner.  She asked me about my glass beads and how I went about selling them.  I said that I hadn't sold much because I had never had the packaging right, so she brainstormed a few ideas and I am now thinking about how to do some nice packaging.  We'll see.  Anyway, many wines later, I went back down to the house and went to bed.

Tuesday 11 January
Hungover.  Yuck.  Red wine just is not good for me.  Monique had an appointment for a haircut at 10am and I had booked a pedicure spa at 11am, so we had breakfast and I watered the plants and we went to Airways Hotel for the morning.  I had my eyebrows waxed while Monique had her haircut.  It looked good (the haircut I mean).  We went into the deli for a milkshake and biscuit and then down to the Spa to get the pedicure.  OMG.  What an amazing experience.  We were pampered for an hour and 20 minutes.  So lovely.  I will be taking all visitors to Port Moresby there for a treat.  In a daze of pleasure, we came home for lunch.  Robyn came over in the afternoon to tell us about the flooding in Toowoomba and Brisbane as we hadn't watched the news.  She was supposed to fly out tomorrow to go back to live in Australia, but as their temporary accomodation at Kangaroo Point has been evacuated, they cancelled the flight and will probably go out on Monday.  She is terribly depressed about it.  We headed to the yacht club for noodle night dinner which was lovely, but Monique had been vomiting in the afternoon and was still feeling off, we came home early.  We spoke to our families to check they were ok.  They were not flooded out, but Dad was in hospital with a heart scare.  Not serious and will probably be out tomorrow. 

Wednesday 12 January
I had a really great sleep last night and woke up about 7.30am.  I went out to water my seedling and discovered them all dead.  I had put them outside in the rain but forgotten to bring them in out of the sun.  All gone.  Except for the ones in the house garden.  Oh well.  I will have to try again when I get back from Australia in a month.  So I watered the house garden seedlings and Steve's orchids, and then went up to Robyn to see how she was.  She was thoroughly depressed because she couldn't fly out this morning.  She had to go shopping for groceries for the next couple of days as she had given away all her food in anticipation.  I went for a drive with her and Tyler to Boroko.  We got what we had to get and I waited
outside the door for Robyn with one of the guards who was insistent on taking my trolley to the car for me.  His name was Simon and he was a lovely young man.  I got home and started the awful job of taking our belongings to the house next door.  It is difficult because of Steve lock n load still being in there as Robyn's house is still occupied.  And we are flying out on Friday so I has to be done today and tomorrow.  So we put everything in the spare room which is where it will mostly stay until I get back in a month and Steve gets back from Lahir.  We anticipate being in that house for 3 or 4 months while the floor in this house is pulled up and redone.  The fellows came today to have a look and it is completely water damaged and they said we are lucky to have only 1 hole so far.  But there are so many dips in the floor I am surprised that we haven't fallen through more.  The front verandah on the house next door is nearly completely rotten also, so that is being fixed while we are away.  Such a pain in the butt, but needs doing soon.  I have moved most things but will have to leave some stuff for Steve to do on the weekend as he will need them before he goes.  Maggie is here today cleaning and she is brilliant.  I love how she just comes in and does what she has to do.  I am getting so lazy.  We went to lunch with Steve to the Crown Plaza.  It was mostly very nice and the chocolate cake was devine.  I have read about a chocolate cake called "Death by Chocolate" and I reckon I tasted it today.  So yum.  I am very full now and will be making a light soup for dinner tonight after our gym/walk.  We expect to have a quiet one as we went for dinner last night at the yacht club instead of going tonight.  All good.  One more day before we fly out.  My plans of taking a bus/train and visiting everyone along the east coast is not looking so promising with the flooding everywhere, but we'll see.  Packing of the suitcases tomorrow.  And a bit more moving gear.  Monique has been sick for most of today.  I hope she is feeling better tomorrow.

Thursday 13 January
We packed our suitcases today and put the rest of our gear in the house next door.  There is only a small amount for Steve to shift on the weekend.  The day was fairly quiet.  Mon and I had a Uno competition again up in the housewing which she won again.  I am getting some very bad cards OR she is getting much better at playing now.  Not good.  Robyn came up briefly to say goodbye as we were leaving fairly early in the morning.  We went to the Yacht club for an early dinner.  I had steak and veges.  Very good.  Steve had bangers and mash and Mon had chicken in pajamas.  She really likes that and it is her meal of choice mostly.  She is still not feeling well and has been throwing up tonight.  We went to bed early.

Friday 14 January
Monique was up most of the night being sick.  I am really glad we are flying out today because I think her body is not coping with the water or food or something.  She is normally such a healthy girl but on and off for the whole 6 weeks we have been in PNG she has had stomach aches and the runs.  And is now throwing up everything she eats.  We are heading to the airport at 7am and flying at 9.30am.  Hopefully she will be better soon.............. Well we are in Cairns now.  Mon had a hard time on the plane feeling sick and headachy but after some asprin she felt a bit better.  Lucky the flight is only just over an hour.  Sylvia and Jamie met us at the airport and we are now enconsed in their house while we get Monique ready for school.  It is so hot here.  Much hotter than PNG, although it's not so much the heat as it is the humidity.  I have sweat poring out everywhere.  I am completely soaked.  Yuck.  Monique had a bit of a freaky event just before we took off in Port Moresby.  We were waiting for ages to get onboard the plane, so I told her to stay with the bags and I would go and get something to eat from the cafe/bakery which was about 10 metres away from where we were sitting.  I was gone probably 5 minutes and when I got back, Monique told me never to leave her alone
again.   As soon as I walked away, this airport guy came over and was questioning her about where she was going and did she had a job.  She ignored him and he finally left but she was a bit freaked out about it.  I couldn't believe that he waited until I had walked away.  I didn't know anything about it and he was gone before I started walking back.  You really live and learn.  I will make sure to take her with me next time to keep her safe.  Anyway, we are now safely in Cairns and Monique has been feeling well since we arrived.

Monday 17 January
We had a great weekend catching up with Sylvia, Brenton and Jamie.  I went for a heap of walks around town.  Amazing how nice it is to be able to walk the streets again.  I didn't realise how much I am now aware of my surroundings and what could possibly happen.  I was in Sylvia's car yesterday waiting while she went up to her work to give them some paperwork.  These three drunk guys came down the street and sat right in front of the car and continued drinking.  I was so skiddish that i got out and locked up the car and went
into the building to find Sylvia.  I wouldn't have even looked twice at them before spending that time in Port Moresby.  I'm not sure what that means that I was a little scared and if it's a good thing to not be as oblivious as I used to be.  I kind of miss that but I don't think I will ever be like that again.  Is that part of growing up?  On one of my walks I went into the bush on a marked cement trail but spent the whole time looking around me and being a little jumpy also.  And when I saw some guys loitering, I turned around and went back.  I can't work out whether I am now a scaredy cat or am just really aware of what can go wrong.