Sunday 22nd May - chilled out watching a bit of tv, went to the aviat club for the joker draw at 2pm, Steve excited about the 3K SPbeers, went swimming, early dinner
Monday 23rd May - quiet day, gave biscuits cooked over the weekend to head office staff, Tetkos and guards. Everyone loved them. Lealah and I went out to pay the hitron internet bill, brian bell where we bought a qld singlet and coffee mug for state of origin on wednesday, groceries from boroko. Maggie tried sushi with us at lunch. she enjoyed it. It was her first try. Jen flew in from Brisbane on her way up to Lihir for the week, so I took her out to get some bits and pieces, checked her into the Gateway Motel, waiting till Steve was finished work, drove to Era Doreena and showed her around the unit there with Steve lock and load, went to have drinks and dinner at the yacht club. Steve had oysters and luksa soup, Jen had the seafood linguini and I had fish and chips. It was ok. Dropped Jen off at the Gateway and headed home.
Tuesday 24th May - woke up with really sore throat, need to get some medicine to relieve it but don't have a car due to Steve lock and load borrowing it as his car was in for a service. he needs to drive home at lunch. Lesley and Shivani picked me up and we went to the Hohola School to drop off papers and ask if they needed anything done, then to the childrens ward library for the same thing. We didn't stay today for activities but will be doing something on thursday. Then we went to the Antinatal clinic at the womens section of the general hospital to help with the blood pressure and weighing of all the ladies. Great to talk to everyone, and it helps the nurses heaps. They have been so busy lately they haven't been able to get lunch and lots of ladies have been sent away. But today the nurses will get lunch and many ladies will be seen. It was cool. I hope to do that again. I'm spending the afternoon finishing the front of my first quilt. I just have to get the padding and the backing material to put it completely together and then it's for Maggie. She said she is going to take it with her to Goroka when she goes up in July for her Womens Church excursion. Excellent. Steve came home at lunch to say we had been told to move into Era Doreena this weekend. So we have a busy weekend planned.
Wednesday 25th May - woke up really sick. the flu had taken hold. I turned off all aircons and sweated it out all day. I still didn't have a car so I just wandered around the compound if I needed to get out and about. The house next door is nearly complete, so Leisa had a cleaner in yesterday to do the cleaning. We went to the Yacht Club for dinner and to watch State of Origin. It was a great game and a great night. Queensland won which made it sweet. We were pulled up by the police on the way home so it was just as well I was driving because Steve had way too much to drink, but they never check anyway.
Thursday 26th May
When I woke up this morning, Steve popped back from work to tell me that Steve lock n load had been "rolled" this morning. Scary. He runs everyday and was running down along Ela Beach and into one of the more unsafe areas of POM when three men approached him with a gun. He had to give them his shoes and they searched him for anything else. He wasn't carrying anything so they let him go to run barefoot back home. He was very lucky as it could have been much worse but it still shook him up. I'm not sure where he is going to run now. I drove to Shivani's place where we met up with Lesley and went to Lawes Road Library. We spent two fun filled hours there colouring in helicoptors, making hats and hairy bread with the kids. (Hairy bread is the same as fairy bread with hundreds and thousands except we are doing the letter h this week, so it was called hairy bread instead). Fun times. We then went to the office briefly and then to Shivani's where I got my car and went home. Maggie was working again today because I had her put all the stuff back in the other house ready for new tenants. She had almost finished by the time I got back, so after checking with her that everything is done, we locked up the house and she left for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon reading and resting to hopefully finally get over this flu. I tell you that I am sick of being sick. I never get sick in Australia, so I'm hoping that my body gets used to the place real soon, cause I'm over it.
Friday 27th May - Craft group in the morning with Lealah, lunch with the ladies at craft at the chinese restaurant at Vision city, then spent the afternoon with Shivani, before picking up Di and Steve and heading to the Sp Brewery for the All Nations Womens Group tour. We had a quick tour of the brewery before heading to the Brew Kettle. The Brew Kettle is a little pub inside the brewery that you need an invitation to get into, on a Friday night, free beer for the guests. We had a fantastic night trying all the SP beers, talking to all sorts of people and then heading to the yacht club with Shivani and Praneel for dinner. Fun times.
Saturday 28th May - we were up early to pick up the HD Auditors to show them Ela Beach Markets. It was interesting to see how excited they were to be there and looking at all the art available. Cherry in particular was funny. We had to keep telling her to stop waving her money about. Karen Richie helped with the driving around, and bought a gorgeous mask for her wall. She also ordered another one the same from the guy. I got another Kundu drum. Love my musical instruments - even though I can't really play them. It's all good fun. Afterwards, we went back to the Crown Plaza so everyone could pack up and check out, then to the airport to drop the auditors off for flights. We now have an invite to be shown around Malaysia by two of the girls. Lovely. Definately going to do that. We then headed to get some diesel for the car as the red light was showing much to Steve's disgust. I forgot to fuel up again. The ususal fuel station at Hohola was closed, so we headed to the one on Waigani Drive. So funny. At the usual fuel station, locals are not allowed in to sell stuff to the customers as they are coming in, but on Waigani Drive, anything goes. So while waiting to be served and while being served, we saw people wandering around with sunglasses, steering wheel covers, religious posters, crabs, bananas, and to top it off, a baby deer. Where else in the world could you be offered a baby deer while being fueled up. Classic. We grabbed some KMC for lunch and headed home to meet Maggie and her boys who were helping us pack up and move. When we got here, there was half a pallet of stuff. It ended up taking 5 big car loads to get everything over. And it is 5 flights of stairs to get down from the carpark to our unit. OMG. Give me 6 months and I'll be incredibly fit just from going up and down the stairs. Anyway, we got everything to the new place except for food which we were going back for in the morning. Everything was piled into a room and we just pottered for the rest of the afternoon, putting things away. We can't fully unpack until Steve Lock n Load moved out next Tuesday as when he does, we will move into the main room. But it's all good.
Sunday 29th May - we slept in (well, I slept in and Steve waited until I woke) before heading back to HD to get the last of our stuff and finish tidying the house. We got back around lunch time and then spent the rest of the afternoon pottering and chilling. It had been a big weekend moving but the view is so worth it, and Steve seems much more relaxed here.
Monday 30th May - I went to the Aviat Club at 9.30am today to go and try out water aerobics. It was great and I am definately going to do it regularly. Lesley has been trying to talk me into going to water aerobics for ages and I finally caved which I'm glad I did. It's gentle enough that elbow and shoulder joints are able to work out without aching as they normally do. Afterwards, I went back home and continued unpacking for the afternoon. I'm feeling a bit down and usually spent time hiding at home when I feel like that. I think it's just the move so hopefully I'll feel better soon.
Tuesday 31st May - Today we had to meet at Airways to get the two book containers ready to be shifted on the weekend to Hastings Deering. It was a big and dirty job as all the boxes had to be stacked low, and all the new books had to be put into the containers out of the shed. We did it fairly quickly due to so many ladies turning up, so we headed to the cafe afterwards for a coffee or cold drink. It was a lovely morning. I headed home afterwards because Maggie was there and I was also expecting the maintenance guys to come in to fix some bits and pieces. I now drive and get Maggie and drop her off in the afternoons on Tuesdays and Fridays. Because she lives in a not so good area, I have to really be sure to "drive with purpose" and not stop anywhere. Love my 4wd. You just go and drive over whatever to make sure you are safe. I have had to replace two tyres now (which is an experience in itself) but that is ok. So once I had checked on Maggie and got her lunch, and the maintenance guys had been, I raced over to Shivani's to pick her up and bring her back to my place. We spent the afternoon cooking some authentic indian food for dinner. Yum. Shivani is such a great cook and she has grinded up some special spice mixes for me to use in different dishes. I need to spend a bit more time with her to learn more. Steve and Steve Lock n Load really enjoyed the meal as did I.
Wednesday 1st June - water aerobics again this morning. The day was overcast and spitting rain and the water in the pool was rather cool but it was nice and the exercise is good for me. I spent the afternoon at home again, still trying to unpack. It's not moving real fast as I have to wait, but slowly slowly. We headed to the yacht club for dinner and had a good time. This month, the company doing the give aways at the Yacht Club is Telecom who are promoting a new mobile phone. It's called "Citifone" and the ad says "say yello to citifone". It's cute. Anyway, Steve won a mobile phone, hat, shirt and pen. I gave the hat, shirt and pen to Claudie and the mobile phone to Maggie so that I can contact her to tell here when i am heading to pick her up. When I went yesterday, I came to the bus stop area and there were masses of people everywhere and I couldn't see Maggie, so I just kept driving, turned around and went back. She was there so I stopped, but it's risky. I am now able to call her to say I am nearly there, and to stand forward so I can see her. Yay.
Thursday 2nd June - today I went to Shivani's place at 8.30am to be there when Lesley arrived. We were going to the 6 Mile library to do the hats, helicoptors and hairy bread activities. It was a really great morning and the kids enjoyed it. We had also taken along a new lady, Louise, who I met at the Brew Kettle the previous Friday. She was interested in seeing what was going on, so she could decide if she wanted to work with Buk Bilong Pikinini. She has been here for 3 months and has been a teacher for many years. Lovely lady. Louise had a great time so maybe, we have another member. We also went up to the General Hospital to the library there to drop off some stuff to Nara. Afterwards, we went to Lesley's house briefly (it was my first visit to her place - really lovely which a great view over Ela Beach) and then to have some lunch at the Ela Beach Motel. Then to a printing company to get the ends of the paper rolls for the libraries, and then back to Shivani's place where I got my car and headed home for a quick nanna nap before going to the yacht club for canoeing. The fellow (Brendan) who did the training this afternoon was one of the best I had training us. He really concentrated on teaching us how our bodies had to be the one working rather than our arms, as there is more power in our torso. But I must be getting much better at it, because I'm not aching as much anymore afterwards, but it is so great. I'm really enjoying it.
Friday 3rd June - Today, I had to drive Steve to work, pick up Maggie and drop her off at the unit. The security is very good here, and you can't just drive in. You have to have a special sticker on your car, or be a guest of one of the residents. It is very strict which is a good thing because it means we are really safe in here. The guards are great. I had to wander up to let in the Hitron guys in so I had a really good chat with a couple of them, and I left a bag of biscuits for the guards another morning. Anyway, I have to pick up Maggie, drive her back, punch in the code at the door to get in, go down 5 flights of stairs, then use the key to get in the unit. Great hey. Then I told Maggie what needs doing, and what to not worry about as we still haven't unpacked properly, then headed out to pick up Lealah and go to craft group at the aviat club. We learnt another new pattern and had good chats. It was a great morning. I dropped Lealah back and went home to sleep as I had a bad headache. Afterwards, I helped Maggie do a bit of her sewing, then when Steve got home, we drove her home, got some chinese takeaway and a bottle of wine, and went home for a quiet night. Lovely.
Saturday 4th June - I had to be at the Hastings Deering compound at 8.30am today to wait for the book containers to arrive. I'm not sure why I had to be there as I didn't know where they were going, but after consulting a few people, I found Emos was the man to talk to and he told us where the containers were going. They arrived safely, were put in a temporary position until the shed is ready, we opened them to check all was ok, and then left to do a bit of grocery shopping, went home and chilled for the rest of the day.
Sunday 5th June - I woke up late this morning, so after breakfast, Steve and I headed outside to check out the compound. We hadn't had a chance to so were looking forward to it. There is a great walking track that goes up and down the hill with steps and bridges etc. There is a brand new gym and lap pool. And two pools and a sauna. So we did the walking track and then I jumped in the pool while Steve spent time in the sauna. Then I sat on a lounger in the shade and read for awhile, while Steve swam. Then upstairs for lunch and napping. It was a really nice day. In the afternoon, Steve went to the gym for an hour while I cooked dinner. Lovely.
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