Our first visitor, nanny dramas, post courier hilarity...

Hello again!

We've had another busy week or two, and yet again I've been a bit slack on the blogging front. This was partly not our fault, as the hotel decided to cut off our "pay by the MB" card access and insist we buy their insanely overpriced ADSL package. Of course, they didn't tell us this, so we thought the internet was just down for a week or so (wouldn't be surprising!).

Grandma Helen arrived last Wednesday, and we had a wonderful week with her. It seemed so short at the end, but it was wonderful to have her come and stay. Niamh was besotted and made sure "Gamma" was watching everything she did. She also brought with her a whole stack of books and toys for Niamh, so we were very lucky.

On the weekend we managed to get up to a picnic spot called Crystal Rapids, with another family who had a parent visiting from Australia. It was quite an event. As I think I've mentioned before, Dan's company are by their own admission paranoid about security. This place itself is quite safe, but apparently you have to drive through a few dodgy areas to get there. To remedy this potential danger, they sent us not only with the usual security guard/driver, but also a ute with 4 extra guards and a german shepherd in a box on the back. Dan says the dogs only know one command... kill!

The fun didn't stop there, though. This place is supposedly about an hour out of Moresby, but since the drivers can't go any faster than 60kph (not that you'd really want to on these roads!) we thought it might take a bit longer. At about the 3 hour mark, after the bitumen road had long since turned to dirt.... then rubble.... then a goat track.... then very very muddy and boggy and swampy..... and winding through teeny tiny villages where all the people looked extremely surprised to see 3 white 4WDs in convoy, the driver was finally forced to stop and admit (most un-PNG) that he was lost. Our friends who were travelling (in their own vehicle, they don't belong to Dan's company and hence are allowed to live much more normally!) in the middle of the convoy later confessed they knew we passed both exits to the park, but thought we might be going on a nice adventure.

I will admit that I did not believe the driver when he said it wouldn't take long to get back to the right road, and I did not think we would actually ever get there. Happily, somehow we arrived at the picnic spot, which was absolutely gorgeous. We had a lovely day, a delicious picnic, and managed to squeeze in a swim in the river too. I was glad to see again that we were the only non-nationals there. Sometimes I feel it's a little bit apartheidy around here...Here's a link to our album on facebook

Poor Helen, I feel a little bit guilty, because for most of the week I just did what we usually do... but having said that, there isn't a whole lot more to see and do in Pt Moresby! We did also manage to get along and see the annual Orchid Spectacular, a feat I didn't think I'd achieve until well into my eighties. It did, however, win points for having a sausage sizzle, and we also ran into a few other friends with young kids there. I think this just goes to show you what the social calendar is like around here. I mean, how likely are you to

a) attend an orchid show, and
b) run into non-geriatric friends there?

In other news, the nanny that we had dearly hoped to inherit unfortunately (for us) accepted a position with another family. They were able to offer her accommodation and full time hours. A few days after finding out, we had another lead. A family are leaving at the end of the year, and have a nanny that sounds like Mary Poppins. She's been nannying for 16 years, and several families have flown her back to Australia for visits once they left!! The lady I was speaking to thought we'd be a perfect match, and said she'd talk about it and message us the next day. I was sooooo excited!

We were very sad when Helen left on Tuesday, and I cried a fair bit at and after the airport. Then I went along to baby group, where the following things happened in sequence:

• realised we were the only ones attending baby group for the day
• received a text message saying that the aforementioned nanny would not be able to travel the distance to our accommodation, and would prefer to stay and work for the next family that would be living in her current house
• the child of the baby group host stabbed Niamh in the eye with a pencil, causing a welt and some scraped skin... Niamh was just being her usual sweet self at the time, but had mistakenly drawn on the other child's piece of paper.

This was all too much for me, and as I was holding a sobbing Niamh to comfort her, I started bawling too. Quite embarrassing,  and the poor Mum thought I was just devastated that her kid had hurt mine and she got upset too. Ahh well... it's all good again now.

Of course, the week got progressively better. I've decided that despite having two amazing-sounding nannies fall through, we're going to find someone who's a perfect fit for us. We're in no rush, and I don't want to just jump in and take the first person who comes along. Everyone from our driver to the cleaner to other nannies knows someone who would be perfect for the job. The problem is, not a lot of people have experience with expat families, and a few people have said that that's very important. It makes sense, I suppose. Life is very different for expats compared to nationals...

On another up, my Mum, Grandma Alison is coming to stay on Monday! We're all very excited, although I don't think there'll be much more to do compared with Helen's adventures around Pt Moresby. Unlike Helen though, Mum's never been to PNG before, so this will be a really different experience for her.

I'm going to close this post, with something new I've been dying to start doing. The newspaper that's delivered to us daily, The Post Courier, is possibly one of the funniest things I've ever read (and simultaneously depressing and terrifying). Since our scanner has arrived in the shipment, I'm going to make this a regular segment. Who knows, there's enough material for it to be nearly daily.

Here's just 2 of my favourites so far (more to follow!)

Please click on the photos to enlarge and read the text

Is it just my sense of humour, or is the editor taking the piss with that title?

 This next one, you really have to persist with, but it is so worth it. I guarantee, at the end of the first column you will still have no idea what the article's about, but by the end, it's amazing. I love the lack of the word 'a' in the title, the overwrought attempt at innuendo and intrigue, and the coining of the term "ruba mama". Also, the word meri means woman.

Enjoy

 

Oh, and also, did I mention I've booked our flights home? November 1st - 15th. My calendar is open and awaiting appointments :)
Love to all, can't wait to catch up back home!