100 Things

As found on Amanda's Musings (Johnathan's sister). The things I've (Candy) done are in pink.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (not on you life)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it!
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Visited all 7 states in Australia

40. Taken care of someone who was drunk
41. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

42. Watched wild whales
43. Stolen a sign
44. Backpacked in Europe
45. Taken a road-trip
46. Gone rock climbing

48. Midnight walk on the beach
49. Gone sky diving
50. Taken a train through Europe
51. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
52. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table, and had a meal with them
53. Milked a cow

54. Alphabetized your CDs
55. Sung karaoke
56. Lounged around in bed all day
57. Gone scuba diving
58. Kissed in the rain
59. Gone to a drive-in theater
60. Started a business
61. Taken a martial arts class
62. Been in a movie (Home made)
63. Crashed a party
64. Gone without food for 5 days
65. Gotten a tattoo (not a real one of course)
66. Got flowers for no reason
67. Performed on stage
68. Been to Las Vegas
69. Recorded music (but not professionally - just with a tape recorder!)
70. Eaten shark
71. Buried one/both of your parents

72. Been on a cruise ship
73. Spoken more than one language fluently
74. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
75 Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
76. Had plastic surgery
77. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

78. Wrote articles for a large publication
77. Lost over 100 pounds (75)
79. Piloted an airplane
80. Petted a stingray
81. Broken someone’s heart
82. Broken a bone
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Parasailed
86. Skipped all your school reunions

87. Shaved your head
88. Caused a car accident
89. Pretended to be "sick"
90. Surfed in the ocean
91. Saved someone's life
92. Fainted

93. Been in the room while someone is giving birth (Me)

94. Hitchhiked
95. Adopted a child
96. Been caught daydreaming
97. Been to the Grand Canyon
98. Called off a wedding engagement
99. Donated your blood
100. Accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and trusted Him to cleanse you for your sins, so that you too may have eternal life

Throw That CAT

We were woken this morning at 2:10am to dogs barking. We looked out our bedroom window and the dogs were barking at something up the paw-paw tree, we went to tell the guard, he just got a ladder. There was no way he was climbing the ladder to get a cat out of the paw-paw tree he is afraid of the dogs. I put some clothes on; I didn’t run out in my PJ’s. I had to distract the dogs while Johnathan tried to get the cat out.

First Johnathan tried to put them in their house but that didn’t work, I tried giving them food for a distraction but that didn’t work. Johnathan was up the ladder, the cat had wrapped it self so tightly between the branches Johnathan couldn’t pull it out. He thought well if you’re not going to come then well do this the hard way. He started to break off branches I thought he was going to take the all down. The cat finally let go and Johnathan grabbed it and threw that CAT. On its way down it thanked Johnathan by this……

Snorkel Day

*Note: Just made the photos bigger so you can see what you're looking at.

Today we were up at 6:00am and dropped Malachi off at Nana and Grandad’s and headed out with another family and a national family to an Island were we were going to have lunch and do some swimming and snorkeling.

The boat ramp

We arrived at the Narley’s house and they put the boat into the water. They literally put the boat down a cliff onto the beach and then into the water. Then they put on the motor. We all got in, there were 10 of us and headed out to the Island. Well ¾ of the way there the wind started to pick up and the waves were getting choppier so we turned around. Johnathan and I were sitting in the back of the boat and we were wet.

Our Anchor

We then headed into the opposite direction and went to a reef. All but 3 of us got out of the baot and snorkeled. I (Candy) will do it next time and the sea lice didn’t entice me into the water. The water was crystal clear and of what I saw was beautiful.

Variety of Starfish

The different bright colored fish, starfish, coral was just beautiful and I imagine as the other have said that underneath it was spectacular. As one said just like in a movie.

Snorkeling

We were out on the water 3 hours and that was enough to get wet and sun burnt which we are feeling the aftermath now. The rest of the day we have felt like zombies sleeping.

The Long Wait is over....

On Tuesday the 9th of May our crates arrived here in Hoskins. It was an exciting event as the crates came off the truck and before long it didn't take long to break them open.  All our boxes are now on the porch of our new home ready to be unpacked.  We move into our new house in 3 weeks. We are excited to finally feel like we are somewhat settled and if more settled when we set up house.

Walking

Malachi started walking today! Yay, what a milestone!

Busy March and April

Well it has been a busy 3 months here in Hoskins. Malachi has turned 1 and is busy getting into everything. He now has 4 teeth and is starting to walk. He has taken a few steps but just needs to build his confidence.

Johnathan has started in the Admin Office as the Islands Region Administrative Assistant. He has quite a few job to do.  I (Candy) have started working in the supply office doing some of their finances and filing. I work in there 2 hrs a day in the morning.

We are both continuing to do pigeon study. I am more doing pigeon study than Johnathan but he is helping me.

Johnathan leaves this Thursday to do shuttle runs for the Zook family who are moving into a tribal location to help with the work there. He is looking forward to the experience and helping out. He has done a shuttle run before but they need to train someone who will be here for a while so that when others come up then there will be someone on base that knows what to do.

An Update

Johnathan is close to completing his check 1 for pigeon. He is in the mid to high range for completing check 1. I will not be doing my check one until March 20th. We are busy getting ready for conference which is held from March 11th - 15th. I (candy) am in charge of 2 groups the babies and the preschoolers. So I am busy preparing for that. We have Fiona Cousins staying with us until she leaves for Australia on March 10th. It's great having her here and to be able to spend some time with her before she leaves. We have another house guest coming on March 7th and she will be with us until around the 16th of March. After conference Malachi celebrates his 1st Birthday on March 18th and Johnathan starts in his ministry. He will be helping out with Generator Maintenance. And we are still doing pigeon study amongst all of that.

Some photos from the Last couple of months

Flying into PNG

Arrival

Nick and Malachi

Local Flowers

Our house is up the top

Malachi with a locla bubba

Another arrival pic

Look out below!

At the Interface Property

Malachi standing up!

Rain, Planes and Earthquakes

Rhino Beetle

Well it has been a while since we have had an entry!
It has been raining non-stop here you almost need a boat to go outside. The thunderstorms are around all the time. Sunday the sun broke through the clouds so Johnathan and his dad made the most of the sunshine and went with a couple of other guys to the other side of the airport to have a look for old war planes. They came back after fighting off all the mozzies and having found the right wing to a plane. They were happy with there findings. There are a lot of old war planes and things left over from the war, when Japan attacked Papua New Guinea.

Searching for War Relics

We have started into full-time pigeon study. We will be full-time from now until we have our conference in March. Then we may go part-time and start in some kind of ministry.

Shoulder Ride!

Yesterday we felt our first earthquake. Johnathan was helping his dad in the Tribal Resource Centre, Malachi was in bed and I was at the computer when all of a sudden everything began to shake. At first I though it was heavy machinery, but nope it was the earth shaking. Johnathan said "because it had been raining so much that the earth was cold so it was shivering". I thought it was funny.

A Note From Amanda

Hi, it's Amanda here, Johnathan's sister. Just thought you'd like to know that their email has been down for a while, hence the reason there have been no entries here. There will be one soon though so keep on checking in!

Rain, Rain, go aw.....No Stay!!

Kimbe Town

We are settling in well here. The rainy season has hit with rain all the time. It is nice as it makes the humidity bearable. We are well into orientation getting through the various ministries. After this week we will be starting pigeon study, which we are both looking forward to. It will be nice to be able to communicate with the national people a little better than we do now. We have been to Kimbe a couple of times and visited a local village. We are starting to make some good friends.

Sunday

Well I have been known to be accident prone. Tonight I thought I would go outside and enjoy the rain as it was hot inside and it was pelting down outside. So I went out and went to the end of the store and enjoyed the rain as I turned around and walked back I slipped on the concrete and fell on my right side. Oh but I was ok. Just a few bruises and sore right side. As I laid on the ground I looked up to find a very dark face looking at me, the guard who is usually at the front gate, which isn't very far from where I was, standing over me. He reached out and pulled my arm. I guess he wanted to see if it was broken. I told him I was ok and went back up to the house!

(pic: Johnathan and a guard)

Kimbe

Kimbe Town Centre

We ventured into Kimbe the local town about 30 min drive from Hoskins base with Rory and Mary Fuller. They are the people who will be taking us through Orientation. We only got 15 min down the road and had to turn back as we did not have any petrol. In town we visited the local markets and bought veggies. There were lots of people and a lady even grabbed my hand and said something to me but I could not understand her. We then made our way into Kimbe town.

We first went to a store called, as we would know it, Kmart well they call it the same thing but it is Kimbe Mart. We picked up a few groceries and then headed to the local resort by the water called Liamo's for Lunch. It was nice to sit by the water and have a nice lunch. After lunch we walked around the resort and had a look at all the animals. There were Eagles, lots of other birds a tree kangaroo which looked like a dog and lots of mozzies which loved my ankles. We then headed back into town and headed to Papindos and looked for Curtin material.

I caught someone shoplifting I guess it is my retail background I am always on the eye out for suspicious people. He put the item down his pants right in front of me. I don't know what he was thinking. I think he must have thought I was invisible. We told a guy who works in the store and they went after him. We bought some nice material. Johnathan went to get his license with Rory but the line was really long and there was only one guy working and they were really busy so they left. In the store next to Papindos they had really slippery slate and Malachi and I nearly went for a sixer on the floor. I now know why people here in Kimbe scuff there feet on the ground.

Living in Hoskins

We are getting settled in here as well as we can with two suitcases. We look forward to when our crate arrives. The house that we are currently in is above the Supply store and can be rather noisy (not the best house to have a baby in). We will move in June into Fiona's house (a friend who lives on the same base) which is really nice. Fiona is going home in March as she is engaged.

They have a few house hold things that they want to get rid of and it will be good to as we will buy them and we won't have to move them. It is a nice house I will have to post some photos when I get some. Wooden Floors.

The Humidity is something to get used to having two cold showers a day. The sweat just drips off you. Yesterday I met a few local PNG'ers and we had tea with one family who comes from the ATA tribe which is a long way from here up a mountain. They catch a PMV (People Moving Vehicle) and then it is a 9 hour hike up a mountain to their village in all it takes them about 6 hours to get here to Hoskins base. They are lovely family they have two kids. Kaiko is the main Bible teacher there. Paul and Linda McIwain were the missionaries there and they left a while ago as they have a fully functioning church. They are now reaching out to 9 neighboring villages. I also met another guy who Johnathan knew his name is Nick (picture to the left with his wife Bridgitte) and he teaches (God's word) 7 days a week. (pic below is Mum and Dad - Trevor and Estelle Burns with Kaiko and his wife Palava)

I am slowly getting used to all the bites over me. They like me. I was bitten by a fire ant yesterday and they are painful. We are waiting for a couple who are coming from the states who will be doing the orientation with us. I have picked up a few words of pidgin and Johnathan has picked up the language really well at least he can carry a conversation.

Today Malachi is 10 months old, weighs 10kg and has been on 10 plane flights since he was born. He doesn't like the food here so please pray that he will get used to it soon. It will be nice when he gets some teeth and can chew more food. He is now crawling and getting around very fast. He has started pulling himself up on furniture. He wants to walk but doesn't have the balance down yet. He loves the national kids here, the adults he is a little wary of though. I used the twin tub washing machine the day before yesterday to wash our clothes first I had to get direction on how to use it and then it nearly shredded my clothes so now I am going to use Estelle's automatic.

I have managed to buy a few veggies and fruit from the ladies under the mango tree. We don't need to buy bananas and Pineapples as they grow them here on base.

Well that is all for now.
Candy

Living in Goroka (for a week anyway)...

....(Lapilo base) doesn't feel like I am living in PNG it is not until I look outside the gate that I realize that I am in Papua New Guinea.

On a side note how is our crate going. At the moment we are living out of one suitcase as some of our luggage is in cairns still as the family we flew with had a lot of things. I don't know if people know how important it is that we get our crate here. The longer it takes the longer we go without our things and the more money we have to pay in renting things of the mission. This is something we don't want to have to do for very long.

Our digital camera's LCD screen seems to be effected by the humidity we have had it for 2 years and have used it a lot. It may be on its way out. We are going to put it into a hot box but we may have to get a new one. So that is Prayer Request. We will let you know what happens.

Anything that anyone wants to send to us as in larger items than what can be sent in the post have them put it into the crate as we are not charged GST on anything in the crate the first time it is shipped anything after that (if we were to send another crate) we would be charged Tax.

I will write again soon after we have been in Hoskins for a few days. I am sure I will have a lot more to write then.

We love you all and miss you I feel like I am at home here. It is wonderful. We have TV here in Goroka which is a luxury. PNG TV is very interesting and funny.

Love Johnathan Candy and Malachi

Buying Veggies on our Wedding Anniversary

Today the 11th of January we celebrate our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. We are heading off to Sebago today to the mission base there it is a small base which is about 10 min away. Then tomorrow we are off to ITF which is Interface. Friday we fly to Hoskins.

Yesterday in the morning about 6:30am Estelle and I headed down to the front gate to buy veggies. We brought tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spring onions. That was interesting buying them I just held the bag Estelle did all the talking.

January 6 - 10 - Training and Orientation

January 6th-8th we were involved in a safety seminar. It was excellent and we learnt a lot of valuable information.

January 9th after the FSA training we started some orientation here in Goroka. It saved us a plane trip back to Goroka later as we were here for a week anyway. Well our first day of orientation was visiting the different ministries here. When we got to the guest house there was a national man outside working in the garden he stopped and came over to us. Dave Pierce was the guy who was showing us around. Anyway this national guy had very good English and he hugged Dave twice, which is fine he shook Johnathan's hand and then hugged me. I was taken by surprise as this is not cultural. In PNG women are not aloud to wave, look or even hug a man. So I was a bit surprised.I haven't asked yet what it was all about.

It has been good to meet everyone and see the role that they play in running Lapilo base. I wish you could all come and see what everyone does here.

Malachi is doing really well but yesterday was a bit distressed when we left the house in the afternoon. He was missing us.

Leaving Australia

Hello from Papua New Guinea!

We had a wonderful time in Cairns, relaxing, swimming, and some shopping. Malachi started crawling and now is moving around all the time following us from room to room.We left Australia on January 5th early in the morning. We drove with the pilot Dave Douglas to the plane and dropped him off and then we were driven around to International airport. We waited on the other side of customs for our pilot Dave.Here comes the fun part. I (candy) got to sit next to the pilot. (I felt like a kid in a candy store). I asked a lot of questions and the scenery was excellent. I fell asleep and woke up just before we started to descend into Port Moresby. We went into the back way to customs it was deserted. We just walked into the customs area with our passports and paperwork and we left all our bags on the plane.

Soon we were off again. It was 1 1/2 hrs to Goroka. I fell asleepmagain on the plane and Dave and the others thought I had passed out. I don't remember falling asleep but I woke up when Johnathan poked me. Lucky I wasn't flying the plane! We landed and we had to wait at the hanger for someone to pick us up. We traveled to Lapilo base which is 10 min from the airport. There were people everywhere it is a lot like the Philippines but it is not westernised. I noticed how slowly paced it is here compared to back home.

We got to the base and settled into our house that we were staying in for the next week. After putting all our stuff into the house walking past the window was the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life. It is big. Oh it lives outside and eats all the bugs. A national walked past and was telling us about it (not that I could understand). He said that he had been bitten numerous times and it felt like a crab bite. I wasn't going to get close to find out. He offered to take it away but Trevor said oh no just leave it there. So now I have to share the house with a big spider. I didn't scream but nearly burst into tears over the size of the thing.

Last Day In Australia

Today is our last day in Australia. We are all packed and ready to head to the airport tomorrow morning and be there by about 7:10am. I have no idea when we are actually leaving but sometime after we get there. Have filled in all the customs forms. We had to unload one of our suitcases and it was the one with all our clothes in it so we have a backpack to live out of until the end of the month. We went swimming today with malachi he loves the water. I (candy) am so excited about going to PNG tomorrow. It's a whole new adventure.

A Day Sightseeing

We decided to venture out yesterday. We left in the morning and travelled south of cairns. We first visited Barron Falls it was a walk down to the fall but a very pretty one. The train line run down beside the waterfalls. There weren’t oversized or anything, but they were big enough. On the track we found a huge ants nest built into the tree it was very fascinating i have never seen anything like it we took a photo. Some one had dropped their camera over the boardwalk and it was a fare distance down lying among the rocks and there were a couple of guys heading down the embankment to rescue this camera which had fallen amongst rocks. They were very lucky that it didn’t smash when hitting the rocks. We made it back to the car and headed on our way. The town where the waterfalls are is a tourist town but they have a big ship and to see it from behind you think it might be a house but looking at it from the front it is a shop. Very well done.


Our next stop was Coffee Works in Mareeba we were all excited to stop for a coffee. It was a nice shop and there were lots of things to buy but we were hungry and coffee just wasn’t going to do it for us. So we headed into the town of Mareeba and had some lunch.


We then headed back to Cairns and on the way we stopped at Yungaburra where the Curtin Fig Tree is. You walk out on a board walk and there is this huge tree well actually it is a vine that takes over a tree it is very fascinating it see how this vine worked. We headed back along a very windy road and it seemed to go for ever. We stopped into the supermarket to pick up a few groceries and headed home for tea.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year Everyone. May this year be a year that the Lord teaches us more about himself. Today marked a special day for us as Malachi stood alone with support from a table.
Only 3 more days and we are off to Papua New Guinea. We are getting excited. We are enjoying our break here in cairns. Love to you all.