We made it back from Madang with all the paperwork needed for our Australian medical visas! YAY! The papers are all signed and sealed.....they will be delivered next week! It takes about 6-8 weeks....it will be so nice to have these visas in hand!
If you remember my previous posts, we were thrown a curve ball with this one. In the past, there was a doctor who was a 2 hour drive away who could complete all the necessary documentation. But, he is not in the country at this time, so we only had two choices- Port Moresby or Madang.
I spent a ton of time planning a trip to Moresby, only to find out it would cost twice the amount to go to Madang. So, then, I spent a lot of time canceling the flights, guest house reservations and doctors appointments.
I then sought out to plan to flight to Madang. I booked the tickets, set up the appointments and booked a room and a vehicle to use. But, then we found out that our friends needed to go to Madang, too, for the same reason. I then spent a ton of time canceling everything I had set up for the flight.
In the end, we drove to Madang. We split the cost for a vehicle and it ended up being cheaper than going by plane. But, it is typically a 5-hour drive. Being pregnant and on PNG roads is HARD! This post will show you just some of the roads we drove. I wish we had taken pictures of the mountains we drove up and down. There is this one mountain range that we go through....and none of the roads are paved.
We rented this Land Cruiser from our center's Auto Shop. It is Caleb's favorite vehicle to drive because it is 4WD and pretty smooth over the foot-wide-or-so pot holes (i.e. the little pot holes).
I spent a ton of time planning a trip to Moresby, only to find out it would cost twice the amount to go to Madang. So, then, I spent a lot of time canceling the flights, guest house reservations and doctors appointments.
I then sought out to plan to flight to Madang. I booked the tickets, set up the appointments and booked a room and a vehicle to use. But, then we found out that our friends needed to go to Madang, too, for the same reason. I then spent a ton of time canceling everything I had set up for the flight.
In the end, we drove to Madang. We split the cost for a vehicle and it ended up being cheaper than going by plane. But, it is typically a 5-hour drive. Being pregnant and on PNG roads is HARD! This post will show you just some of the roads we drove. I wish we had taken pictures of the mountains we drove up and down. There is this one mountain range that we go through....and none of the roads are paved.
We rented this Land Cruiser from our center's Auto Shop. It is Caleb's favorite vehicle to drive because it is 4WD and pretty smooth over the foot-wide-or-so pot holes (i.e. the little pot holes).
Even though the drive is not ideal.....and I long for the day when I will once again ride on smooth roads, you really can't beat these views.
Whole sections of the road have just washed away. Driving in PNG is not the safest thing to do!
And, there are no bathrooms or places to stop in between towns. We found a cell phone tower in the middle of nowhere, so we thought it would be a good place for a bathroom break. We took turns going to the bathroom around the corner. Not ideal.....but you learn that this is just how it is here.
This is my favorite bridge to cross because you literally drive through the water. I have heard that if the water is too high, some cars drive 4 hours just to get to this point, realize they cannot cross it and have to turn around a go back.
More pictures and information to come....
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