It seems our visas are in. This is indeed good news as it appears to be the last piece of the rather large and complicated puzzle that is moving to PNG.

A very broad summary of events preceeding uplift…

We learned of K’s posting in late December 2011 and since then there has been a constant stream of appointments, PDF’s telling you it’ll be alright, courses telling you to be afraid, people and expats over there/been there saying NOT to be afraid, injections and long medical consultations. There has also been wardrobe transplants, googling both carjacking and island resorts at the same time, passport requisition and spending money on all sorts of conceivable things – the best being snorkelling gear and the worst, anti-gastro medkits.

Work officially ended for me a two months ago (with a great send off from the talented and dedicated folk at Monkii whom I miss) and since then the likely lads and I have been hobboing it Huck Fin style (with a car instead of a raft and roofrack instead of carrying our stuff on a stick held over the shoulder). We left Melbourne a few weeks ago and drove north to Canberra to meet our beloved K and then we’ll skip over to the Land of the Unexpected. The lads have been stoic and very patient. They miss their buddies in Melbourne to the extent that even my inspirational appeal to ‘the distant call of adventure’ isn’t going down terribly well. C (our 2 year old) usually replies with a request for clocat or a pam sandwich and D (4 year old) goes ‘yeah’ and then just walks off.

Its been great in Canberra doing some First Aid training and an awesome driving course that made us reverse a 4WD at full speed around a 2.5km circuit using only our mirrors. Also hung out with the lads at Questacon and the Cotter amongst other places and we have said many a fond hello/goodbye to old and new friends. Its now at the the stage where they are texting to see if we are actually THERE yet.

It’s an understatement that after five months (with two living out of a suitcase) we are more than ready to go.